Sean Dyche expected to be named Everton manager ahead of Marcelo Bielsa

Sean Dyche has emerged as the leading candidate for the vacant mangerial position at Everton and could be announced as manager later on Friday.

The former Burnley manager had been locked in talks as he met with the clubon Thursday after they had narrowed down their search to Dyche and former Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa.

Dyche is set to be appointed as the Toffees’ new manager today, despite the fact that owner Farhad Moshiri preferred Bielsa, who was unsure about taking over mid-season.

Dyche, seemingly, will return to the Premier League having been sacked from his post with Burnley in April 2022. This was after 10 years in the job where he oversaw two promotions to the top-flight, achieved European football and saw plenty of iconic games at Turf Moor as he constantly and consistently upset the odds.

His best achievement during his time at the Clarets has to be their seventh place finish in the league - a feat that ranks as their highest top-flight finish. This secured European football, as they qualified for the Europa League.

The successes was achived on a relatively shoestring budget. In fact, looking back at his signings made during that time, the most he spent on a single player was the signing of Ben Gibson from Middlesborough for a fee around £16m.

The club relied heavily on major sales of key players during this period, with Chris Wood, Michael Keane and Andre Gray all going for fees over £20m. Dyche’s coaching ability has been there for all to see over the course of his career, as he kept a financially inferior club like Burnley competitive in the Premier League.

His only roles in management were coaching Watford U18s before then securing the head coach role and guiding the club to an 11th place finish in the Championship. Despite the Hornets’ best finish for four years, new ownership saw him dismissed at the end of the season.

This led him to the Burnley role in which he managed another 11th place finish after taking over from Eddie Howe. However, his next season saw him lead the club to it’s best ever start to a season as they eventually secured promotion in 2014. Their stay lasted only a single season in the Premier League but they quickly bounced back the following season, securing promotion at the end of the 2015-16 campaign.

Given his extensive period in the Premier League with Burnley, working with limited funds and in a role where he had to get the best out of his squad through clever tactical ploys, he appears a good fit for Everton right now.

Overall, his record stands at 258 matches in charge with 72 wins, 68 draws and 118 losses in the Premier League. As well as 249 goals scored and 364 conceded - with an average of 1.1 points per game - which only just edges out Lampard’s Everton record.

There’s also players he has previously worked with such as James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil, who were key at Burnley. But he may well want to move late in the window for a player or two and there’s still the overriding issue of whether Anthony Gordon stays or leaves Everton.

In terms of a coach who can set a team up to be solid and compact as well as maximise the ability of a squad, Dyche is a perfect fit for what is another relegation battle. Tasked with turning around their dismal form, fans will be hoping there is that famous ‘new manager bounce’ with Dyche as he will have around a week to work with his new squad ahead of the visit of Arsenal on February 4.