Possible target Dyche not looking for a return to management

16 May 2025 - Leicester Mercury

By JORDAN BLACKWELL jordan.blackwell@reachplc.com @jrdnblackwell

SEAN Dyche is not actively seeking a return to management but could be swayed if the right job comes up, he has said amid links to Leicester City.

Reports at the weekend named Dyche as a frontrunner to succeed Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose future at the King Power Stadium is in doubt.

Dyche has been out of work since being sacked by Everton in the winter, and said he turned down opportunities in the immediate aftermath of leaving Goodison Park.

But even after a few months out of the game, Dyche says he’s not looking to make a comeback right now.

The 53-year-old has, in the past, been highly regarded at City for the work he did at Burnley, and he was on the shortlist to replace Craig Shakespeare at the King Power Stadium in 2017.

Interviewed on Gary Neville’s The Overlap podcast, Dyche was asked if he was looking to return to management.

“Not at the moment. The timing is wrong anyway,” he said.

“Not my timing, but clubs are going to have this time to see what they’re doing and all that sort of stuff.

“I got offered a couple of things straight away and I just said: ‘No, that’s not for me now.’ Then I wait and see what comes. You never say never.

“It’s like with the Everton thing. I was going on alright, living my life, enjoying having a break from it, doing a few media bits and quite enjoying charity bits and things that I do.

“Then the Everton one comes up and you feel that bug.

“Or you don’t. You either get that taste in your mouth or you go: ‘That’s not for me.’ It’s not an exact moment in time.”

If City were keen on Dyche, the job would be different to one that he would now expect to be offered.

The task at City would be to get them promoted first of all, but Dyche is aware of his reputation as a firefighter, stemming from his years of keeping Burnley up.

He said: “I see other managers say it needs to be the right club, and I think: ‘All the best with that.’

“How are you going to find a job with the right owners, the right fans, the right stadium, the right training ground? All the best with that.

“I would imagine most people think I’m a firefighter now. So I get the big hose out and start doing that. When I went in at Everton, I knew why I was brought in.

“Businesses around the world bring in different CEOs or managers to do a different job and take them forward in a different way.

“Mine was to manage a semicrisis, or chaos situation.

“They were like: ‘Can you do us a favour and keep us in the Premier League and keep the money coming in?’ That was my remit, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

“If you want that job doing, I’m going to have a good go at it.

“I can’t guarantee it, but I’m going to get a good handle on it.

“No, I’m not scared of that. You’re the clean-up guy and then we’ll get one of the fashionistas in after you, no problem.”