Everton make Sean Dyche sack decision before Aston Villa clash as Jose Mourinho watches on

Everton have sacked manager Sean Dyche before Wednesday's Premier League clash against Aston Villa.

The Toffees have endured a wretched run of form with a run of five games without a win seeing them hover above the relegation zone after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth. Recent reports have suggested that new owners the Friedkin Group were growing uneasy with Everton's form, hinting that a change could be made.

And the Merseyside club have now made the decision to part company with Dyche, hours before Thursday night's FA Cup clash against Peterborough. The former Burnley and Watford boss leaves Everton one point above the bottom three after 19 matches played.

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Coaches Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Howard and Billy Mercer have also left the club. Under-18s head coach Leighton Baines and club captain Seamus Coleman will take charge on an interim basis.

It is unclear who will replace Dyche on a permanent basis and weather a replacement will be confirmed for next week's fixture against Unai Emery's team. Reports on Wednesday have claimed that former Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho could be appointed at Goodison Park.

The Portuguese is currently manager of Fenerbache, but has recently admitted he is "ready" to return to English football.

"The best thing I have to do is when I leave Fener is that I go to a club that doesn’t play in UEFA competition," he said after the Turkish club's draw against Man United in October.

"So a club at the bottom in England who needs a coach in two years, I’m ready to go. I don’t want to speak anymore about it. I want to speak about the game."

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