Former Everton winger Aaron Lennon has made a new admission about Sean Dyche, admitting live on air that he is the angriest manager he ever played under.
Lennon spent three years of his career at Goodison Park initially loan spell before making the switch permanent in the summer of 2015 but played under Dyche during the final year of his career at Burnley in the 2021/22 campaign.
That season ultimately saw the Clarets relegated from the Premier League, while Everton narrowly avoided the drop to the Championship. But looking back on his career, Lennon has admitted that Dyche was the angriest manager he ever worked with.
Speaking on talkSPORT (14 December, 18:43) he said: “He wasn’t that angry, but I had to put Dychey there. I’ve seen him lose it a few times and he can lose it. When I say full-on rage, I mean full-on rage, like not happy, literally calling people out.
“He’s a big lad and he’s a scary lad when he’s in full flow. He wasn’t one of those managers where you couldn’t say anything back to him. He’d take you on, head on and he’d shake hands with you after so I respected him for that.
“You could have an argument with him and the next day it would be forgotten about.”
It’s safe to say that bit of anger and tenacity was just what the Everton dressing room needed as they headed into a relegation battle under Dyche’s management last season and his attitude will likely serve the Toffees well as they contend with a point deduction this season.
At times it has felt as though the footballing world has been fighting against the Toffees in their quest to avoid the drop to the Championship, but rather than sulk and mope about the pitch at Goodison Park, Everton have taken the challenge head-on and are fighting against it.
That attitude stems from the manager and it is clear from Lennon’s assessment of Dyche’s technique that he is the sort of boss to keep his players honest. He commands respect but also makes sure that the players also get his.
Dyche has received plenty of plaudits for the work that he’s done since arriving at Merseyside and it is hard to imagine that Everton could have appointed a better manager. Hopefully, he’ll finish the job this season and avoid relegation with ease.
