Dyche causes 'Shock' among Everton dressing room - report

Sean Dyche caused shock in the Everton dressing room with his decision to leave a fit Jarrad Branthwaite out of the side against Southampton, according to talkSPORT.

Alex Crook reported via the outlet’s website on 5 November that Toffees players were taken aback by the manager keeping the star centre-back among the substitutes for the 1-0 defeat on 2 November.

Branthwaite, 22, missed the start of the season as he recovered from summer groin surgery and Everton went winless for the first five games, until he returned to the line-up for the campaign’s maiden victory, 2-1 over Crystal Palace on 28 September.

A subsequent thigh problem picked up in training knocked him out again to be replaced by Michael Keane, yet the youngster has been on the bench for the past two matches since becoming available again.

Everton players shocked by Michael Keane start vs Southampton

Toffees players want to win as much as the fans and they will be well aware that leaving arguably the best player in the squad on the bench when he is fit likely makes that harder.

Keane, 31, is a lightning rod for criticism at times, sometimes unfairly, but even he would probably have been surprised to stay in the XI once Branthwaite was back.

Michael Ball criticised the decision to leave the England international out in his Liverpool Echo column on 4 November, suggesting such decisions may have caused Dyche to lose the faith of his players.

When the manager is essentially auditioning to keep his job beyond the end of the season under the new Dan Friedkin ownership it doesn’t seem a smart way of going about that to get beaten by the Premier League’s bottom side while not picking one of your biggest stars.

It is true that Keane was a big part of the 2-0 win at Ipswich on 19 October and perhaps he earned the right to keep his place for the next game.

But when that proved to be a dismal 1-1 draw at home to Fulham, where it took Beto’s 94th-minute equaliser to escape a miserable loss at Goodison Park, most would expect Dyche to field his strongest possible side next up to take advantage of the struggling Saints.

The Everton boss has his merits and has ultimately kept the club in the top flight in difficult circumstances, but when he is far from universally loved among the fanbase he sometimes doesn’t help himself.

A key theme of the summer was keeping hold of Branthwaite in the face of interest from Manchester United, but there was little point if he is going to sit on the bench when needed.

In other Everton news, Dyche could yet be set for a long-term stay as Toffees boss after the takeover.

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