By George Overhill

19th Sep, 2023 | 10:10am

Sean Dyche's Everton torn apart by shocked pundit with 'awful' team bound for the Championship after Arsenal defeat

Everton are “awful” and it “hurts” to watch them under Sean Dyche these days, according to Tony Cascarino who “cannot believe how far they have fallen”.

The former Republic if Ireland international wrote in his column for The Times website on 18 September that the Toffees have become a “bad version of Burnley” under the ex-Clarets boss, as he tore apart the struggling team following the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal a day earlier left them with one point from five games this term.

The pundit was scathing in his criticism of the way Everton play at the moment, accusing the team of producing only “anger and boos” from the 40,000 fans who turn up to watch them.

Cascarino said: “I remember the days when Everton were truly a big club. They were one of the Bank of England teams held in the highest regard for decades for their stature, style and achievements. I cannot believe how far they have fallen in how they play. They are awful.

“To watch them play hurts. They have no style and purpose and no inspiration. They play like a newly promoted side striving to survive in the top flight. They sit back and sit back and their only tactic to rescue games is to go long ball. They play Championship football and if this carries on that is where they will end up.

“Sunday’s match was a good case in point. When they went behind against Arsenal, all they could do was to hoof it forward. Even worse, it wasn’t even effective for them as they didn’t lay a glove on Arsenal…

“About 40,000 fans turn up at Goodison to see their team, but what they see does nothing to help them lift the team. It produces only anger and boos. I don’t know how this great club have sunk so low.”

Withering

It may seem harsh to attack a team so strongly after losing by the odd goal at home to a side that pushed the treble winners deep into the season for the Premier League title last year.

Dyche is also presiding over a club that has been engulfed by chaos and uncertainty off the pitch since long before he arrived, and has continued throughout, while transfer windows have repeatedly seen important players leave.

That said, the team is playing pretty awfully so far this season, with only a few players performing on any given day and the results have been terrible.

Frank Lampard at least got to the start of October last year before the wheels came off but so far this time around it feels like Dyche is struggling to even get the wheels on in the first place.

It is unfair to park the entire responsibility for that at the manager’s door, and if one like him who built his reputation as a proven Premier League boss who had operated on a small budget for years can’t wring results out of this side then it is fair to wonder who can.

There genuinely looks to be enough to get a win here or there with this squad, even allowing for the lack of depth and the constant exits, with Demarai Gray and Alex Iwobi’s late departures this summer the latest.

Confidence is clearly low among the players and the fans alike, and with a takeover that is proving far from universally popular looming perhaps it is inevitable that distractions would take their toll, but they are going to have to find some points from somewhere.

In other Everton news, Jim White shares what he heard over the weekend about 777 Partners that he calls “red flags to say the least”.