Journalist gives ‘undermined’ Sean Dyche verdict amid 777 Partners latest

According to Liverpool Echo journalist Joe Thomas, Everton manager Sean Dyche is now aware that his “job is going to be undermined” amid continued speculation about the 777 Partners takeover and other external influences.

Dyche is under fire at Goodison Park after losing five of Everton’s first seven Premier League games and winning just one. The Toffees face fellow strugglers Bournemouth on Saturday (7 October).

Speaking on the Royal Blue podcast (6 October, 7m 21s), Thomas believes a combination of poor results, the loss of Alex Iwobi at the conclusion of the transfer window, and having to cope with continual takeover speculation began to take its toll around the time of the last international break in September.

“I think for the first time, it felt like for me that there seemed to be a realisation from Dyche that maybe he can’t control everything at Finch Farm, he can’t protect the players from everything, and that his job is going to be undermined at times, whether he likes it or not, by the wider situation at Everton,” Thomas said.

“We have to give him some room to operate in that as well. People talk about the home record, the win ratio and comparing him to former managers, but the circumstances and context in which he is operating is wildly different to a lot of them.”“I think for the first time, it felt like for me that there seemed to be a realisation from Dyche that maybe he can’t control everything at Finch Farm, he can’t protect the players from everything, and that his job is going to be undermined at times, whether he likes it or not, by the wider situation at Everton,” Thomas said.

“We have to give him some room to operate in that as well. People talk about the home record, the win ratio and comparing him to former managers, but the circumstances and context in which he is operating is wildly different to a lot of them.”

While Dyche is responsible for team selection, there are a lot of external factors that he has less say on.

For example, losing Iwobi late in the window, on top of Demarai Gray and Neal Maupay departing, has not helped.

Likewise the 777 Partners talk – or more specifically, questions regarding how the expected takeover will impact his job.

With another two-week break upon us, Dyche will just be desperate to pick up a much-needed victory over Bournemouth to lift the mood.

In other Everton news, Dyche has admitted to being baffled by the “strange” actions of one of his players recently.