Sean Dyche has the full backing of Everton following the loss to Southampton; Saints progressed into the Carabao Cup fourth round with a win on penalties; Dyche had "credit in the bank" before defeats to Aston Villa and Southampton
Wednesday 18 September 2024 18:35, UK
Everton manager Sean Dyche continues to have the full backing of the club despite their exit from the Carabao Cup on penalties to Southampton.
Everton have lost all four of their opening Premier League games and Tuesday's disappointment has done nothing to quell the growing calls from fans for a change.
However, Dyche had to contend with a number of players going down with illness on the day of the game and injuries to key players such as defender Jarrad Branthwaite and club captain Seamus Coleman.
Pressure from fans is mounting on owner Farhad Moshiri to take action with the club bottom of the table and two crucial games to come away at Leicester on Saturday and at home to Crystal Palace next week.
There is also the continuing ownership saga which has been ongoing for 18 months with no end in sight, following proposed takeovers collapsing with MSP Capital and then 777 Partners.
Moshiri is in talks with American John Textor to agree a deal for his 94.1 per cent shareholding, but with over £400m of loans coming into the club for new stadium costs and working capital over that same period, it is a complex process and likely to go on until at least the end of the year
Dyche is expected to have players back for the trip to the King Power stadium, where a win is essential if the pressure at Everton is to ease.
Dyche has highlighted the injury problems and illness that swept through the team prior to the defeat against Southampton as one of the reasons his team failed to progress into the fourth round.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Vitalii Mykolenko and James Garner all fell ill overnight, while James Tarkowski missed out due to a back issue and Idrissa Gueye was not involved because of a personal issue.
Defensive duo Branthwaite and Coleman, as previously noted, were also absent through injury.
"After piecing together the team this morning, with three players going down ill overnight, I think we've given as good as we could get with the players available," he said after the loss on penalties.
"To piece that together and deliver a performance that I thought could win, especially with the chances…I know that's been a challenge from even before my time, taking the chances that kill a game, and we haven't done that tonight. But a lot of the performance was right enough to win the game.
"Some of the play was good at times, effective, we opened them enough times to go and win the game, but we didn't take chances and you go down on penalties."
Sky Sports understands that prior to the defeats against Aston Villa and Southampton, Dyche had enough credit in the bank with the owner after steering Everton to Premier League safety in each of the last two seasons.
This point was only emphasised when accounting for the added complication of points deductions due to Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) breaches and the club's financial constraints negatively impacting their ability to move in the transfer market.
Dyche's work alongside Kevin Thelwell, the sporting director, on player recruitment, along with the development of Branthwaite and the early opportunities afforded to summer signings Tim Iroegbunam and Iliman Ndiaye are also to his credit.
Everton's management have the added incentive of taking the club into their new stadium next season. Securing their place in the Premier League would clearly enhance Dyche's prospects of leading the club into a new era.
Dyche is currently in the final year of his contract and an extension has not been discussed due to the ongoing uncertainty over the club's long-term ownership.
For now, the next step to the overall stability Evertonians crave is a successful conclusion to Moshiri's attempts to offload his majority shareholding.
Prospective Everton owner Textor, speaking exclusively to Sky Sports, also stated before back-to-back defeats that he had not spoken to any other candidates about succeeding Dyche, if he was to takeover the club during the period of exclusively ending on November 30.
"That hasn't happened. People just like to create destabilisation at other clubs," he said.
"I don't know Sean [Dyche] personally but I watched him for so many years at Burnley doing wonders with no budget and so obviously he's a guy who knows how to coach in the Premier League.
"I'd sit down with him at some point in the future and say that I'm going to bring him a very different profile of player from any corner of the world and ask him if he is interested. I'd ask him if he could coach this squad."
