Everton have decided to sack Sean Dyche just hours before their FA Cup third-round tie at home to Peterborough United on Thursday evening.
New club owners The Friedkin Group have made the call to part ways with Dyche, with the club 16th in the Premier League table, following a miserable run of form.
Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman will take charge for the cup tie against third-tier Peterborough, with Coleman still part of the playing staff and Baines stepping up from his role as Under-18 head coach.
Pressure has been mounting on Dyche ever since the new ownership group’s arrival, coupled with a dismal run of form that has seen the Toffees win just one game since October 19.
“Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Howard and Billy Mercer have also left the club. The process to appoint a new manager is under way and an update will be provided in due course.
“Under-18s head coach Leighton Baines and club captain Seamus Coleman will take charge of first-team affairs on an interim basis.”
Dyche was placed in charge in January 2023 and has kept the club in the top flight for the past two seasons even though Everton were slapped with an eight-point deduction in the 2023/24 campaign.
Dyche’s last game in charge came in a 1-0 away defeat to Bournemouth, their eighth defeat of the season having failed to score in eight of their last 10 matches.
The Friedkin Group executive chairman Marc Watts said the American ownership group were “committed to leading Everton into an exciting new era both on and off the pitch” just over a month ago after their takeover was confirmed.
Everton are moving into a new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium next season on the Merseyside seafront and are desperate to avoid spending that first year in the Championship.