Everton are set to be without their manager this weekend, in arguably the toughest test of their season thus far.
Having remonstrated with the fourth official for a rather valid reason, a strong penalty shout ignored, Michael Oliver, who endured a pretty poor afternoon of refereeing, came waltzing over to issue Sean Dyche with a yellow card.
The 52-year-old was bemused, as were most of Goodison Park, as that marked yet another booking for the hosts despite Tottenham Hotspur, their opponents, having failed to be reprimanded for the many attack-quelling fouls they made.
Fortunately, the match ended in a draw, but now Dyche is set to be banned from the touchline at the Etihad due to the fact that it was his third yellow card of the season.
Unsurprisingly, he had plenty to say about it in his pre-match press conference.
What Sean Dyche said about the Premier League
After a year in which the Toffees have been constantly downtrodden by the Premier League, such a shoddy officiating display does not ease the allegations of corruption coming from Evertonians.
This is an institution seemingly hell-bent on crushing one of its most historic members, with November’s ten-point deduction barely scratching the surface of the frustrations their conduct has provoked.
Well, it seems now even Dyche has snapped, and speaking earlier today he claimed: ‘There’s no room & step one yard and you’re in the other dugout. Some managers are running all over the place and no bookings. Who knows what the rules are anymore?’
The Everton boss has a point
Unsurprisingly, and as he has done ever since he took the Goodison Park hot seat, Dyche speaks sense.
He calls it how it is, unbothered by alternative politics, with an attitude that the fanbase can really get behind.
Not only that, but when injustice rears its ugly head, as it has done so often this campaign, the former Burnley man is quick to point it out when allowed.
The likes of Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp are so frequently seen remonstrating around their technical area, and very often out of it, when the rules dictate this is not allowed.
And yet, instead of being punished in the manner Dyche has been, they are lauded and laughed at by the media.
This is arguably a microcosm for all that’s wrong with modern football at the moment, as these bigger clubs get away with anything whilst those scrapping at the wrong end of the table continue to get pushed back down.
How PSR has continued to scold Everton without yet punishing Manchester City is laughable, and the similarities between this and Dyche’s imminent touchline ban are frightening.
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