Sean Dyche: I think my presence is no longer needed am leaving

There has been a torrent of water under the bridge both on and off the pitch since Everton’s emphatic Merseyside Derby victory over Liverpool on this day in 2010. But some 14 years on, the subsequent stories of the rivals from across Stanley Park prove cautionary tales to the next set of prospective American owners.

Having saved the Reds from the clutches of their hapless compatriots Messrs Tom Hicks and George Gillett following a bitter courtroom battle in London, New England Sports Ventures – who would later become Fenway Sports Group (FSG) – rode into the city as lauded white knights among Kopites but would leave Goodison Park with their tails between their legs after what proved to be a bruising first encounter with Premier league football.

It’s not like John W Henry and Thomas Werner had to run the gauntlet of being plonked in the middle of the Gwladys Street and they received a cordial enough welcome from their hosts, including chairman Bill Kenwright, as they took their places in the Goodison directors’ box for their inaugural taste of the English game.

But it must have been a humbling baptism of fire for a couple of billionaire businessmen used to getting their own way. Like the most recent Merseyside Derby on April 24, when Sean Dyche steered Everton to their first home success in the fixture since this encounter, the final score was a 2-0 win for the Blues in what proved an all-too-rare stroll in the park for them in a head-to-head that has become disgustingly one-sided in favour of their neighbours in recent times.

However, while goals six months ago from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, prompted chants of “You lost the league at Goodison Park,” from home fans – departing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, previously unbeaten against Everton in front of spectators, went into the match with only goal difference keeping his side off top spot – back in 2010, the Reds incredibly found themselves joint bottom of the table after being felled by strikes from Tim Cahill (34) and Mikel Arteta (49).