The former Blues boss detailed the reasons for his Everton exit while speaking with another ex-EFC manager, Sam Allardyce
Sean Dyche looks on prior to the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Everton, his last as Blues boss. Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images
Sean Dyche looks on prior to the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Everton, his last as Blues boss. Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images
Sean Dyche said he knew his time at Everton was up when he looked at his players and saw the “life in their eyes was coming away”.
The former Blues boss believed his ability to influence the squad was on the wane as the side started 2025 with a miserable defeat at Bournemouth - one that made a fourth consecutive relegation fight appear inevitable.
While praising his replacement David Moyes for pulling the club clear of trouble, he insisted he would still have kept Everton in the Premier League had he remained in the dugout.
Dyche left Everton in January after days of talks with new owners The Friedkin Group. The discussions centred on his belief his ability to inspire the players had come to an end after two years shrouded in points deductions and survival fights.
Speaking on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, in partnership with BOYLE Sports, he told another former Everton boss, Sam Allardyce, about his departure. He said: “I think I would have ended up going anyway because I only had six months left on my contract, but the players had done a great job, not just me and my staff, everyone had, the players had gone through a lot. Sometimes I looked and the life in their eyes was coming away.
“So I spoke to Moyes when he was coming in and told him about the squad that there was nothing wrong with them, but they needed a fresh voice, and sometimes it’s as simple as that.”
The Bournemouth defeat followed a December that included valuable draws with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City but ended with a morale-sapping home defeat to Nottingham Forest. When Everton failed to record a shot on target at the Vitality Stadium days later, Dyche concluded the team needed a new voice to inspire it.
He said: “I couldn’t freshen the squad up because we didn’t have the money; it was four in, four out. The players had gone through massive challenges, points deductions and worrying about wages and no money in the club, and I looked and they were beginning to wilt.
“The crowd are very passionate, but they will put pressure on the team. I said to Moyes, fluff them up, give them a refresh, do your own bits tactically, but you’re not going to be far away. There is no chance this team is going down, even with me, we were never going to go down, but to rebuild it, they needed a new voice.
“Quality in the team can come and go, but the feeling in the group and the fight in them, I could feel it had gone against Bournemouth. In my statement when I left, I said the team were in really good shape, and I got hammered for it. But Moyes came out and said Sean was right. Not in their confidence but they were fit, organised, they were professional, the staff and the players knew what they were doing.”
Dyche, who took over with the club in crisis on-and-off-the-pitch and helped navigate relegation, financial and boardroom turmoil before the TFG takeover, believes he left the club stronger than he found it.
He said: “The club were in good shape, but we weren’t winning, and that’s the KPI [Key Performance Indicator]. Fans judge things on the league table, but you can leave a club in a better place than it was internally, and I believe I did… I hadn’t done two years of work at that football club to let it fail now. I was desperate for someone to come in and take it forward, then our work will be respected more, especially when it’s someone like Moyes who is a great, respectful guy and brilliant at what he does.”