Monday 30 October 2017 21:14, UK
Jamie Carragher believes Sean Dyche must take the Everton job if he is offered it, because he may not get a better chance to step up.
The Burnley manager's stock is high after a good start to the Premier League season, having kept them in the league last term with a 16th-place finish.
After Everton's sacking of Ronald Koeman, Dyche is Sky Bet's second favourite behind Sam Allardyce to be the next Toffees boss, and Carragher said on Monday Night Football that Dyche may not get a better opportunity to take a step up in the managerial ladder.
Carragher said: "If he has been, or gets offered the Everton job, he has to take it. He has to. Maybe Burnley fans watching this tonight don't want to hear that, but he has to. Sean Dyche won't go to a team in the Champions League in this country. Everton are the next step.
"One thing you must remember is that for a long time Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe have been the two up-and-coming English managers in the Premier League. Eddie Howe hasn't been mentioned once for this job; he finished ninth last season with Bournemouth.
"But because they're struggling this season, he hasn't been mentioned, because it's all about timing. Sean Dyche could easily be in that position next season. It's miraculous what he's done with Burnley, but with the finances he could easily be in the bottom three next season.
"When the iron is hot I think you've got to strike, and you want to get to the top. The next step for him would be an Everton."
Both Burnley and Dyche have remained tight-lipped about reports linking him with Everton, who are currently being managed by David Unsworth on a caretaker basis.
From Burnley's perspective, Gary Neville added on MNF that the Clarets must do all they can to keep the 46-year-old at the club for at least the remainder of the campaign.
"The net spend (£35m over five years) is ridiculously low, and the wages are the lowest in the league.
"When we talk about managers, we quite often talk about philosophies and values, but whenever you see this Burnley team, you have absolutely no doubt they're doing exactly what Dyche has told them to do, every single inch of the way. There's nobody veering or thinking they can step outside the team ethic.
"The value of staying in this league is enormous. If you're Burnley, you've got £100m at stake, you've got a guy who, maybe guarantee is too strong a word, but it's close to guaranteeing you staying up.
"If you're in that Burnley boardroom - they're shrewd and they know what the cost is of going down - they might just be chucking a load of money at him and saying: 'Give us seven more months, don't leave us without a manager for the rest of the season'. They'll be desperate to do a deal with him to stay."
