Everton have sacked manager Sean Dyche after a run of just one win from their last 11 games, leaving them a point above the Premier League relegation zone.
Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman are set to take charge of the FA Cup third-round tie against Peterborough on Thursday evening.
Sky Sports News understands that David Moyes is a contender to be a permanent successor to Dyche and make a return to the club he managed from 2002 until 2013.
Members of Dyche's backroom team Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Howard and Billy Mercer have also left the club.
The Toffees sit 16th in the Premier League and did not register a shot on target during Saturday's 1-0 loss at Bournemouth - their eighth league defeat of the season and they have failed to score in eight of their last 10 games.
Dyche took charge at Everton in January 2023, having had a near 10-year stint as Burnley boss between October 2012 and April 2022.
The Toffees survived relegation at the end of the 2022-23 season by just two points, securing a final-day victory over the Bournemouth.
The 53-year-old then kept Everton in the top flight last season, despite the team having eight points deducted from their total because of two separate breaches of the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Dyche spoke about the speculation surrounding his position at a press conference on Wednesday.
"I think the noise has grown very powerful here. It does do," he said.
"But we've had it before. We've had to push that away and move forward again. We'll keep working with the group, keep reassuring, showing the good side of what we can do.
"The players haven't lacked effort but it's obviously affecting them because you can see it in their performances.
"I think down at Bournemouth we looked tight. We couldn't really find anything that meant anything in the forward department.
"So we're trying to open that up, give them the freedom to play. It's a massive challenge."
Sky Sports News' Vinny O'Connor at Goodison Park:
"We knew Everton's new owners were assessing the situation after the defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend. We knew they had talked to other potential replacements, notably Graham Potter.
"Dyche had until the summer left on his deal, and the ideal scenario was for a safe pair of hands to get them through the season, maintain their Premier League status and then reassess in the summer.
"But the recent results, one win in 11 league games, failing to score in eight of them, means they have decided the only way to change things is with a new manager.
"The club is in limbo anyway because after the weekend result against Bournemouth, the owners weren't swift to back Sean Dyche or make a decision regarding his future.
"It enabled West Ham to steal a march on them and get a deal together which was enticing enough for Graham Potter to sign for them.
"Now Everton's managerial search starts again. We know there was unrest among Evertonians - the style of play, the lack of goals, the output of their forward line with (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin only on two goals and 15 without scoring.
"We've had the odd situation here where the opposition manager has lost their job, remember David Moyes coming back with Man Utd and losing his job soon after?
"Brendan Rodgers lost his job as Liverpool manager not long after a Merseyside derby - but I can't remember a manager losing their job so close to kick-off.
"It has dragged out a bit since the weekend, and that defeat to Bournemouth. Everton fans would've liked to have seen action taken sooner, and some kind of decisiveness."
Sky Sports News' Alan Myers:
"The prospect of relegation in their first six months and beginning life in their brand-new stadium in the Championship next season was too much to leave to chance.
"Of course, that remains a concern and their choice of replacement for Dyche has to be a balance between the need to look to the future but also the necessity to secure the short-term safety of their Premier League status.
"The Friedkins have a huge job ahead of them, both on and off the pitch, the club has been in a state of paralysis for the last few years due to the prolonged takeover drama but it is also a club that has been trophyless for nearly 30 years, the longest period without silverware in its long and illustrious history.
"The decision to change manager is just the first of many big decisions that will need to be made in the coming months as TFG look to bring the glory days back to this once main contender of the English game
"The fans want and expect better. Managing Everton comes with an expectation as big as any club in the Premier League but for a few, ask any former player or manager about the pressure of playing at a club which, before the inception of the Premier League, was known as one of the 'Big Four'.
"Of course, it's been a long time since Everton were a part of the elite and they've never looked like adding to their nine league titles during that time but that expectation, misguided or not, has never gone away.
"There is a generation of supporters that have not seen success in any form, left only with a sense of anemoia and the generations before them have been left bewildered by the failure to keep up with, not only seasoned big clubs but the newcomers which have overtaken Everton as Premier League achievers.
"Whoever takes over from Dyche has a wonderful opportunity, with a fantastic new stadium, financial stability with the new owners and the prospect of a fresh start to rebuild an English football institution, but only after a fight to save it from a more pressing challenge."
Sky Sports News' Alan Myers:
"The decision to change manager is just the first of many big decisions that will need to be made in the coming months as TFG look to bring the glory days back to this once main contender of the English game
"The fans want and expect better. Managing Everton comes with an expectation as big as any club in the Premier League but for a few, ask any former player or manager about the pressure of playing at a club which, before the inception of the Premier League, was known as one of the 'Big Four'.
"Of course, it's been a long time since Everton were a part of the elite and they've never looked like adding to their nine league titles during that time but that expectation, misguided or not, has never gone away.
"There is a generation of supporters that have not seen success in any form, left only with a sense of anemoia and the generations before them have been left bewildered by the failure to keep up with, not only seasoned big clubs but the newcomers which have overtaken Everton as Premier League achievers.
"Whoever takes over from Dyche has a wonderful opportunity, with a fantastic new stadium, financial stability with the new owners and the prospect of a fresh start to rebuild an English football institution, but only after a fight to save it from a more pressing challenge."
Sky Sports' Peter Smith:
Everton's major problem this season has been goalscoring - and it has cost Dyche his job.
Everton have the second-lowest total for goals scored in the Premier League this season, with their tally of 15 only more than that of rock-bottom Southampton.
Their shot conversion rate is below seven per cent - but it is not just their finishing that is the issue. They also rank lowly for the number of shots they are having and quality of chances they are carving out.
Those issues have been particularly apparent over the past two months - since the start of November, Everton have scored just once from open play. They have also failed to score in eight of their 10 Premier League matches in that time.
In total they've failed to score in 11 of their 19 matches this term, the worst record in the division.
Their defeat at Bournemouth was the second time this season they have failed to even have a shot on target - again, the worst record in the Premier League.
Everton's points return so far this season - with just three wins from 19 matches - is comparable with the starts made to the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons by his predecessors Rafa Benitez and Frank Lampard, who both went on to be sacked at around this stage of the campaign. Dyche has now joined them in having his deal cut short.
