Sean Dyche has been sacked by Everton, in what is a hugely surprising development given the timing.
Everton have stunned the football world tonight by announcing the departure of Sean Dyche, just hours before the FA Cup game with Peterborough United.
Dyche has been under mounting pressure for weeks at Goodison Park, having overseen many poor performances this term.
But new owners The Friedkin Group were said to be backing him when they took over.
But just a few weeks after their arrival, Dyche has now gone. Presumably, TFG know who they’ll be appointing as his successor.
Tonight, Alex Crook has been speaking about the sacking of Dyche and made an interesting claim about when the players found out.
Alex Crook shares when the Everton players found out Sean Dyche had been sacked
The sacking of Dyche has been welcomed by a lot of supporters.
Many feel he had to go, with the style of football simply unsustainable.
But the timing of this news is certainly very surprising, given Everton play Peterborough tonight, and given that Dyche spoke at his press conference as normal earlier this week and took training today at Finch Farm.
Speaking on talkSPORT this evening, Crook said: “They (Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman) will be in the dugout tonight, despite the fact they haven’t had a single training session with the players.
“I can also tell you, the first the players heard about this, was when they arrived at Goodison Park for their pre-match meeting, expecting to be met by Sean Dyche. Instead, they were met by the news that Sean Dyche is now longer their manager.”
- READ MORE: The two early manager names in the frame to replace Sean Dyche at Everton after his sacking
Everton are taking a necessary risk
It is the news that the vast majority of Everton fans wanted, but tonight’s announcement is extremely surprising.
It’s not often you get club’s announcing sacking just hours before games, and one wonders what the state of mind of the players will be tonight against Peterborough.
TFG have shown real ruthlessness here, but it’s so important now that they make the right appointment.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 16 |  EvertonEverton | 19 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 17 |
Gareth Southgate is thought to be of interest to Everton, but fans likely won’t be clamouring for the former England manager.
Paulo Fonseca is also in the frame to become the next Everton manager, after he was recently sacked by AC Milan.
Who knows if this decision by TFG will be the right one. But certainly, there was very little evidence that things were going to improve under Dyche.
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