Everton sack manager Dyche with club 16th in Premier League

Sean Dyche has been sacked as Everton manager after less than two years in charge at Goodison Park.

The 53-year-old departs just hours before Everton are due to host League One side Peterborough in the third round of the FA Cup.

Everton announced their under-18s head coach Leighton Baines and club captain Seamus Coleman will take charge of the team for that game.

Four members of Dyche’s coaching staff – Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Howard and Billy Mercer – have also departed.

The Toffees were beaten 1-0 by Bournemouth on Saturday and sit 16th in the Premier League and just one point clear of the relegation zone.

They failed to register a shot on target at Vitality Stadium and have won just three league games from 19 in the league this season.

Dyche, whose contract was due to expire in the summer, succeeded Frank Lampard on 30 January 2023 with Everton in the relegation zone.

The team secured survival with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth on the final day of that season.

He then steered the Toffees to a 15th-place finish in the 2023-24 campaign despite the Merseysiders being deducted eight points for two separate breaches of Premier League financial rules.

The club have looked strong defensively this season, keeping seven clean sheets.

But they have struggled for goals, netting only 15, and are the second-lowest scorers in the league, with only bottom club Southampton having managed fewer.

This is Everton’s last season at their 132-year-old stadium before moving to a new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock.

The US-based Friedkin Group completed a £400m takeover of the club last month.