Will Everton and West Ham’s New Years managerial changes pay off?
We are two weeks into 2025 and already two Premier League managers have been sacked. It’s good to see Everton and West Ham United’s New Years resolutions of ‘new year, new me, new manager’ are already in play.
On the 8th of January, former West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui left the club, and they wasted no time in appointing his replacement, the ex-Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter.
The very next day, hours before a home FA Cup tie against Peterborough United, Everton parted ways with Sean Dyche. Everton also acted quickly as; over the weekend, they completed the spectacular comeback of David Moyes as manager where he did such good work over an 11 year spell before his disastrous stint at Manchester United.
Everton
Sean Dyche, to his credit, did an admirable job with the squad at his disposal which included some of his old Burnley players. James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil became starters at Everton, just as they had been back at Turf Moor.
Younger players were also given opportunities to shine. Jarrad Branthwaite, for example, made it into the first team and became a key figure under Dyche before being linked with a big money move to Manchester United last summer.
Amadou Onana had a similar breakout under Dyche as he integrated himself as one of their most important players before a roughly £50 million move to Aston Villa in the summer of 2024, where he enjoyed a great start before getting injured.
Dyche is no longer there however, and David Moyes has his work cut out for him as they currently sit just one point above the relegation zone in 16th, a familiar position for Evertonians as they haven’t finished higher than 15th in four seasons.
He inherits a squad that, before Peterborough, had only managed one win in eleven games dating all the way back to October. That’s an abysmal run of form that would’ve seen most managers sacked, and Dyche’s sacking was probably the right decision.
To their credit, that run did include draws against Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea in that period. On the flip side they also lost 4-0 to an inconsistent Man United, and 1-0 against a meagre Southampton side, the Saints only league win of the season.
David Moyes, coming back as he does in the predicament that Everton currently find themselves in, has a lot of work to do if he’s going to guide the Toffees away from yet another close brush with relegation.
This is a good and safe appointment from Everton, who combine appeasing the fans with the return of a legendary figure with a style of football that isn’t too dissimilar from what Dyche operated with.
Another factor to consider is the stadium move to Bramley Moore Dock. They won’t want to debut their new stadium in the Championship, with their first season outside the top flight in over 70 years.
Whatever happens, Moyes will be hoping to emulate his past successes, and make sure Everton make it where they need to be. Luckily, he has the rest of the January window to both buy and sell players to that effect.
West Ham
West Ham didn’t get off to as good a start post-sacking as Everton did with, albeit a much more difficult game, a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa at Villa Park. They got off to a good start, scoring early, but ultimately conceded two goals in five minutes to lose the cup tie.
Their club statement read “The first half of the 2024/25 season has not aligned with the Club’s ambitions and the Club has therefore taken action in line with its objectives.”
He had only taken over at the beginning of the current season but, after only seven wins in 23 games, the decision was made to relieve him and his coaching staff of their duties.
His position was reportedly in doubt as far back as early December before a 2-1 win against Wolves earned him more time. The game itself was billed as “El Sackico” by the media due to the precarious situation both clubs managers found themselves in.
They then went on a four-game unbeaten streak before heavy defeats to Liverpool and an out of sorts Manchester City where they conceded nine across both games, which ultimately cost the Spaniard his job as West Ham head coach, and rightly so.
Graham Potter comes in off the back of a spell out of the game after his calamitous time at Chelsea. Still held in high regard, as demonstrated by his consideration for the England job, it seems like a fitting appointment for the Hammers.
He will be looking to instill a good culture at the club like he did at Brighton and take an underdog club with European ambitions up the table.
He’ll be hoping to turn the fortunes of the team around and quickly, which won’t be easy after they surrendered a 1-0 lead away at Aston Villa to lose 2-1 in his first game in charge.
The game between Everton and West Ham at the London Stadium in November actually ended 0-0. Neither team scoring and both coaches being sacked two months later seems somewhat symbolic.
Potter and Moyes will be hoping to fare better than their predecessors and, if that is the case, the Hammers and the Toffees will be vindicated in their decision to sack their previous managers.
Should it go wrong however, it may leave them wondering whether or not those decisions were made too quickly. Whatever the case, they’ll be hoping for the ‘new manager bounce’ to last as long as possible.
