Sean Dyche has labelled Everton’s transfer strategy during his time at the club as a ‘s***show’, while he has lauded new Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola’s management skills.
Dyche, speaking on The Good, the Bad and The Football podcast, reflected on his near two-year spell at Everton when discussing transfer windows.
The 55-year-old highlighted the difference between his long spell at Burnley where he was able to delegate recruitment with staff aware of his priorities and demands.
By contrast, Dyche explained he needed to become more involved in the recruitment process during his time at Everton, where the Toffees had been in the midst of a financial crisis as the club battled to stay in the Premier League.
‘When you are at somewhere a longer period like I was at Burnley, after year three or four we have got it up and running, it is working, everyone knows their roles,’ Dyche told Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
‘You can delegate better, once that trust builds and you are onto something, the CEO, data analysts and sports science knows what you are thinking, then it is really easy.
Sean Dyche claimed he was ‘constantly putting out fires’ at Everton with the club a ‘s***show’ during his time in charge
‘It is not so easy going to Everton, where it is like a f***ing s***show you know and it is constant putting out fires.
‘It was a whole different ball game, brilliant in a weird way, rewarding when you get it done.
‘There was a reward because you get the feeling of “I’ve played that little part in a really important time” and Evertonians now treat me way different than at the time.
‘When I came out they were ready for me to go, but when I meet fans now they are like “thanks for helping us through it”.’
Beto and Youssef Chermiti were Everton’s only signings in the summer of 2023 where the club paid a fee, with Ashley Young joining on a free transfer and Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison joining on loan.
Moise Kean and Alex Iwobi were among players to generate sizeable fees after being sold the same summer.
The following summer saw Everton sign Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O’Brien and Tim Iroegbunam in fee-paying moves, with Harrison, Jesper Lindstrom, Orel Mangala and Armando Broja joining on loan.
Amadou Onana was a significant summer departure with the midfielder joining Aston Villa in a £50m move.
Dyche has lauded new Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola as he complemented him for adapting his tactics to fit the Premier League
Dyche was sacked a month after the Friedkin Group completed their takeover of the club, with David Moyes appointed as his successor in January 2025.
This was followed by an overhaul of Everton’s recruitment staff in June, with the appointments of a technical director, director of scouting and recruitment, a head of football strategy and analytics, and head of player trading.
After his success in guiding Burnley into Europe was compared by Scholes to Iraola’s achievement last season at Bournemouth, Dyche revealed what impressed him about the Spaniard since moving to the Premier League.
Dyche highlighted how Iraola had adapted to the Premier League after a slow start, with the new Liverpool boss having quickly realised his intended style of play at Bournemouth was unlikely to yield results.
Iraola had seen his Bournemouth side thrashed 3-0 by Everton in October 2023, with his team failing to win any of his opening eight matches in charge.
Dyche pinpointed a major shift from Iraola towards ‘lower league football’ with higher quality players after that initial spell, with the Spaniard overseeing three impressive seasons at the club.
Dyche suggested Iraola had played ‘lower league football at a high level’ during his time at Bournemouth
‘Iraola basically plays lower league football, but at a high level. They turn you and turn you, and force you into submission,’ Dyche said.
‘High quality and high energy version.
‘I marvelled at it because we ran all over them at Everton when he was trying to play what you would imagine is the Spanish way.
‘I think he is brilliant at managing, as you could tell he went “this ain’t going to work”.
‘The next time we played them, he is bombing it down our throats, getting us turned, full backs keep turning and having to run back towards their own goal, centre halves thinking that they never get a break.
‘They looked a different outfit and he’s done a brilliant job.’
