Ian Ladyman slams ‘pathetic’ Alan Pace for snubbing Sean Dyche ahead of Everton win at Burnley
Journalist Ian Ladyman has slammed the “pathetic” conduct of Alan Pace after the Burnley chairman appeared to snub Everton manager Sean Dyche.
Pace, who sacked Dyche as Burnley manager in April 2022, did not mention his former colleague in his programme notes ahead of Saturday’s (16 December) match at Turf Moor.
Dyche had the final laugh as Everton ran out 2-0 winners and he later played down the issue, suggesting there were more important matters for both men to be dealing with.
Speaking on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast [18 December, 47m 53s], Daily Mail reporter Ladyman said: “As is normal at matches, the chairman of Burnley, Alan Pace, did a column in the programme but didn’t mention Sean Dyche.
“Whether it’s deliberate or accidental, it’s out of order. Those programme notes would have been edited – someone would have surely told him to put a line in on Dyche.
“If he’s done it deliberately then it’s pathetic, but we don’t know if he did.”
Move on
This may have been a simple oversight on Pace’s behalf, or possibly a case of just wanting to draw a line under the whole matter.
That is fair enough if that is indeed the case, as plenty of water has passed under the bridge since Burnley sacked Dyche some 20 months ago.
However, by doing that, it leads to these rather inevitable questions regarding Pace’s relationship with the man he parted company with.
Dyche gave a good response to questions he was asked on the matter after the match, rather than make a fuss about it.
Had the Toffees not won so comfortably in Lancashire, though, then he may well have given a different response to reporters.
In the same way that Burnley have moved on, so to has Dyche. And at Goodison Park, he appears to have found his perfect home.
In other Everton news, Danny Murphy was wowed by the performance of one Toffees player on Match of the Day.