Richard Keys questions Sean Dyche snub at Everton in torrid Goodison verdict
Richard Keys has questioned why Sean Dyche hasn’t been nominated for the Manager of the Season award after his work in “torrid” conditions at Everton this term.
The beIN Sports host wrote on his blog (13 May) that the Toffees boss had “worked wonders” on the pitch despite the extensive disruption off it, pointing out that without the eight points deducted at a pair of profit and sustainability hearings the club would have the same number of points as Bournemouth, where Andoni Iraola has been shortlisted.
Keys has implied that there is a bias against British managers after also complaining that Wolves’ Gary O’Neil wasn’t given a nomination, with Iraola joining the bosses of the Premier League’s top four sides in the running for the award – Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and Aston Villa’s Unai Emery.
He wrote: “If we give Sean Dyche Everton’s eight points back the Toffees also have 48. After a torrid campaign off the pitch – Dyche has worked wonders on it. No nomination for him either though. I wonder why?”
Everton boss unfairly overlooked at Goodison Park?
In light of Dyche’s excellent end to the campaign the decision not to nominate him appears all the more unjust, with just one defeat in the past eight league fixtures, albeit a disastrous one at Chelsea.
That run, which includes five victories, ultimately saw off relegation danger with plenty of room to spare and allowed the club to withdraw their second points deduction appeal.
To be a full 14 points clear of the bottom three with two games left even after losing eight points due to off-field issues, while presiding over a squad that has surely sold more quality than it has added in recent seasons is an excellent return, especially with an entire season of takeover uncertainty and funding concerns thanks to the 777 Partners situation.
In that context Dyche looks just as worthy as Iraola, and likely more so than Klopp whose farewell tour at Anfield has somewhat fizzled out unremarkably.
At the same time however it was only a couple of months ago that Everton went three and a half months, and 16 games, with just a solitary victory in the FA Cup to show for it, and the Toffees boss was under growing pressure from his own fans amid concerns over his tactics and substitutions.
That sort of run looks bad whatever the circumstances so questions were valid even allowing for the points lost and the chaotic context, and the boom and bust nature of the season under Dyche may have counted against him when end of year award candidates are bizarrely chosen before the campaign is over.
On the other hand, it has been suggested by Joe Thomas at the Liverpool Echo (12 May) that the real reason why Dyche, like Jarrad Branthwaite for the young player award, was ignored owed more to the Premier League not wishing to highlight the club’s plight this term, due to their own role in causing it.
In other Everton news, the Toffees now have “influential and well resourced” figures at work behind the scenes as new takeover bidders await.
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