arrivadyche. everton part ways with their manager sean dyche hours before their 3rd round fa cup tie. point to prove for potter. former chelsea and brighton boss graham potter appointed the new west ham's manager. difficult draw for djokovic. the 24—time grand slam champion with a potential blockbuster quarter final against carlos alcaraz on the horizon. hello and thanks for joining us on sportsday. we start with football and the news that everton have sacked their manager sean dyche. the 53—year—old's departure was announced on thurdsayjust hours before everton hosted league one side peterborough in the third

round of the fa cup. dan ogunshakin looks back at a tumultuous time on merseyside. where am i looking? it was a relationship _ where am i looking? it was a relationship that _ where am i looking? it was a relationship that began - where am i looking? it was a relationship that began like l where am i looking? it was a l relationship that began like so many others — with a smile. sean dyche joined many others — with a smile. sean dychejoined everton as manager injanuary sean dychejoined everton as manager in january 2023 sean dychejoined everton as manager injanuary 2023 and his impact was immediate. commentator: everton win for the first— commentator: everton win for the first time in nine premier league — the first time in nine premier league games. day one for sean dyche — league games. day one for sean dyche has — league games. day one for sean dyche has gone very well, indeed _ indeed. prior to his indeed. — prior to his arrival, the club was once again flirting with regulation. but despite seven defeats in his first 18 games, dyche led everton to safety. comment and everton have survived _ comment and everton have survived again.— survived again. thele toing season brought _ survived again. thele toing i season brought consolidation. survived again. thele toing - season brought consolidation. a 15th place finish in the league despite a 6—point deduction for profit and sustainability breaches and a first goodison win against liverpool in 1a years. win against liverpool in 14 ears. ~ , , , years. the 244th merseyside derb is years. the 244th merseyside derby is season _ years. the 244th merseyside derby is season defining - years. the 244th merseyside derby is season defining for. derby is season defining for everton, _ derby is season defining for everton, and for liverpool.

a disastrous start to the current campaign piled the pressure on, but despite an upturn in results, supporters began to tire of the style of football and were casting their eyes at a former flame. with everton now under the stewardship of new owners and next season moving to their brand new stadium, the focus is firmly on the future — one they decided didn't include sean dyche. as we just heard in dan's report, the future didnt include sean dyche, but everton�*s immediate future saw captain seamus coleman and under—18 head coach leighton baines put in temporary charge starting with their fa cup 3rd round tie with peterborough just a few hours after the announcement of dyche's sacking. everton winning 2—0 at home despite the day's events. it's not been that difficult, you know. this is what we do, you know. this is what we do, you know. this is what we do, you know. players play football. coaches coach. it was just a little bit different

today. 0bviously, just a little bit different today. obviously, the circumstances in which it happened. it's never nice when a manager loses hisjob. but then, everyone had to get on with theirjobs as well. there was a game of football in front of us all. so we had to do what we know how to do. two other matches in the fa cup on thursday. fulham putting watford to the sword 4—1 at home, while cardiff, who sit second from bottom of the championship, beat hosts sheffield united 1—0 to book their place in the 4th round. 0ne match in the scottish premiership as rangers missed the chance to take a bigger dent out of celtics lead at the top of the league with a 1—1 draw at dundee. rangers are currently 15 points behind celtic. so while everton wave goodbye to theirs, west ham are saying hello to their new manager. after 20 months out of management, graham potter has returned to the dugout, signing a 2 and a half year deal at the london stadium. potter says he'sjoining a club with a big traditions and a big history — and says it feels a bit like christmas and that he's raring to go again in the premier league. joe lynskey has more. this is the opening he's waited

nearly two years for.— nearly two years for. good morning- _ nearly two years for. good morning. at _ nearly two years for. good morning. at west - nearly two years for. good morning. at west ham - nearly two years for. good - morning. at west ham united, otter morning. at west ham united, potter has _ morning. at west ham united, potter has eemerged. - morning. at west ham united, potter has eemerged. the - potter has eemerged. the coaching journey started in sweden's fourth tier. where taking them to europe show the potential much at swansea city and played what he's doing. but he was sacked the same season. potter has been out of work since april 2023. and has been linked tojobs at since april 2023. and has been linked to jobs at home and abroad. butjoining west ham united, he feels is worth the wait. , ., ., ., wait. they need to have a good rest and break. _ wait. they need to have a good rest and break. and _ wait. they need to have a good rest and break. and in - wait. they need to have a good rest and break. and in that - rest and break. and in that time, you can imagine that you speak to different owners and directors but it is important that i chose the right option from here and the right time. and itjust felt right from here and the right time. and it just felt right for from here and the right time. and itjust felt right for me. he takes on a club that sat seven points above the drop zone, but who still have

ambition. with david moy�*s west ham winning the europe aconference league, but he left in the summer when then finished ninth. lopoterge was brought in. but £100 million of signings have so far brought mixed results. potter's first job is to then them survive. i think having stepped away, it's identified a few more challenges that we probably thought were there. i would like to think that potter will be able to get the best out of some of the players that we do have. i think for potter to come in, hopefully he can stabilise thing and help us to have a better second—half of the season and kind of build from there and hopefully next season bring us back to where we would hope to be at the beginning of this season. i’m beginning of this season. i'm comfortable _ beginning of this season. i'm comfortable in _ beginning of this season. i'm comfortable in my own skin. i'm comfortable in my own skin. i'm comfortable with who i am and what _ comfortable with who i am and what i've — comfortable with who i am and what i've done and life is about _ what i've done and life is about taking the successes and accepting the set backs and accepting the set backs and accepting the set backs and accepting the defeats and accepting the defeats and accepting the defeats and accepting the mistakes or whatever you want to call it. and — whatever you want to call it. and dealing with it and making you stronger.

and dealing with it and making you stronger-— you stronger. potter's time at chelsea lasted _ you stronger. potter's time at chelsea lasted less _ you stronger. potter's time at chelsea lasted less than - you stronger. potter's time at| chelsea lasted less than seven months. it was the first major set back in his long rise as a coach. but after frustration, there's been 20 months of reflection. west ham united is graham potter's next project. the draw for the australian open has been made and novak djokovic is going to have to do it the hard way in melbourne if he is to win his 25th grand slam title. djokovic could play reigning french open and wimbledon champion carlos alcaraz in the quarter—finals and could then have to face world no 2 alexander zverev in the semi finals. 0n the women's side, two matches between former grand slam champions with two—time winner aryna sabalenka up against former us open champion sloane stephens in the first round, while coco gauff will also start against former australian open champion and fellow american sofia kenin. 0ur tennis correspondent russell fuller is in melbourne for us.

jacob fernley�*s first experience of the australian open will come against nick 0pen will come against nick kyrgios, assuming the australian has recovered from an abdominal strain. there will be quite an atmosphere for fernley who is starting to make waves having only graduated from texas university christian couegein from texas university christian college in may. 0nly from texas university christian college in may. only one british seed there, emma radacana. and there's a real incentive forjodie burridge and for cartel. if they win the first round matches, they are very likely to be facing coco gauff and aryna sabalenka in the second round. novak djokovic has a tough draw. he could face carlos alcaraz if they both get to the quarterfinals. and his new coach, andy murray, has been talking about that partnership for the first time today, saying how he was on the golf course in late september when he had a missed call from djokovic. and having called hip up djokovic. and having called hip up and then spoken to his wife, who he says was very, very supportive, he felt that he couldn't miss out on what is a

pretty unique opportunity and experience. and he's very aware, too, that having been quite aggressive towards people in his player's box when he was competing on the tour, he could be about to get a taste of his own medicine. it might be novak djokovic who was ranting at him in stressful moments. well, that's fine, says murray, as long as he's trying 100% and doing his best, he can express himself every way he likes. rugby union, and england head coachjohn mitchell has named zoe aldcroft as captain of the red roses for 2025. the gloucester—hartpury lock will lead the side in the upcoming women's six nations, and in the home rugby world cup, which kicks off in august. she replaces marlie packer who's been made vice—captain. here's our rugby reporter sara 0rchard. clearly, john mitchell has been thinking about this very situation possibly since the red roses notjust played during the wxv campaign in

autumn, but maybe the all the way back to the last six nations campaign. being an england captain at a home world cup comes with a huge amount of responsibility, both on and off the pitch. but arguably, your captain is going to be somebody who is one of the first names on the team sheet, and that is matly what zoe aldcroft provides. she was the world player of the year in 2021. she's recently helped gloucester—hartbury deliver the last two tita nsles gloucester—hartbury deliver the last two titansles and they'll be in the mix this season again. she is an excellent rugby player, and to that reason, you can see why she's been given the captaincy, while packer didn't start every match for england in the last year, backin for england in the last year, back in 2024. at the time, we were told that it was because packer had to manage her body. she's 35 years old now. that's not to say that she can't compete at the highest level — she certainly can. but it was that understanding that maybe she needed a bit more rest than other players did. now, it's not to say that marlie packer

is not going to be involved in this world cup campaign at all. she has incredible attributes. she has incredible attributes. she was a world player of the year only back in 2023. but she just, perhaps, isn't quite up there when it comes to such a competitive back row position. i mean, packer really does have to focus on securing her place in the team. raise ray a reminder of the top story. sean dyche has been sacked as everton manager. you can get all of that from the bbc sport app or from our website. that's bbc.com/sport. from me and the rest of the team at the bbc sport centre, goodbye. hello there. winter continues to hold a firm grasp across the country. so it will be a freezing friday in store. yes, a frosty start with some

freezing fog as well first thing in the morning, gradually lifting to sunny spells. but as we head towards the weekend, something a little less cold on the horizon but still under the influence of high pressure. still the wind direction coming from the north. the only exception into the far southwest. here we've got cloud and showery outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow for a time down to the southwest, some freezing fog lingering in the southeast, and some icy stretches. they will lift to sunny spells into the afternoon. could still see a few coastal showers across the far north and east, but on the whole, not a bad afternoon. a little more cloud pushing through. wales, the midlands and southern england are showery rain continues to the southwest here. we'll see highs of seven degrees, but after that bitterly cold start, temperatures in manyjust a couple of degrees above freezing and that is going to lead to another cold frosty start into the weekend.

once again, our weather front starts to drag more cloud in from the west though, here preventing those temperatures from falling too far but in sheltered central and eastern areas once again, a widespread hard frost on saturday morning. so saturday will gradually see more cloud pushing in on this weak weather front. not that much in the way of rain on it. a few spits and spots of showery rain from time to time. central and eastern areas starting off crisp with some sunshine but clouding over from the west. a little less cold here, where we've got that blanket of cloud, but don't expect a dramatic change quite just yet. we're looking at highs of around 7 or 8 degrees, with the best of the sunshine again between 2 and 4 celsius. now, as we move out of saturday into sunday and the week ahead, it looks likely that the wind direction will change as southwesterly flow will drive in weather fronts to the far north and west, but mild air right across the country. so we will start to see a change by the middle part

of the week for all of us. takes its time in arriving across central and southern england, but by the middle of the week we're back to double figures. but there will be a little bit of rain to go with it. take care.

live from singapore, this is bbc news. whole neighbourhoods burned to the ground — devastation in los angeles with wildfires still raging completely uncontained. at least seven people have died and nearly 200,000 people are fleeing their homes. also in the news donald trump is set to be sentenced tomorrow after the supreme court denies his bid to delay his hearing. and former us president jimmy carter will be buried in his hometown of plains, georgia, after a state funeral in washington.