After a week of chaos and instability it seems that some form of common sense has prevailed at Everton. Hopefully stability will follow.
The news cycle around the club has been non-stop during an exhausting week for everyone associated with the club. The first major event - the dismissal of Frank Lampard - came as little shock. His departure had felt inevitable from the final whistle of the 2-0 defeat to West Ham United, a game in which majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri watched Lampard in the dugout for the first time.
One win in 14 and with defeats at Goodison Park and against so many rivals in the lower reaches of the table made Lampard's position untenable. He was a good person, a pleasure to deal with and deserves huge credit for his work to galvanise the fanbase and help keep Everton in the Premier League last season. It is telling that despite the wretched run of results, supporters did not turn on him. But while his reign was undermined by the problems he inherited, it was hard to see where he and Everton went after that defeat at the London Stadium.
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While the exit of Lampard and his backroom team was not a surprise, few could have predicted the events of the following days. Arnaut Danjuma was set to become Everton's first January signing. Then he did not, joining Tottenham Hotspur in a remarkable 11th hour twist that is the story of the whole transfer window so far. Then there were reports the club was for sale - followed quickly by a 25 minute interview between Mr Moshiri and the Fan Advisory Board in which he insisted it was not. I was on a day off on Tuesday and, having just about sat tight through the Danjuma carnage, decided I could no longer sit on the sidelines as that night turned to madness. The FAB interview with Mr Moshiri had been recorded the previous week, so had anything changed between that and the release of the sale story? Mr Moshiri told me it had not.
Wednesday felt serene with just the small matters of a super-agent going on national radio to address claims about his influence at Everton and then news Anthony Gordon was an unauthorised absence from training amid speculation linking him to Newcastle. He again did not turn up on Thursday - the day Marcelo Bielsa flew into the UK from Brazil to discuss replacing Lampard.
Then, on Friday, clarity emerged from the chaos and, in fairness, I believe Everton got both big decisions correct. For all the appeal and excitement of having Bielsa in the dugout at Goodison Park, to appoint him would have been a gamble. He appears to have recognised that himself given his preference to take over with a full pre-season ahead of him. His high-octane style needs time on the training ground to coach - and time is one thing Everton certainly do not have. Sean Dyche's appointment, as yet unconfirmed but understood to have been agreed, felt as inevitable as Lampard's departure. He will enter the role accustomed to the battles of the lower half of the table and, one would think, ready to go from the start. He should make Everton hard to beat and while some will argue he is a pragmatic choice, Everton have little room for error on this call.
On Monday I wrote that, given the current circumstances at the club, he would be my choice and this certainly feels like a decision that makes sense. I have spent a lot of time - and words - focusing on decisions I believe Everton have got wrong this month. It is only fair I acknowledge when I think they have got one right and, however it came about and whatever happens next, Dyche feels like the club's best chance of avoiding a catastrophic relegation.
Anthony Gordon is close to a move to Newcastle United and it is also hard to disagree with that piece of business. I like Gordon - as a player and from what I have experienced of him as a person. After the hammering at Minnesota United during the summer US tour he went out of his way to speak to me while the rest of the team and Lampard sought respite after a performance so chastening because it highlighted how vulnerable the squad was as it approached the new season. I was present at the Blue Base community hub just before Christmas when he dropped off seven trolleys-worth of food and toiletries in a generous act he had not sought media attention for. And from the US to Australia I watched as he was repeatedly the last player to leave any event that fans attended.
But what happened this week, though we do not know the full details, is disappointing. To miss training twice - and at a time when his boyhood idol Leighton Baines was taking it - is not a good look and in the face of such acts of apparent defiance, Everton are right to pursue a deal. The fee of around £40m agreed with Newcastle United is good business for a player with clear talent but who has struggled to make a consistent impact this season. If Everton can use that money in the final days of the transfer window there remains a chance they could end this month stronger than when they began it.
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