New Forest boss Dyche's funniest moments: Worms, curries and Messi

Get the word out there, Sean Dyche is back in the Premier League. The 54-year-old was announced as Nottingham Forest's third manager of the season on Tuesday, replacing Ange Postecoglou in the dugout at the City Ground.

Postecoglou was sacked after an ill-fated 39 day reign at Forest, where he failed to win any of his eight games in charge. With Forest 18th in the table after eight games, Dyche will need to immediately hit the ground running.

He arrives with Premier League pedigree, having kept Burnley in the top flight for six successive seasons between 2015 and 2022. His two-year stint at Everton is less heralded but he did a fine job in keeping the Merseyside up amid the backdrop of points deductions and ownership instability.

However, Dyche's status as a cult figure is as much for his persona as his performances.

Here are some of his funniest and most iconic moments

The time he had to deny he eats earthworms

One of Dyche's teammates from his playing days, Soren Anderson, went on a Danish podcast and claimed that his iconic-gravelly voice is down to him eating earthworms.

The story picked up traction on social media and Dyche was asked to clarify matters in a news conference while he was Burnley boss.

"It's fair to say I didn't actually eat the worms. It was a bit of banter I used to have -- I've done it here and Watford too -- that you get a nice, big juicy worm hanging out of your mouth," Dyche said.

"It wobbles, wriggling around. Look as if you're chewing it and then spit it out. Soren has probably taken it a bit too far. He's a good lad."

For good measure, Dyche said his voice is the way it is because of "smoking car exhaust pipes" and "eating gravel for breakfast."

When he wanted boring managers to be slapped with 'wet fish'

In a routine news conference ahead of a clash against Manchester City in 2021, the then-Burnley boss professed his love for lookalikes, or as he called them "lookie-likey."

When one of the reporters said he looks like Simply Red's Mick Hucknall, Dyche said: "It's uncanny you say that, apparently I look very much like Chris Evans too. Personally speaking I can't see it, but apparently I do.

"Thank you very much for reminding everyone of that clear fact that I, obviously, do look like Mick Hucknall."

Dyche spoke of how much he enjoys sitting at the pub with his friends and looking around for look-alikes, and narrated an incident of the time he spotted a man who looked like the protagonist from the animated movie "Up." The quote eventually made its way to the media section of the National Football Stadium.

He urged reporters to ask managers around the league if they play the "lookie-likey game" and if they give a boring answer, said they should be slapped with "wet fish."

THE PRESS | WARNING: This isn't your average press conference! 😳😅

Why he was the reason Messi never played in the Premier League

During an interview with Talksport, Dyche narrated a hilarious incident involving Steve Bruce and Pep Guardiola at a Premier League meeting soon after the Covid lockdown.

Dyche said he asked Guardiola about the rumours of Lionel Messi joining Manchester City, and retold his response in his best Catalan accent.

"'Sean, Steve, I tell you this. Lionel, he said no way can he come to Manchester City. Because I tell Lionel it rains. It rains and rains. And when it stops raining, it rains again.'

"Then he goes, 'Lionel, on a Monday night, you have to go to Burnley, Sean's team. And they go bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.' Brucey was crying!"

"I went, 'That's exactly what we're going to do, Pep. You warned him correctly.'"

Starring in a music video

In an interview to ESPN's Mark Ogden in 2018, Dyche revealed himself to be a big music aficionado and attending raves in Manchester during the 1980s.

Last year, he took this interest a step further and starred in a music video for UK band Blossoms.

The video begins with Dyche, who was Everton boss at the time, giving the band members a pep-talk for a "special job." The band set off in a van on Dyche's orders before a breakdown sees them give the manager a call from a roadside telephone. Another pep talk sets the band on their way again.

Blossoms' lead singer Tom Ogden said the collaboration came about after the band met Dyche during a Rick Astley concert in Manchester, and had a long conversation over their musical tastes

His deep love for Indian food

Dyche's passion for music runs nearly as deep as his love for Indian food. The gruff Englishman's expertise in the cuisine came came to the fore in a now-iconic clip during an interview with BBC Radio Lancashire.

Dyche's eyes lit up as he was handed an assortment of food delicacies, from mushroom rice to pakoras to lamb curry.

"See, you know the oiliness? I love that. I know you're not meant to love it. I know it's not very good for you, but oh, it's so good that is," he said of the curry.

"Yeah, it should be naturally out there meat and then the ghee, isn't it? That should be the mixture."

Dyche also showed he isn't an Indian food "casual." When one of the hosts says he also has a box of chickpeas, Dyche quickly says "Chana, I believe it's called," referencing the traditional name of the dish.

He opened the box to take a whiff before proceeding to gasp in delight.

"Ah coriander, I love coriander."

Honestly, what a man.