Dyche is loved by Everton squad, but Toffees fans hate his ‘negative football’

When Sean Dyche arrives early at Everton's Finch Farm training ground, he usually heads to the gym before his time is taken up with meetings, training and analysis.

You can't blame him. If there's any job that requires clearing your head at 7.30am to face the challenges ahead, it's Everton manager. The demands of steering an English sporting institution through financial crisis and fan dissatisfaction should come with their own health warning.

Even as there is light at the end of the tunnel following the takeover of Farhad Moshiri by Friedkin's Group, another pressure awaits: that of keeping his job.

It would be natural for new owners, especially those moving to a glitzy stadium like Everton next season, to want their own man in the hotseat. Dyche must know how a tightrope walker feels as he prepares for Saturday's trip to Bournemouth.

About a month ago, when he was brutally ejected from the family compound at Goodison Park, it was believed that the 'Ginger Mourinho' would not even survive the end of his contract this summer.

He was then widely praised for his draws against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, before a miserable home defeat to Nottingham Forest put him back in top spot on Sunday. Billionaire owner and stunt pilot Dan Friedkin has a huge decision to make in the coming weeks.

His vision of an Everton reboot could be brighter with a more glamorous figure in the dugout. Yet his experience of owning Roma, with their four managers in the last 12 months, suggests that change is not always for the better.

Adding to Friedkin's conundrum is the stark disagreement between the locker room and the fan base. The Everton side are fully behind Dyche and remain in favor of the move to Bramley Moore-Dock and beyond. Respect is a term regularly used about their manager by influential stars such as Jordan Pickford, Ashley Young and Idrissa Gueye. They are no fools having worked alongside the game's biggest stars and consider Dyche to be hardworking, meticulous and likeable. Others, like Dwight McNeil, have been playing for the gaffer since they were 17.

Yet supporters can't wait to get away, despite Dyche helping Everton escape relegation on the final day and finishing 15th last year despite an eight-point deduction for breaching the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Season ticket holders have been disappointed at how often Everton appear negative, with the Toffees scoring just 31 league goals in all of 2024 – 15 fewer than any other side that spent the entire year in the top flight.

Following the Carabao Cup exit against Southampton in September, cries of 'get the hell out of our club' were heard from areas where parents take their children. The boos have rarely been silenced on the ground since.

Friedkin takes his time before making a decision. Since last January, Roma has fired Jose Mourinho, Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric without any noticeable improvement. Their latest appointment, 73-year-old Claudio Ranieri, is not exactly a long-term appointment.

The question for Dyche, who is known for his pragmatism rather than his flair, is whether Americans think a leopard can change places. Their vision is to have a 52,000 capacity stadium on the Merseyside waterfront, where you experience the joys of 'sexy football', not 30 percent possession, and where clean sheets are seen as more important than goals.

Dyche believes he can evolve and said on Thursday: 'We have not been in the situation of picking players. The work here is endless, but no one cares, all they care about is, 'Go win a game, mate.' I know the work we've done. The players here are worth ten times what they were when we came here.'

Many in the football club have sympathy and would like to see a Dyche 2.0 with a bigger budget than he had at Burnley or Everton.

As of 2021, Everton is the only ever Premier League club to have made a profit on transfers. They have raked in a net total of £85 million by selling the likes of Anthony Gordon and Richarlison, while every other club has spent more than they have recouped to strengthen their squads.

Former Everton favorite Pat Nevin says: 'I'd love to see Sean get the chance. No one will know if he can adapt until he gets the chance, but I suspect he can.

'I had the same conversation with Sam Allardyce at Bolton. He said that if he could perform better on a limited budget, why wouldn't he be successful with more money and better players? Ultimately, the owners will make decisions. It may be unfair to the managers, but when does fairness matter in football?

“I would tell them to talk to Sean and see if there is a shared vision. You don't always have to follow new ideas. “Southampton did that this season and it was nonsense.”

Dyche's long-time assistant Ian Woan, once a creative player at Nottingham Forest, does not think his boss should be dismissed as a one-trick pony.

“He gets a lot of attention because he looks like a bouncer in a nightclub,” Woan said in an earlier interview with Mail Sport. 'People think he must be rough, but it couldn't be further from the truth. He is well-read, wants to learn and always asks himself questions. It's a million miles away from public persona.

“It would be very interesting to see how he would work a system with top players if he could go up against the big hitters.”

Dyche even briefly tried to be more refined at Burnley in 2018, using wing-backs and a patient build-up. After subsequently conceding 41 goals in 19 games, Dyche reinstated goalkeeper Chris Wood and defensive duo James Tarkowski and Ben Mee to avoid relegation. He decided not to experiment with a new formula again until he had equipped the players for it, which Friedkin can now provide.

In addition to Dyche and football director Kevin Thelwell, twelve Everton players are also out of contract or will return to their parent clubs at the end of the season.

PSR will limit the amount the Friedkin Group can spend, even if they are wealthy enough to do so. It could work in Dyche's favor as it has helped Eddie Howe survive at Newcastle.

Everton are looking to capitalize on the lucrative US market, but unless they buy in bulk it will take time and become more difficult to attract higher profile managers like Xavi and Gareth Southgate, despite Friedkin's bold mission: 'We aim to create extraordinary deliver experiences.'

Although Friedkin once courted Roma fans by personally flying in new signing Romelu Lukaku, don't expect to see him in the cockpit next to Jude Bellingham at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport anytime soon. Compatriot Todd Boehly's extravaganza at Chelsea could also be a warning to Friedkin not to try to run before he can walk.

When Spurs chairman Daniel Levy took his club to the Tottenham Stadium in 2019 and decided Mourinho should make the upgrade, he was proven wrong.

To make his case, Dyche might even mention his own celebrity anecdote when he meets Friedkin, who was featured in the Hollywood blockbuster Dunkirk.

As a young coach at Watford, Dyche met their honorary life president Sir Elton John, who called his new friend in a husky voice 'My angel, my darling'.

Even with the risks of a fresh start under a new manager, Friedkin is still more likely to see the big picture and go further than Dyche to pursue the club's ambitions.

Despite not having any trophies for thirty years, Everton's potential is enormous. There is a waiting list of 30,000 season ticket holders and the club wants major companies to compete for the naming rights to the new stadium and major players to buy up the 5,000 corporate hospitality packages. Grinding out results will no longer be enough. Entertainment should also be part of the story.

The fans blame Dyche for not liking his style, but they are hard to please and have turned against Ronald Koeman, Roberto Martinez and Marco Silva in the past, at least one of whom could have been on Everton's wish list if they had. haven't tried it yet.

Although the current team wants Dyche to be there next season, there are fears that this will not happen. The manager's main hope is that Friedkin sees advantages in a continuity candidate.

“The owners are aware that it is a challenging situation to build and get right,” Dyche said. 'They are talking about putting the club back where it belongs, but also about stability. It's a good start.

'There is no shame in what I do. The idea of ​​being Hero to Zero comes and goes very quickly in football. I have ten years of experience in the Premier League. I know what it's all about.'

Friedkin has the casting vote and is in the process of choosing how to use it. While the manager endures the strain of waiting, at least he still has the Finch Farm gym to clear his head.

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