No more “touch and go” updates, player surnames with a ‘y’ on the end or 4-4-1-1: Sean Dyche is gone.

Everton dispensed with the services of their gravel-voiced head coach on Thursday. While the sacking itself wasn’t a massive shock, the timing – hours before the FA Cup tie against Peterborough – was odd.

As ever on this site, thoughts turn towards Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

The identity of Dyche’s replacement is yet to be confirmed, at the time of writing. Whether it’s hot favourite David Moyes, Jose Mourinho or someone else, we’ll have a Scout Report on whoever takes the Everton hotseat.

Until then, here are a few kneejerk thoughts on the potential FPL repercussions.

DEFENSIVE RETURNS TO DROP OFF?

Love him or hate him, Dyche did know how to organise a defence.

Since the start of last season, only three clubs have conceded fewer goals (excluding promoted/relegated teams):

He hit double figures for clean sheets in five separate seasons at Burnley and Everton, no mean feat for perennial strugglers. Only Arsenal could beat the Toffees’ total of 13 shut-outs in 2023/24.

Will the incoming boss have as much success with the same backline? Moyes’ reputation for dour football might seem like a good match – but West Ham were some eight clean sheets short of Everton’s tally last year.

Jordan Pickford (£5.0m) et al were set to be big transfer targets from February onwards, especially with a mooted ‘double’ to come in Gameweek 24.

There might be a bit more reticence now – but you’d think the incoming boss wouldn’t want to completely abandon the defensive mindset that gives him an excellent platform to build from.

POTENTIAL BOOST FOR SALAH TRIPLE CAPTAINERS?

If Everton are to become a less cautious outfit, and we do get a Double Gameweek 24, then the appeal of deploying the Triple Captain chip on Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) in that double would surely increase.

The Toffees have proven adept at shutting out the biggest teams this season, doing so recently against Arsenal and Chelsea. Even Manchester City could manage just one goal.

Backing Salah to go nuts against Dyche’s pragmatists would have been more out of hope than expectation.

But should we see signs of a more open approach from the outgoing manager’s successor over the next month, there’d be more confidence when hitting ‘activate’.

CAN SOMEONE ELSE GET A TUNE OUT OF THE ATTACK?

Ultimately, Everton’s chronic goal shortage is probably what cost Dyche his job.

The Toffees had hit the nadir even by their standards, failing to score in eight of their former manager’s last 10 league matches in charge.

Compare each side’s goal count from 2023/24 onwards and you can see where the problems lie:

While some might be of the opinion that you ‘can’t polish a DCL’, you could still give your team more of a chance to find the net.

Iliman Ndiaye (£5.4m), one of Everton’s shining lights this season, only averages a chance every 76.3 minutes. Is there a way of getting him closer to the goal, i.e. by not farming him out to the left?

It isn’t just bad finishing that’s to blame – the Toffees are bottom for xG in 2024/25.

If Dyche’s replacement can show a bit more attacking ambition, potentially bolstered by a competent January window signing or two, then it could reawaken Fantasy interest in an attack that has long been ignored due to their conservative approach.

THE DEATH OF HELPFUL EVERTON TEAM NEWS?

Dyche was widely mocked – even in the intro of this piece – for his ‘touch and go’ responses to some team news questions.

But he was actually one of the more helpful managers for team news in the division. Compare the updates he gave in his farewell presser on Wednesday to the inscrutable replies served up by Mikel Arteta on a weekly basis.

Moyes, if he is to return, also wasn’t exactly renowned for being open and honest with West Ham’s injury situation.

Even ‘touch and go’ was fairly reliable shortcode for ‘probably isn’t going to make it’.

Dyche mostly eschewed rotation at Everton, too, another enemy to Fantasy managers. The former Burnley boss has probably never actually said ‘utter woke nonsense’ but if he had ever uttered it, it likely would have been about resting professional footballers in busy periods.

ASSISTANT MANAGER CHIP – NEW MANAGER BOUNCE?

Ever since the uncloaking of the Assistant Manager chip, there’s been plenty of discussion about picking erstwhile strugglers who are improving.

A win over a team at least five places higher in the table gets you an extra 10 points. Even a draw hands you bonus points:

Crystal Palace have been held up as the poster boys for this approach. After early-season struggles, they’ve suffered only two defeats in their last 12 league games. Still in 15th, they look more of a match for teams in the top half of the table – as demonstrated in last Saturday’s draw with Chelsea.

Oliver Glasner gave the Eagles such a shot in the arm after his appointment in 2023/24. Can the new Everton boss follow suit?

Ideally, if you were going into the as-yet-unconfirmed Double Gameweek 24 with the intention of handing the Assistant Manager chip to Everton’s head coach, you’d want:

a) Everton to have some momentum behind them and fortunes to be improving and;
b) Palace and Manchester United to be 11th or higher, with Everton still in 16th

Then you’d have a gimme of a home clash with Leicester City and three shots at getting that +10/+5 bonus:

I’M SEEING DOUBLE HERE… FOUR SEAMUS COLEMANS

This article’s ‘and finally’ coda.

Hats off to x.jim.x for the following comment earlier today:

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