It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

Referring to the Final rf France were poor.

France were below par and Portugal played their best game in the final...it's as if without Ronaldo : they raised their game !...and at the end as he was on the sidelines almost on the pitch adding to the portugese team like an extra man on the field...

France won the most matches (6) and scored the most goals in tournament (13). Second best were Wales 4 wins and also second top scorers (10).

England won the same number of games in 90 minutes as champions Portugal , an impressive 1 each and both against Wales.

New England manager should first of all get rid of Rooney nicely as he has been a great servant for England but he hasn't got another tournament in him. Next job is to pick 18 core players and stick with them through qualifying and next tournament leaving 5 places up for grabs for anyone making a good impression or youngsters coming through on a match by match basis. Then make a plan and stick to it and play players in their correct positions.

England should be up there with Germany , Spain , Italy etc competing for honours at tournaments consistently year after year not getting dumped out in qualifiers like at the World Cup or being embarrassed by a team at the Euro's with a population around the size of South Glamorgan's.

There might be hope Dil !......

Wales have overtaken England in the latest FIFA world rankings after Euro2016

You say that Haystack as if it's something to be proud of or an achievement of note

Wales did themselves proud make no mistake about that......England underperformed as usual...played well in a few games with no creativity around the box and unfortunately the whole team slumped in the final game.......too many team changes did not help....

Everton have secured the acquisition of Leicester City's highly-rated head of recruitment, Steve Walsh, as the club's new sporting director.

The 63-year-old, who was described last season by Sir Alex Ferguson, as the most influential figure in the 2015-16 title race, fills a new role at Goodison Park and Finch Farm, one that new major shareholder Farhad Moshiri had identified as a vital part of his plans for the club following the dismissal of Roberto Martinez and prior to the appointment of Ronald Koeman as manager.

Walsh, who once served as a European scout under Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea (where he helped sign Didier Drogba, Gianfranco Zola and Michael Essien) and was assistant boss to both Nigel Pearson and Claudio Ranieri at Leicester, has also been credited for uncovering the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and N'Golo Kanté, three of the main driving forces behind the Foxes' stunning 2015-16 Premier League title triumph.

In addition to his 16 years at Chelsea for whom he initially worked part-time while holding down a PE-teacher role in Chorley, he has had spells at Newcastle United, and Hull City. His brother Mickey, now a football agent, was a Republic of Ireland international who played 29 times for Everton in the 1978-79 season, as well as also representing Blackpool, QPR and Porto.

Despite recently signing a new contract with the champions, Walsh now follows Kanté out of the King Power Stadium this summer as the French midfielder makes a £30m switch to Stamford Bridge and Walsh, believed to have been recommended to Moshiri by Koeman, leaves his scouting role to join the British-Iranian billionaire's revolution at Everton.

"I'm proud and privileged to become Director of Football at such a fantastic and historic club," Walsh said on his arrival. "It feels like a new era at Everton and that potential is what is most exciting.

"I know the club well. My roots are in the north-west and my brother, Mickey, was an Everton player in the Bob Latchford era and always proud of that fact. I also did my initial teacher training at Liverpool Hope University many years ago.

"I'm genuinely excited to be here at the club and very much looking forward to getting down to work."

Koeman, meanwhile, welcomed the Lancastrian to Everton by saying: “It's really good for the club to have someone in Steve who has shown his quality in his job at a number of clubs over many years.

“That's the experience and quality he will bring to us at a good time in the season. He has a great deal of knowledge about building for the long-term and the magnificent work he did at Leicester on top of the job he did at Chelsea makes us excited to have him here at Everton.”

Maybe he can get his brother to play a few games , got to be better than some of those cock-eyed strikers you had last season.

Cock-eyed. Haven't heard that phrase since Jonny Wilkinson. Is that the ultimate Welsh insult?

Mickey Walsh was shite Dil, get a grip:0) But your right thank God Bobby brown shoes is history. Niasse was a sacking offence from day 1. Every credit to our new major share holder, silent but deadly. Ronald was number 1 target and they got him. Just please don't make the same mistakes again and put a bloody big poster on Goodison of Koeman. Give the man a chance. 30,000+ season tickets sold to date apparently. Sell out against Spurs. Maybe this time 'The School Of Science' is on the way back :0)

PS Dil, good Welsh support for the blue boys. Can't think why can you :0)

Feck me a WBA supporter turns up out of the blue on a football thread after spending 20 years getting feck all right on the rugby thread and I'm supposed to bite or take him serious ???

Chris , anyone with a brain including the sheep in Wales support the boys in blue :)

Hmmm? Allardyce isn't exactly from the 'Winners Enclosure', is he?

Is that the best all the England manager pickers can do? Can't they see, that by this time, Allardyce has bee able to make tons of notes on 'How to get a football managers job - the Interview stage'.

Anyhow, at least he should bring some 'relaxation' into the players' mentality.

Terrible to think that if Pogba signs for Man Utd that his agent will apparently pick up £20 million for his services . What a state of affairs .

Well that's it then , no more crap summer Saturdays without football and off to watch Brum v Cardiff next week.

Looking forward to this season as new Cardiff manager (Welsh coach) Trollope has set us up to play 5-3-2 which should suit our players much better than the 9-0-1 crap we been playing for years. How the hell we were still in with a chance of the play offs with 2 games to go showed how crap the league was last year. Expecting it to be much tougher thhis time round.

John Stones: Manchester City sign Everton defender for £47.5m

Manchester City have signed John Stones from Everton for £47.5m, making him the world's second most expensive defender.

The 22-year-old England international has signed a six-year deal and is City boss Pep Guardiola's eighth signing.

Stones was earlier named in City's official Champions League squad, published on the Uefa website before the transfer was confirmed.

"It's an ambitious club with a great manager so I can't wait to get stuck in," he said.

"I know it will be tough getting a place in this team but I'm determined to become the best player I can be and help us to success."

Last year, City made Raheem Sterling the most expensive English player ever when he joined the club for £49m from Liverpool.

Brazilian David Luiz is the most expensive defender in history, joining French champions Paris St-Germain from Chelsea in 2014.

Everton rejected a £40m bid for Stones from Chelsea last summer, with the player having a transfer request refused by chairman Bill Kenwright.

Stones, who started his career at Barnsley, made 95 appearances for the Toffees in three seasons, scoring once.

Good Luck John! Hope you don't get too many splinters in your arse sitting on the bench :0)

Good business EFC.

Barnsley had a 15% sell on fee as well.

Lol , if Ashley Williams is worth 12 million then the world really has gone nuts.

Good luck Chris you'll need it with him in your first team. Swansea must be p&ssing themselves.