Inside Everton's perfect week as frank Sean Dyche talks and surreal messages spark turnaround

Sean Dyche’s perfect week unfolded after the worst result of his managerial career.

Two weeks ago Everton were humiliated at Chelsea and the debate over his position reached its fiercest.

That all seems a distant memory after a remarkable turnaround for a figure who appeared at his lowest in the days that followed the 6-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

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After fielding questions over that collapse, which shocked staff and players and heightened fears of relegation, the backroom staff and squad returned to Merseyside under a shadow.

Difficult days followed at Finch Farm. Frank conversations and harsh words were exchanged. Dyche was all too aware the capitulation echoed performances that dogged the end of previous managers during the club’s struggles of recent years but told his players that, if they were trying to force him out, he was going nowhere. “Fit in or don’t”, James Tarkowski said he told the players in a meeting at the training ground.

Whether Dyche truly believed this approach would rally his dressing room is unclear. In the press conference ahead of the next game, the relegation six-pointer with Nottingham Forest, the assertiveness that sometimes sees him spar with reporters appeared to have gone. There felt a sense that crucial days were ahead. Dyche may have since tried to play down the claim the self-examination after Chelsea extended to his touchline dress sense, but his willingness to tap into superstition at a time of need perhaps offers an indication of his mindset at the time.

A pragmatist who