Everton sack manager Sean Dyche

Sean Dyche has been sacked as Everton manager after less than two years in charge at Goodison Park.

The 53-year-old’s departure was announced just hours before Everton were due to host League One side Peterborough in the third round of the FA Cup.

Everton announced their under-18s head coach Leighton Baines and club captain Seamus Coleman had been put in charge of the team for that game.

Right-back Coleman and former left-back Baines have made more than 800 Everton appearances between them.

Four members of Dyche’s coaching staff – Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Howard and Billy Mercer – have also departed.

The Toffees were beaten 1-0 by Bournemouth on Saturday and sit 16th in the Premier League and just one point clear of the relegation zone.

They failed to register a shot on target at Vitality Stadium and have won just three of 19 games in the league this season.

Last weekend it was reported that the Friedkin Group – which completed a £400m takeover of the club last month – had been in talks with Dyche over a couple of days this week, with both sides feeling they had reached the end of the road. Difficult negotiations took place over an exit package for Dyche and his staff before a settlement was reached.

The new owners appreciate the timing of Dyche’s departure, just hours before a game, was not ideal.

Dyche said goodbye to his players at Everton’s training ground earlier on Thursday.

The Friedkins want Dyche’s replacement to have Premier League experience and former Everton manager David Moyes is among the names to have been linked.

However, sources close to Jose Mourinho have ruled the Fenerbahce manager out of contention.

The former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham boss previously worked under the Friedkin Group at Roma, but he was sacked by them in January 2024.

Moyes, 61, managed Everton from 2002 to 2013 and recently told BBC Sport he was not ready to retire from football management but did not want to be in a job “fighting relegation”.

Speaking on Tuesday, Dyche said that his communication with Everton’s owners had been “positive” with “no indication” they were looking to bring someone else in. He said they had been “been very up front and open” about expectations.

In his programme notes, external for Thursday’s tie with Peterborough, Dyche wrote he hoped his side could use the FA Cup game to “build some positive momentum”.

Dyche, whose contract was due to expire in the summer, succeeded Frank Lampard on 30 January 2023 with Everton in the relegation zone.

The team secured survival with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth on the final day of that season.

He then steered the Toffees to a 15th-place finish in the 2023-24 campaign despite the Merseysiders being deducted eight points for two separate breaches of Premier League financial rules.

The club have looked strong defensively this season, keeping seven clean sheets.

But they have struggled for goals, netting only 15, and are the second-lowest scorers in the league, with only bottom club Southampton having managed fewer.

This is Everton’s last season at their 132-year-old stadium before moving to a new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Dyche is the sixth Premier League manager to be sacked this season, and the second in as many days after West Ham dismissed Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday.

The Hammers replaced Lopetegui with Graham Potter, who had been loosely linked with Everton this week.