After ten months out of the game, Sean Dyche returned to football management this week when he was handed the Nottingham Forest job.
The role at the City Ground is Dyche’s fourth job in management and comes after he was dismissed at Everton back in January. His two-year stint with the Toffees saw him fighting against the drop amid financial issues at the club and a subsequent points deduction.
Dyche departed the club in January 2025 following a poor run of results, but the 54-year-old enjoyed plenty of high points during his time on Merseyside.
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Sean Dyche on his Everton highlights
Everton squad for 2024/25 LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: Sean Dyche the head coach / manager of Everton reacts during the Premier League match between Everton FC and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park on August 31, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Dyche oversaw 84 games as Everton boss(Image credit: Getty Images)
“The obvious game would be beating Liverpool in 2024 because that was so good for the people,” Dyche tells FourFourTwo. “Those derby games are for the fans.
“I didn’t grow up in the city so I don’t know about the depth of feeling, but I knew we had a bad record at Goodison against Liverpool, so it was nice for the supporters.”
Sean Dyche File Photo
Sean Dyche has become Nottingham Forest's third boss of the season(Image credit: Martin Rickett)
That game saw Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin score to give the Toffees a 2-0 victory over their neighbours, their first at Goodison since October 2010. But there was another game which pipped even that.
“From a personal and professional point of view, it would be the last game of the 2022-23 season, when we beat Bournemouth 1-0 to stay up,” Dyche continues.
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“We were down to brass tacks, injuries everywhere, had to change the system, going with a back three and playing wing-backs who weren’t wing-backs, we had no centre-forward so we played Demarai Gray there, and we had to win.
“From a management, staff, planning and player performance point of view, that one was the biggest and most enjoyable. We had eight days to get them ready, in one of the biggest games, for the wrong reasons, in the club’s recent history.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: Sean Dyche, Manager of Everton, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Everton FC at Etihad Stadium on December 26, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Dyche remains proud of his 2022/23 great escape(Image credit: Getty Images)
“Everybody was on us, doom and gloom everywhere – not from the fans, they were great – but we could have gone down and the media smelt a huge story.
“We worked all week and won 1-0.”