Sean Dyche during the Everton training session at Finch Farm on November 26, 2024 in Halewood, England
December is a big month for Sean Dyche.
There is little appetite for more instability inside Everton, and little chance of a decision being made on his Blues future before the takeover overcomes its final hurdles. That could well happen before the end of the year though, even then, The Friedkin Group would prefer to take time as it considers the best steps forward for a club that appears to be on the edge of a bright new future.
But make no mistake, the prospective new owners are tracking what is happening on Merseyside and its implications for the future. With Dyche out of contract at the end of the season, who leads Everton into the club’s stunning new stadium is a question that will naturally be among the top priorities for incoming owners and the structure of decision makers they set up.
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Dyche wants that job, and may well see it as a deserved reward for stewarding a broken club through two perilous relegation battles. Given the tough start to this season these games, therefore, have essentially become his audition - perhaps his last ‘best chance’ to produce a statement set of results that everyone has to pay attention to.
How he is faring depends on your perspective. Inside the club there is a relatively positive view of the current run. Dyche has led that and pointed to the one defeat in eight Premier League games as a sign of growing strength despite his team failing to score or win against a Brentford side that had not kept a clean sheet all season and played more than half the game with 10 men.
That view of the current streak, which includes just two wins, extends into the dressing room, with influential players among those who are buying into it. And while Dyche is a dominant personality within the club, those who sit above him are loathe to script one final act of turmoil for an institution still scarred by the crises of recent years and desperate to reach a promised land of new owners, a new stadium and the chance to overhaul the playing squad that will come in the summer.
For Dyche to survive that transition, perhaps even to make it that far, results will need to improve. One defeat in eight and consecutive clean sheets may suggest a story of resilience but outside the fences of Finch Farm it is also one of real frustration and missed opportunities. That single loss could have multiplied had it not been for Jordan Pickford’s penalty stop against Newcastle United, last-minute wondersave from Danny Ings at West Ham United or Beto’s stoppage time header against Fulham.
Better finishing could indeed have turned the only defeat in this run into a win at Southampton but problems in front of goal remain a serious issue and while Dyche was keen to stress, post-Brentford, they began before his arrival, the ECHO were justified to respond by asking whether, if he has not been unable to change that in nearly two years, he believes he ever can.
The smattering of boos on the final whistle last Saturday told a story of disappointment and frustration - Brentford created the better chances of the match, both before and after they were reduced to 10 men.
The boos also told a story of exhaustion. This is a fanbase that has rallied itself repeatedly over the trouble of the past few years. Even when the relationship between the club and the stands was at its nadir, supporters were able to separate their anger from their desire to push the players towards survival - against the odds.
There was hope this season, if not one that would see the club start what is hoped to be a climb towards success, would at least provide stability. Supporters were encouraged by what Dyche was able to achieve against unprecedented challenges last season, leading this club to what would have been the brink of a top half finish had it not been for deductions that had nothing to do with him.
With the eight points added back, Everton would have finished level with Brighton and Hove Albion. Now the Blues are once again looking nervously below them, while Brighton have beaten the champions and enter this weekend’s games just one point off Manchester City, currently second.
Brighton spent £200m in the summer and Everton, once again, made money. That is an important context when it comes to judging the respective fortunes of those clubs this season. It is also an important context to the current debate that is ongoing in the fanbase about Dyche’s future.
Putting aside the remarkable achievement of twice saving Everton from a relegation that would have been catastrophic for the club and the city of Liverpool, assessing Dyche’s current performance requires an honest exploration of what doing ‘enough’ is.
If ‘enough’ is keeping Everton afloat until new ownership can create the conditions to take it forward then, while that may be an uninspiring benchmark, it is one he is matching - as shown by two survival campaigns and a points tally that, at this point, has the club above the bottom three.
Where it gets treacherous for Dyche is that the current performances and results come against the backdrop of what is widely viewed as a straightforward start to the season. Supporters are well within their rights to look at the first 12 games of the campaign and ask, nervously, whether they can truly be expected to believe the situation will improve as Everton line up for a Christmas streak that starts at Old Trafford and Ruben Amorim’s first Premier League home game at Manchester United and runs through title-chasing Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City. Anxiety is even more understandable given several of those few clubs beneath Everton are improving - Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace among them. One that is struggling, Leicester City, has changed manager in the hope of finding a boost heading into the depths of winter.
The best of those sides below the Blues is currently Wolverhampton Wanderers and their visit to Goodison next week is of the utmost importance. For all the hope of a reset during the World Cup break two years ago, Wolves’ Boxing Day win in L4 was a result Frank Lampard failed to come back from. Last year Wolves again left Goodison celebrating, though that was a game that fell into the clutch of perfect storm fixtures last campaign where Dyche could legitimately point to his side creating lots of chances, being the better side and being undone by sucker punches and superb goalkeeping displays.
The reality for the Blues boss is that his job will only come under threat in the short term if it starts to look as though he is unable to do the one thing he has always been able to do - achieve safety. A third win in a row at Everton for Wolves next week could, if combined with other bad results, potentially start to threaten that belief.
The coming weeks will certainly help The Friedkin Group answer the bigger question around his long-term future. The games may appear worrying, but the pressure they bring also provides opportunity. Goodison will explode with intensity at the start of the last Merseyside derby she will host, as well as for the visits of Wolves and Chelsea.
There will be support that could be harnessed by the players if they can land an early blow on their opponents. With the exception of Wolves, the upcoming games play into Dyche’s own comfort zone too - fans will likely be more willing to accept their side conceding possession against the league’s heavyweights. And do not forget that in the corresponding games last year Everton defeated Liverpool and Chelsea and were minutes from a point at the Emirates against an Arsenal side that needed to win and only did so because of controversial late VAR intervention.
With these opportunities there is also an opportunity for Dyche. While the new ownership may well be considering potential replacements ahead of next season, and while supporter sentiment may be one of frustration, disappointment and exhaustion, big results against big opponents will always make those in charge take notice. In Dyche’s audition for a new contract this is a month that will make or break his future. So the stage is set for a big December at Everton, in more ways than one.