Everything Sean Dyche said ahead of Everton reunion with Nottingham Forest – ‘Really messy’
Sean Dyche will return to Everton with his Nottingham Forest side on Saturday.
Dyche was sacked by Everton in January, with David Moyes replacing him in the dugout as the Friedkin Group decided to make a change.
The ex-Everton man has since joined Nottingham Forest, taking over at the City Ground, after Ange Postecoglou was dismissed.
He will make the trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time on 6 December, and here is what he had to say.
What did Sean Dyche say about Everton return?
Dyche reportedly wants to bring Dwight McNeil from Everton to his current club, but his full attention will be on the Premier League clash at the moment.
Dyche insists that he still takes pride in his time managing the Toffees, but claims that it was a hard time is his career.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on 4 December, he said: “It was hard, I said openly it was a very hard situation to manage, and I was very proud of what we all did not just me.
“As a manager you do take the heat and the criticism, but there were so many people involved in making sure that the club going through a really messy period on and off the pitch for many different reasons, to navigate a way through it.
“The time had probably come, that is the way it goes, the players were just dwindling a little bit, the heat was on, and I thought a change of face would work, and it has done.
“Moyesy, with his history with the club, and his know-how of the Premier League, he has done a good job, as I thought he would do, and they have spent some money, they needed to invest.
“I worked hard there, very happy with the work I did there overall, and as I said, many others, I left on good terms with everyone there.
“This is the way it goes, we move forward and I have done, my time there is done, and now it is about Nottingham Forest football club, and that is all I am interested in.
“The Toffees are a strong bunch in many ways, it may be good, bad or indifferent [the reaction he gets], but they know deep down the work that we did, I know there is plenty of them because they all came and told me.
“Whatever reception I get is not really relevant, there is a lot of good people there, who work very hard, and there is still people, they know they can trust me, and I certainly trust them.
“A lot of good links made there through a very difficult period.”
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What is Dyche’s record against Everton?
Dyche has managed against the Blues on 14 separate occasions when he was in charge of Burnley, and he has a mixed record in that time.
The 54-year-old has managed six wins and one draw against the Toffees, but has lost seven times against his former employers.
The most forgettable result against the Blues was a 5-1 drubbing at Turf Moor in the 2018-19 campaign, in which Lucas Digne struck twice.
The most memorable was probably the final encounter between the sides in the 2021-22 season, when his side came back from a 2-1 deficit, with a Maxwel Cornet strike winning the game in the 85th minute.
He will hope to level up the record, so he has the same amount of wins as losses, but Moyes’ side will not make that easy for him, when he returns to Merseyside.
The Blues are seeking to keep up their momentum after a brilliant 1-0 win away at Bournemouth, and it will be a tough test for Forest, given their current predicament.
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