Sean Dyche has been sacked as Everton manager after less than two years in charge at Goodison Park.
The 53-year-old’s departure was announced just hours before Everton were 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, had been put in charge of the team for that game.
Right-back Coleman and former left-back Baines have made more than 800 Everton appearances between them.
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 of 19 games in the league this season.
A source close to the Friedkin Group – which completed a £400m takeover of the club last month – told BBC Sport the new owners had been in talks with Dyche over a couple of days this week, with both sides feeling they had reached the end of the road. Difficult negotiations took place over an exit package for Dyche and his staff before a settlement was reached.
The source added that the timing of Dyche’s departure, just hours before a game, was not ideal.
BBC Sport has approached Dyche—who said goodbye to his players at Everton’s training ground earlier on Thursday—for comment.
Speaking on Tuesday, Dyche said that communication with the owners had been “positive” with “no indication” they were looking to bring someone else in. He said they had been “very upfront and open” about expectations.
In his programme notes, external for Thursday’s tie with Peterborough, Dyche wrote he hoped his side could use the FA Cup game to “build some positive momentum.”
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.
