Everton have confirmed the appointment of former Burnley boss Sean Dyche as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Sky Sports News revealed on Friday that Dyche had been chosen by the Everton board as Frank Lampard's successor, after also holding talks with former Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa.

Dyche is the seventh permanent manager hired by Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri since he took over the club nearly seven years ago.

Dyche told the club's official website: "It's an honour to become Everton manager. My staff and I are ready and eager to help get this great club back on track.

"I know about Everton's passionate fanbase and how precious this club is to them. We're ready to work and ready to give them what they want. That starts with sweat on the shirt, effort and getting back to some of the basic principles of what Everton Football Club has stood for for a long time.

"We want to bring back a good feeling. We need the fans, we need unity and we need everyone aligned. That starts with us as staff and players.

"Our aim is to put out a team that works, that fights and wears the badge with pride. The connection with the fans can then grow very quickly because they're so passionate.

"There is quality in this squad. But we have to make them shine. That's the job of me and my staff.

"We want to change the shape of this club going forward, remodel it in our style, but in a way that we can win.

"That's the task in front of us - make sure we're building, tactically and technically, giving players organisation, allow them the freedom to play, to go and enjoy their football because it's brilliant when the team's playing with a smile, but we've got to win."

Lampard's last game in charge was a 2-0 defeat at fellow strugglers West Ham on January 21, which kept them second-bottom on 15 points after 20 games - two points below the safety zone.

The Merseyside club had been floundering under the former England international, having last won a league game in October when they beat Crystal Palace 3-0 at home.

Lampard was appointed by Everton in January 2022 after he managed Chelsea from 2019/2021 and Derby County in the second tier in 2018/19, but Dyche will now be tasked with arresting the slide towards the Championship.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright said: "Kevin [Thelwell, director of football] and I spent some valuable time with Sean over the past few days and he quickly convinced me that he has exactly the right attributes to make himself a great Everton manager - and a man who could inspire our fanbase. And Farhad felt the same when he met him, too."

Dyche's first game as Everton boss will be at home to Premier League leaders Arsenal on February 4.

Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O'Connor at Everton's Finch Farm training ground:

"We spoke about the problems of making that Bielsa appointment: The fact he wanted a long period of time to get his philosophy across. We also knew he wanted a bit more pace in the side.

"But we also knew that Sean Dyche had held positive talks with Everton earlier this week and impressed during those talks. Now they've decided that Dyche is the right fit for Everton moving forward.

"Everton wanted that manager with Premier League experience - Bielsa and Dyche both fit the bill in that respect - but Dyche has had a raft of experience that Everton faces to stay in the Premier League this season.

"The key fact will be the ability to work with this group of players and how he can get his message across. Bielsa has a very unique style of the way he wants to go about things, so he would want pace into the side. But Dyche has been able to turn his hands in a different way at Burnley.

"Over a long period of time on a shoestring budget, Dyche was able to keep Burnley in the Premier League and now he's charged with that task to keep Everton in the Premier League.

"It is so tight at the bottom, there is the scope to get out of it. Thirty-five points will be able to secure safety given how the Premier League table is at the minute. He will also have a week or so to build up to his first game against Arsenal on February 4 at Goodison Park."

Former Everton defender Alan Stubbs told Sky Sports:

"I wish Dyche all the best in the job, but secondly, he's got an enormous job to do. Anyone who knows football or is a fan of any club can see the enormity of the task ahead of him. But knowing the way he is, I'm sure he'll tackle it head on. He's not soft, he's an experienced manager.

"The one thing he's got to get out of these players is he's got to pick them up as they look devoid of confidence and Dyche has to give Everton an identity.

"Over the last few months, I think Everton fans don't know what this team is, whether they're a counter-attacking team, one that will play through the thirds. He's got to get a tune out of the players.

"All eyes will be on the players now as the manager's gone. They were right behind the manager but the performances didn't back it up.

"I hope Sean can really get into these players because some of them need a kick up their behinds. They need to get back to the levels that some of them showed early on.

"We're too easy to play against and are conceding too many goals, which has told us there are problems in the team. The one thing with Dyche's teams is that first and foremost, they're hard to beat.

"He did a really good job at Burnley and it was only towards the end that it started to change. He's got to bring an identity and a solidity to the team.

"They need a simplicity to how they play. Don't overload them too many things, get them out there and do the fundamentals. You can look to build on that. When they've been in games at 0-0, they've defeated themselves but with Dyche they'll be in there until the very end.

"This group of players is not good enough to keep Everton up so they will need help."

There is an old saying: A week is a long time in football. For Evertonians, the last week has been an eternity.

Even those that lived through the desperate and barren days of the 1970s cannot recall a week where the club has looked more disjointed, fractured and confused.

It truly has been a terrible time for the Blue half of Merseyside, with the imminent appointment of Sean Dyche just a faint glimmer that some form of stability will return in the dressing room.

However, the same cannot be said for the boardroom protests planned before and after the upcoming game against Arsenal against the Everton hierarchy.

Read Alan Myers' reporter notebook in full here

February 4 - Arsenal (H), kick-off 12.30pm

February 13 - Liverpool (A), live on Sky Sports, kick-off 8pm

February 18 - Leeds (H), kick-off 3pm

February 25 - Aston Villa (H), kick-off 3pm

March 5 - Nottingham Forest (A), kick-off 2pm

March 11 - Brentford (H), kick-off 3pm