It has almost always felt like one day Sean Dyche would manage Everton.
Even during his ten-year spell with Burnley, for which he is most famous for, the links were unrelenting, and the concept perfect.
After all, he was an uncompromising boss who would never be taken for a fool and stuck to a rigid system which he believed got the best out of his squad. It is what the Toffees have been craving throughout Farhad Moshiri’s reign, and only now have they finally got it.
What makes his job even more impressive is the hurdles he has navigated, from financial barriers to points deductions. He inherited a mess, but has gone about cleaning it up with minimal fuss.
And yet, the media are still happy to overlook his accomplishments at Goodison Park, solely because of that ten-point deduction, of which he played no part. Without it, they would be 12th.
Tony Bellew has finally sought to give the man his flowers.
Speaking live on talkSPORT (07/02/24, 9:25 am), the former cruiserweight champion of the world would first laud Jarrad Branthwaite for his miraculous rise to prominence.
However, he offered a grim prediction of his future.
But, his words on the Everton boss were far more positive, before then launching into a rant about the unjust points deduction.
The 41-year-old noted: ‘The gaffer has done an amazing job. Getting the lads round, consoling them when they had a record 10 points deducted from them.
‘Can I just get this off my chest, how can you get nine points deducted for going into administration but 10 points for a charge? It doesn’t make sense.
‘Your club has failed at every level when you go into administration and you only get nine points. We’ve overspent by a couple of quid and we get 10 points, it doesn’t make sense.’
When looking at Dyche’s tenure at Everton, it is very easy to quantify how he has improved them.
Last season saw the Toffees struggle to create any tangible chances, and as such they suffered. A tally of just 34 goals in 38 Premier League games made for an abysmal showing, and although that profligacy has persisted, their 41.08 expected goals tally already shows progress this season.
Not only that, but the squad is actually conceding less too, having shipped on average 1.5 goals per game last season. That again has been reduced to a far more respectable 1.13, and they currently have the joint-most clean sheets in the division.
On top of these numerical indicators, his work in restoring the connection with the fans by playing a brand of football that resonates with them is arguably his biggest success.
