Life at Everton goes on, whoever’s name is on the door of the manager’s office and a full house for tonight’s FA Cup third round tie against Peterborough United proves that. Whatever your personal thoughts about Sean Dyche and his approach, both as a manager, and a man, – and it’s only fair to say that significant sections of the Blues fanbase want him gone – he faced up to the tough questions about his position in candid fashion when quizzed in his pre-match press conference for this fixture at Finch Farm on Tuesday.

Dyche said: “The club is always bigger than me, I’ve said that as soon as I got here. I see it that I am just a custodian. So far, I’ve handled it pretty bloody well, I think.”

Well for the first 18 months certainly, as the former Burnley boss masterminded Everton’s survival haven taken charge 20 matches into the 2022/23 season when the Blues were joint bottom of the Premier League and then last term when facing the unprecedented strains of two separate points deductions, he steered the team to an on-the-pitch points total that would have matched Brighton & Hove Albion in 11th place, albeit after surviving a club record winless streak that saw them fail to taste victory between Christmas and Easter.

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During the first half of the current campaign, by Dyche’s own admission, there have not been enough wins and that is why his position is being scrutinised.

There weren’t many posers about the intricacies of how Darren Ferguson’s League One side might play when ‘The Posh’ make their first-ever visit to Goodison Park in what is of course her final season after a glorious 133-year existence for the first purpose-built football ground in England that has played host to more top flight matches than any other venue; five World Cup games, including a semi-final; plus two FA Cup finals. Talking of another ‘Grand Old Lady’, the words spoken this week by the Peterborough gaffer’s famous father, Sir Alex Ferguson at the funeral of long-serving Manchester United receptionist Kath Phipps, put the ephemeral nature of football management into perspective.

Kath, who died in December aged 85, dedicated over half a century of service at Old Trafford, and Ferguson, her junior by a couple of years, was among a huge turnout of United names past and present for her service of thanksgiving at Manchester Cathedral, including current boss Ruben Amorim and his first team squad, plus the likes of David Beckham, Roy Keane and Nicky Butt. Ferguson said: “You can’t think of a moment when she didn’t enjoy her life. She was a really United person. I can’t think of a day she had off.

“55 years.. I did 26 and I thought that was unbelievable. She was a fantastic person, and I’m really glad all the players turned out. She would appreciate that.”

The reality is that while those in the dugouts come and go with alarming regularity, along with the players, it’s in fact loyal staff such as Kath who are, like the supporters, the heart and soul of any club, plus their biggest strength and that’s the case at Everton more than most.

For their first 61 years, the club didn’t even have a ‘manager’ in the sense that we now understand. There’s been the good, bad and the ugly picking the team at Everton over the decades and Dyche was one of eight different incumbents in as many years under Farhad Moshiri among an eclectic mix that included Kop Idol Rafael Benitez, but that still didn’t break the spirit of the Blues (it was still very painful mind).

Given all this damaging managerial churn, and the way they finished 2024 with four head coaches at Roma in the calendar year, new owners The Friedkin Group were understandably reticent to swap partners midway through ‘The Last Dance’ with the Grand Old Lady. Dyche has never glided across the floor with elegance but for a year-and-a-half, his tight grip at least kept her on her feet, despite several worrying wobbles.

With just three Premier League wins and 17 points at the halfway stage, bringing a meagre 17 points (less than half the total Everton finished on at the end of Dyche’s first season in 2022/23, which was the lowest equivalent haul in their history as they avoiding a first relegation in 72 years by a single goal), this term has seen far too many missteps. Hence the reports about TFG reviewing Dyche’s work.

West Ham United-bound Graham Potter was mooted as a potential candidate and person of interest for the Houston-based firm. While the Everton project might have been something the former Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea boss would feel comfortable embracing come the summer – providing they survive in the Premier League – when the team can be rebuilt due to multiple players being out of contract, PSR restraints finally being loosened and the move to their magnificent 52,888 capacity new stadium enabling them to play in front of the biggest regular crowds in their history, a move now could have been fraught with danger.

The 49-year-old from Solihull, who cut his teeth coaching in university football at Leeds before a rapid rise through the Swedish club pyramid is known for his tactical versatility, but as someone whose football philosophy is based around ball possession, this current Blues side would require a swift and dramatic change. Loyal but long-suffering Evertonians have endured more than their fair share of trauma and while it might have been ‘Harry’ Potter waving his magic wand, such a radical switch could have also ended up being ‘Brian’ Potter with the whole place going up in flames like the Phoenix Club.

For now at least, the FA Cup provides beleaguered Blues – who are again turning out in fantastic numbers to pack Goodison to the rafters – with some respite and the chance for their shot-shy team to hopefully build some confidence and score a few goals. Following the 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth where Dyche’s men failed to get a single effort on target, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher slammed what he described as their “awful” tactics and described them as a “throwback” to the 1990s.

The Bootle-born Sky Sports pundit insisted that the latter remark was not a criticism, and indeed Dyche himself, who like Carragher, played in that era, took no offence. In fact, this Everton team could learn a lot from their 1990s predecessors with 2025 marking 30 years since the Blues last lifted a major trophy, by far the longest silverware drought in their history.

Take a leaf out of the book of Joe Royle’s ‘Dogs of War’ from 1995. Put your relegation troubles to one side, pick your strongest team possible and make sure you’re up for the FA Cup because a run in the competition can be a welcome distraction and help lift the Goodison gloom.