Sean Dyche new frontrunner for Everton job after ‘positive’ talks

As the managerial saga goes on it now appears that ex-Burnley boss Sean Dyche is the new favourite for the Everton job.

Reports in the Daily Mirror claim that the 51-year-old is in pole position to take over as Everton manager, possibly by the end of today.

That timetable seems highly unlikely given how notoriously long it takes this club to make decisions and get things done.

But, a new man must be in post by the weekend at the very latest, to give him any chance of securing new players before the transfer window is closed.

It is the ususal last-minute.com approach from the Blues’. We saw this happen only a year ago when Frank Lampard was finally installed in post on transfer deadline day.

Anyway, after seeming to favour Marcelo Bielsa as Lampard’s replacement (at least in Farhad Moshiri’s case) now, if this story is true, it seems that the club are shifting towards appointing Dyche instead.

Bielsa has apparently raised some concerns about the situation at the club (unsurprisingly!) and appears to have gone cold on immediately taking over the reigns at Goodison Park.

Meanwhile, talks have been held with both men and Dyche along with the Argentine has impressed the Toffees’ hierachy.

As I wrote yesterday, these two managers are cut from a very different cloth and it would seem that again there is no clear strategy behind this decision.

Dyche is seen as a traditional British coach with a reputation for placing a strong emphasis on defensive solidity and adopting a safety-first approach. In the short-term that could be necessary to get out of this mess.

The former Leeds boss Bielsa in contrast, has that trademark all-out attacking approach, which is high-risk but also at times high reward.

The one thread that does link both men is that they have managed in the Championship and I suspect that is of course a consideration, in the event that the Blues’ do go down.

One important question to address, is if the club were to go for Dyche and even if he keeps Everton up, would he be seen as a genuinely long-term choice?

I suspect there could be a clamour for a younger, more progressive coach to take over in the summer, as happened when Sam Allardyce took charge in the 2017-18 season.

Remember that Allardyce’s side finished eighth in the Premier League at the end of that campaign, before he was replaced by Marco Silva. What would Evertonians give for such heady heights now?

But his style of football certainly wasn’t popular, to put it mildly, and there weren’t many supporters who regretted his sacking.

I’m not suggesting that Allardyce could or should have been the long-term choice then, but given their similarities, would Dyche find himself in a similar position?

Surely, the club can’t afford to have yet more managerial uncertainty in five or six months time?

There is a desperate need for stability and a genuine long-term appointment after so much upheaval and change. No real sustained progress can be made on the pitch without it.

That is though very difficult to achieve when the stakes of falling out of the Premier League are so high and the team is constantly failing and under-performing season after season.

Everton are caught between the proverbial rock and hard place needing a stable, long-term appointment but finding every manager they select either isn’t up to the job or is undermined by a mis-fit collection of under-performing players. So, the merry-go-round continues.