Sean Dyche has labelled Everton's transfer windows a “s*** show” during his time with the club. The former Blues manager spent two chaotic years on Merseyside, navigating relegation battles, points deductions and off-the-pitch crises. Reflecting on the effort it required to do business during that time, Dyche portrayed himself as having to fire-fight in order to strengthen the squad.
Baptism of Fire at Everton
Dyche was given a baptism of fire upon his appointment at Everton in January 2023. The former Burnley manager inherited a side that had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season and was facing another gruelling battle against the drop. In the days before he replaced Frank Lampard, Arnaut Danjuma made a late U-turn to instead join Tottenham Hotspur and Anthony Gordon was sold to Newcastle United in acrimonious circumstances.
Further challenges lay ahead as Dyche and the recruitment team around him dealt with the austerity that characterised the final years of Farhad Moshiri's ownership of the club, making any business tough. In his first summer, Everton signed Beto on a buy-now, pay-later deal and relied on the free signing of veteran Ashley Young and loan deals for Jack Harrison and Danjuma in a window that ended with the sales of both Alex Iwobi and Demarai Gray.
Summer 2024 and Dyche's Departure
While the club sold Amadou Onana the following summer, his side was bolstered by arrivals that included Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O'Brien, Orel Mangala and Tim Iroegbunam — positive additions that looked good when he was replaced by David Moyes the following January after Dyche departed with the team deep in trouble despite those additions.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, in partnership with Midnite, Dyche compared the situation he left after his long stint with Burnley with the one he arrived to at Everton. He said: “When you're at somewhere for a longer period, like I was at Burnley, after sort of three or four years we've got it up and running. It's working. Everyone knows their roles. You can delegate better because once that trust builds, you're onto something and the CEO knows what you're thinking, analysts know, sports scientists know. Then it's really easy.
“It was not so easy going to Everton, where it was a f*****g s**t show. It's constantly f*****g putting out fires. A whole different ball game. It was brilliant in a weird way, because it's rewarding when you get it done [avoiding relegation]. There's that feeling of going ‘well I played my part in this’.”
