The Warm-Up: Now that Ronald is gone, who next for Everton?

And so, Ronald Koeman is the latest to be carefully deposited into the Big Sad Former Managers Bin, after Everton’s latest hammering was unfortunately timed to coincide with a visit from big cheese Farhad Moshiri and he was thus handed his cards on Monday. It was the kindest thing, in the end: Koeman may have had a shave, so didn’t look quite so much like a down on his luck Eastenders character, but the eyes were hollow and glum. He is free, but Everton now have a few decisions to make.

The first and most pertinent is, of course, who next for the big chair. Sean Dyche is the current favourite, and probably the most logical choice. He would add a little gumption and solidity to a team who have been sliced through like warm brie at points this season, and if nothing else it might stop him banging on about English managers not getting chances at big clubs. For a bit, at least.

Other contenders are David Moyes, although that is more one for the practical jokers among us, David Unsworth who would be an interesting if perhaps sentimental choice, Carlo Ancelotti, Marco Silva, Sam Allardyce, Ryan Giggs (!) and Thomas Tuchel. Some of those contenders are a little more spurious than others, some would be more fun, some would be grimly tedious, but they will all probably think twice about taking over an imbalanced squad currently in the relegation zone.

That last point is worth considering too. As has been said, Koeman should only carry part of the blame for Everton’s ropey start, given that his best centre-forward/player was sold in the summer and replaced with three No.10s. It’s a bit like taking the steering wheel off a car and putting three stereos in. Steve Walsh, hitherto regarded as some sort of scouting genius after finding Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante, oversaw the spending of the Romelu Lukaku money on such a curious set of players, so his position might be under threat too. Either way, it will be an interesting few weeks at Goodison Park.

It might have been possible for Fifa to think of a sillier name for the award they give to the finest footballer on the planet, but it would’ve taken some doing. The Best sounds like the sort of thing you give to a slow kid who tries hard at school, not the most impressive player of the greatest sport there is.

Still, that’s what they chose, and obviously Cristiano Ronaldo won the top men’s award, while Lieke Mertens was named top women’s player. Real Madrid head bod Zinedine Zidane and Netherlands coach Sarina Wiegman claimed the coaching gongs, although those who follow the work of Duncan Castles – part journalist, part Jose Mourinho cheerleader – will be interested in the vote from the Scottish jury.

There were assorted other awards – fair play, goalkeeper, best team etc – as well as the Puskas Award, given to the best goal, which was incorrectly awarded to Olivier Giroud’s scorpion kick against Crystal Palace. Honestly, you can’t trust democracy sometimes…

The England job seems like something of a thankless task at the moment. A team which, after the Eni Aluko business, is ridden with splits and factions, and then there’s the obvious problem of having to work with the FA. Thus, with the FA looking around for someone new, Emma Hayes has been among the favourites.

But she’s got a pretty sweet gig at Chelsea: they’ve got a brilliant squad which frequently allows her to leave players as good asP Fran Kirby on the bench, about as much financial backing as a manager can hope for in the women’s game and a degree of stability that you certainly wouldn’t get with England. It’s not a surprise therefore, that she has agreed a new three-and-a-half year contract at her club.

“This is a place which I feel very much a part of and it is very dear in my heart,” she said. “I couldn’t see myself anywhere else and it makes absolute sense to commit to the club going forward. I couldn’t be happier at this point in my career.”

Quite right. Onto the next one then, England.

Here’s Ronald and Erwin Koeman in…erm, well, happier times, we guess.

This, quite clearly, is the act of an actual lunatic, but the sort of lunatic we like here at the Warm-Up.

Not content with that whole sorry hoopla over the Mark Sampson business, David James fires out another clammy take…

Interesting guy, is Norwich City manager Daniel Farke. Paul Doyle went down to see him and wrote about it in the Guardian.

Happy 32nd birthday to Wayne Rooney. You could argue that his extraordinary debut for Manchester United, when he scored a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in the Champions League, was the individual high-point of his career. So let’s take a look back at that.

Let’s all gather round and have a great big glug of Carabao: because it’s the Carabao Cup! Highlights include Norwich’s trip to Arsenal, Leicester facing Leeds and the best team in the Premier League playing the best team in the Championship, as Wolves visit Manchester City.