Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell has lept to the defence of manager Sean Dyche, saying the Toffees boss “is working under very difficult circumstances” after the club’s worst start to a league season since 1958.
Dyche’s side currently sit bottom of the Premier League and are pointless after four games with a goal difference of minus nine.
Remarkably, the 3-0 opening day defeat to Brighton and follow-up 4-0 loss to Tottenham barely rank amongst the drama of Everton’s next two Premier League results, as Dyche’s men threw away two-goal leads to succumb to 3-2 in back-to-back matches against Bournemouth and Aston Villa.
The side’s only win of the season came against Doncaster in the League Cup, a competition they were knocked out of by Southampton in midweek after Ashley Young’s vital missed penalty decided the shootout following a 1-1 draw.
Thelwell is keen to express his support for Dyche, who dragged the side away from a relegation fight last season following a points deduction for overspending.
“Sean and I work very closely together, our offices are a metre apart so we are talking regularly and consistently about what things we can do, how we can use the resources we have available to try and make things better going forwards,” he told BBC Radio Merseyside’s Giulia Bond.
“Sean has a responsibility for the preparation and performance of the team and fundamentally the results. My responsibility is the support services that sit around that. It is about us talking through some of the performance problems we have got.”
“I can promise everybody that there is no stone being left unturned in terms of trying to rectify our current situation. He [Dyche] is working under very difficult circumstances.
“We still have ownership and financial situations to resolve so that makes it very difficult for a manager when we want to take that next step.”
Everton are due to move into their new stadium at the start of next season. It seems unthinkable that the Premier League ever-presents might do so outside of the top division, but results will need to improve if they’re going to escape another relegation dogfight after teetering the last few years.
A potential takeover continues to loom over the club that has been hamstrung by a lack of progress under Farhad Moshiri’s control. American businessman Josh Textor recently told Sky Sports that a deal is close to being reached for his Eagle Football Holdings to assume power.
“Nobody wakes up and thinks, ‘I get to buy Everton’,” said Textor, who has stakes in multiple other clubs. “But if you decide football is what you want in your life, and then somebody comes along and asks you if you want to become the owner of Everton, it’s like someone asking you if you want to be President of the United States. Of course you do.”
Everton’s expected deal with 777 Partners to buy the majority stake in the club collapsed back in June. The Everton Shareholders’ Association called the potential deal a “farce” and urged the club to find a solution to a situation that isn’t making Dyche’s work any easier, reported by BBC Sport.
The Toffees face Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, before returning to Goodison Park for a home clash with Crystal Palace next week.
Failure to gain any points from these two matches will heap even more pressure on Dyche, and indeed the decision makers at the club who will need to decide whether or not he’s the right man to battle through the season ahead.
Thelwell’s support comes at an important time–solidarity was key to pushing on last year–but the manner of Everton’s defeats are making calls for Dyche’s exit louder than ever.