In the first big call by its new American owners, Everton fired manager Sean Dyche on Thursday just a few hours before the struggling Premier League team played an FA Cup match.
Everton made the move with the team one point above the relegation zone and having won just one of its last 11 games.
More surprising, maybe was the timing of the announcement, which came around three hours before Everton hosted and beat third-tier Peterborough 2-0 in the third round of the FA Cup.
"It’s never nice when a manager loses his job, but then everyone had to get on with their jobs as well — there was a game of football in front of us all," said Leighton Baines, the club’s under-18s coach who along with captain Seamus Coleman was tasked with leading the team on an interim basis.
The storied club — a nine-time English champion which has been without a major trophy since 1995 — was bought last month by the Texas-based Friedkin Group in a deal reportedly worth in excess of 400 million pounds ($495 million).
Fronted by Dan Friedkin and his son Ryan, the group also owns Italian team Roma and has made itself unpopular with supporters of the Serie A club for making contentious management changes — including firing Daniele De Rossi, the club’s beloved former captain, early this season.
Removing Dyche might have been necessary, however, with Everton on a dreadful run of form and having scored in just three of its last 11 matches. With 15 goals from its 19 games, Everton is the second-lowest scorer in the division and has plunged to just one point above the bottom three.
“The process to appoint a new manager is underway and an update will be provided in due course,” Everton said in a statement.
David Moyes, who managed Everton from 2002-13, has been linked with the vacancy. In October, Jose Mourinho — the current coach of Fenerbahce — spoke openly about wanting to return to England to manage a team near the bottom of the standings and not in UEFA competition once his time in Turkey came to an end. Mourinho has coached Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham in the Premier League.
Dyche was in charge for nearly two years, during which he maintained Everton's status as an ever-present in England's top division since 1954. His style of play was pragmatic and often turgid, relying on not conceding goals more than providing entertainment — and that might be something the Friedkins look to change.
Everton’s next Premier League game is on Wednesday against Aston Villa.
Baines said he had no information about who would be in charge for that game.
“Not too sure about that right now,” he said. “Things moved so quickly today. Definitely haven't had time to think about what comes next just yet.”
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Everton's Beto, center, celebrates scoring during the English FA Cup third round soccer match between Everton and Peterborough United at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Thursday Jan. 9, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Everton caretaker managers Leighton Baines, left, and Seamus Coleman consult on the touchline during the English FA Cup third round soccer match between Everton and Peterborough United at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Thursday Jan. 9, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko, left, and Bournemouth's Evanilson in action during the English Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Everton at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, England, Saturday Jan. 4, 2025. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)
An aerial view of the newly constructed Everton Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock, Liverpool, the soon-to-be new home of Everton Football Club, Monday Dec. 30, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erik and Lyle Menendez will have a new shot at freedom after 35 years behind bars for murdering their parents, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduced the brothers’ sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life. They’re now eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26. The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.
The brothers showed little emotion as they appeared via livestream video and spoke for the first time in court following the ruling.
“I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle said in a statement to the court. “The impact of my violent actions on my family ... is unfathomable.”
Erik also spoke about taking responsibility for his actions and apologizing to his family. “You did not deserve what I did to you, but you inspire me to do better,” he said.
The judge said he had given “long thought” to what sentences the brothers deserved, taking into account all of the arguments.
“I do give them a lot of credit for changing their lives,” Jesic said.
He said he was especially moved by a letter that was submitted by a prison official who wrote in support of the resentencing, something he had never done for any inmate in 25 years.
“I’m not saying they should be released, it’s not for me to decide,” Jesic said. “I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years, that they should get that chance.”
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time. While defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
The case has captured the public’s attention for decades — and last year, the Netflix drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story ” and documentary “The Menendez Brothers” brought new attention to the case. Supporters of the brothers have flown in from across the country to attend rallies and hearings in the past few months.
“Today is a great day after 35 years,” defense attorney Mark Geragos said.
“We have evolved,” Geragos said. “This is not the '90s anymore. We have a more robust understanding of a lot of things.”
The defense began by calling Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of Erik and Lyle, who testified that the brothers have repeatedly expressed remorse for their actions.
“We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough,” Baralt said. “They are universally forgiven by our family.”
Another cousin, Tamara Goodell, said she had recently taken her 13-year-old son to meet the brothers in prison, and that they would contribute a lot of good to the world if released.
“They are a real family,” Geragos said. “Real people who have lived through unimaginable horrors. And I’m hopeful and glad that we’re one huge step closer to bringing the boys home.”
Diane Hernandez, who also testified during Erik and Lyle’s first trial, spoke about the abuse she witnessed in the Menendez household when she lived with them and the so-called “hallway rule."
“When Jose was with one of the boys … you couldn’t even go up the stairs to be on the same floor,” Hernandez said of the father.
Attorneys for the brothers proved they had been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a lesser sentence.
The judge reduced their charges to manslaughter, and gave them time served to allow them to be immediately released.
Los Angeles County prosecutors argued against the resentencing. They said the brothers have not taken complete responsibility for the crime. “They have not come clean” about their crimes, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.
Geragos emphasized that the purpose of resentencing is to “encourage rehabilitation.”
“That is the law,” Geragos said, “not relitigate the facts of the crime as the D.A. wants to do.”
The previous LA County District Attorney George Gascón had opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers last fall by asking a judge to reduce their sentences. His office said the case would’ve been handled differently today due to modern understandings of sexual abuse and trauma, and the brothers’ rehabilitation over three decades in prison.
A resentencing petition laid out by Gascón focused on the brothers’ accomplishments and rehabilitation. Since their conviction, the brothers have gotten an education, participated in self-help classes and started various support groups for their fellow inmates.
A former judge who said he considered himself tough on crime, Jonathan Colby, told the court that he was impressed with the programs the brothers started during their time in prison to provide aid and care for older and disabled inmates. He got to know them over a series of prison visits.
“There’s not many prisoners I meet like Erik and Lyle that have such concern for the elderly,” he said.
Former inmate Anerae Brown cried as he testified about how the brothers helped him heal and get on the path to rehabilitation, leading to his release from prison.
He called the programs they started “Menendez University."
“I have children now,” he said. “Without Lyle and Erik I might still be sitting in there doing stupid things.”
This story has been updated to correct the ruling was issued Tuesday, not Friday, and fixes the spelling of Baralt's first name.
Family and supporters of Erik and Lyle Menendez leave court for a lunch break during a hearing in the brothers' case Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman is surrounded by media outside the Van Nuys Courthouse during a hearing in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Attorney Mark Geragos, center, who represents Erik and Lyle Menendez, leaves the courthouse during break from the brothers' resentencing hearing Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Natasha Blasick holds a sign in support of Erik and Lyle Menendez outside the Van Nuys Courthouse during a hearing in the brothers' case Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Media stage outside the Van Nuys Courthouse for a hearing in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman arrives in court for a hearing in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez leave a courtroom in Santa Monica, Calif., Aug. 6, 1990, after a judge ruled that conversations between the brothers and their psychologist after their parents were slain were not privileged and could be used as evidence. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
FILE - This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Dept. of Corrections via AP, File)
