Everton did not get off to the start fans would have been hoping for on Monday evening against Leeds United.
Nevertheless, the future looks much brighter for Everton under the ownership of The Friedkin Group and the management of David Moyes.
Rewind just six months and things looked completely different on Merseyside.
Sean Dyche was still at the helm, and Everton were massively struggling against the threat of relegation to the Championship.
Despite his time on Merseyside coming to an end at the start of the year, Dyche sent a transfer warning to Everton recently.
The 53-year-old remains without a managerial job as he has been doing the media rounds of late.
And in another turn of events, Dyche has commented once again on his time at Everton, suggesting there was something he has now been proven right about.
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Sean Dyche proven right over Everton admission
Dyche praised Moyes for changing his Everton rules over what players could wear during training, in order to get them back on side.
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Not having his own team to manage has continually brought up questions about his time at Everton during media appearances.
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Dyche has now suggested
“I was really honest with him [Moyes] and in my statement when I left I put they’re in really good shape and loads of people hammered me for it,” said Dyche.
“And Moyes actually came out and went: ‘No, Sean was right he said they are in really good shape and he didn’t mean they’re top of their performance level confidence, but they were fit, they were organized, they were professional, the staff knew what they were doing, the players knew what they were doing.
“And Moyes was trivial. He went, “No, no, he’s right.” And then people go, “Oh, right. Okay.”
Since leaving, Dyche admitted he’d love to manage Manchester United, as he continues to claim how good of a position he left Everton in.
As much as he says this, the reality was Everton were in real danger of being relegated last season under Dyche, and it took Moyes to be appointed to stop that from happening.
What Dyche told David Moyes about the Everton job
Moyes knows the club better than most people, yet Dyche passed on his advice to the 62-year-old back in January.
Clearly, the former manager didn’t have a tight hold on his squad, with Jake O’Brien shining after Dyche was sacked.
So, for as good a shape the squad was in, it would seem that Dyche was unable to utilise the options he had at his disposal.
Adding to his comments, Dyche shared what he spoke to Moyes about when the job became available.
“So Moyesy rang me and the club asked me you know, and I gave him the good advice. I said: ‘I’m telling you now there’s nothing wrong with them but they need a fresh voice’,” said Dyche.
“It sounds bad sometimes but if you can’t freshen the squad up which I couldn’t because we didn’t have the money to, as in you know four in four out which immediately gives it a freshness. If you’re going to have the same players all of the time and keep them fresh, they’ve gone through massive challenges, points deductions and worried about wages and no money and the club are going to get more points deductions.”