So it looks inevitable that Harry Redknapp will become England manager one day (unless Roy Hodgson gatecrashes the party and becomes even more unpopular). He'll probably take charge at the end of the season, and so we've tried to predict the 11 players he'd do well to pick.

We're aware that the teams lacking a lot of experience, apart from Rooney, Parker and Baines (Hart too, to some extent), so maybe Jones could drop to the bench to be replaced by an older head.

To those of you who missed it there was a really good program on BBC 1 last night based on depression in sport. The show was presented by and based mainly upon Freddie Flintoff and his own battle against depression whilst very much in the spotlight playing cricket for England.

Flintoff said how there was a lot of pressure on him to be the leader of the cricket team and to motivate others and lead them to victory but there were times when he felt so low that he wasn't able to do this, yet felt unable to admit to his issues in front of his team-mates.

As per usual the standard crazy transfer talk is in full swing in line with the opening of the January transfer window.

Demba Ba has been linked with Man United, with his agent claiming that this is complete rubbish. Interestingly, there is a release fee in his contract and so if a club bids this amount then Ba is allowed to begin talks regarding a move.

With world champions Spain firm favourites to retain their European crown, it's probably no surprise that their record scorer David Villa features heavily in the betting to be Euro 2012′s leading marksman.
The Barcelona striker is 10/1 to be the tournament's top scorer but will the 30-year-old be in Vicente del Bosque's squad?

A very debatable decision in the Man United vs Man City game, with Vincent Kompany given a straight red card for his two-footed tackle on Nani. Kompany jumped in to the challenge and had both feet off the ground, albeit not very high off the ground, and completely won the ball in the tackle. The referee Chris Foy seemed to ignore the challenge at first, there were no complaints from Nani as he lay on the floor without the ball, but Rooney was close to the referee and complained that it was a bad tackle which very may have influenced the referee and pressured him into handing Kompany a straight red card.

The 2012 African Cup Of Nations is set to begin on the 21st of January until the 12th of February, so we thought with not long to go it may be worthwhile figuring out which teams are going to be most affected by players departing for this competition.

Players Involved In The African Cup Of Nations

Starting with the teams at the top end of the Premier League, Biram Diouf of Senegal appears to be the only Manchester United player affected which isn't likely to affect the club much at all as he is probably their 6th choice striker.

With the January transfer window opening up in just a few days, we look ahead at some of the players most likely to be changing clubs in the January sales.

1. Carlos Tevez, Man City. Hopefully Tevez will finally leave and join AC Milan, with the transfer saga dragging on for a long time already.

I realise this is slightly old news now but what the hell John Terry is set to face prosecution over racism claims during a match with QPR a few weeks back. A complaint from a member of the public was made to the police regarding the incident in which Terry squared up to Ferdinand before apparently insulting him verbally.

Once again, sorry for the lack of activity on this blog. I'm still looking to hire some full time writers so bare with me on this one. Secondly, apologies is this post has a rather sombre tone it just feels as if, maybe especially towards the latter end of the year, that its not been a great year for football in general.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell's recent comments that some sort of pan-national European Super League is being discussed ahead of the 2014 expiry of the ECA's agreement with UEFA comes as the latest and boldest overture about an idea that has gone from far-off theory to potential reality.

Rosell proposed a reduction of top-flight space in the major European leagues to 16 teams, stating "We want a bigger Champions League and hope one day we could play perhaps Barcelona versus Manchester United on Saturdays.

With David Beckham's future well and truly up in the air amidst rumors that he could be set to join PSG, Tottenham, QPR, or even stay with the Galaxy, it is perhaps time for a proper summary of what the English legend has brought to the professional game in America.

When Becks left the Santiago Bernabeu five years ago for the American West Coast, many thought he was crazy and taking a huge step down; and whilst Major League Soccer has not yet become the destination of the world's top players, Beckham has helped to at least draw big names to the league to increase its profile.

After the first leg of the Euro 2012 play-offs, there were a wide variety of results to compare and analyze before the second leg on Tuesday. Some ties already look finished, while some are still very much alive.

We take a look at one thing we learned from each match.

A 3-0 demolition of Turkey reaffirms that despite missing out on the World Cup, Croatia are still a team with enough quality and talent to win the European Championships.

Mario Balotelli has been in scintillating form for leaders Manchester City in this season's Premier League, with 5 goals already to his name after just 7 appearances, and a goal each in the Champions League and the Carling Cup as well.

The 21 year old ‘s brace against Manchester United, which capped of a brilliant all-around performance from him, is a sign that he is capable of competing and dominating at the very highest level.

Tomasz Kuszczak's recent declaration that he is being treated "like a slave" at Manchester United is certainly a dramatic overstatement but the goalkeeper's situation also warrants sympathy.

Many have countered that if being a slave is training everyday and picking up a hefty paycheck, more than a lot of people make in a year, then they would happily accept the hypothetical shackles the Pole is chained to with Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

The shock on their faces was there for everyone to see. From Conor Sammon's look of pure surprise after netting the equalizer against West Ham on the season's final day, to Roberto Martinez's delirious celebrations after Charles N'Zogbia's stoppage time winner, and the subsequent final whistle, Wigan somehow seemed to have cheated death during the dramatic climax of last year's edition of the Barclays Premier League.

All but four countries have booked their ticket to next summer's finals in Poland and Ukraine, but the quality among the eight undecided sides have created some intriguing ties, with the prospect of going on a run a la Greece always ever-present.

The play-off's two legs will be played on the 11th and 15th of the coming month, with the following countries paired against each other in the final decisive battles of the qualifying phase.

Your immediate answer to the proposed question would most likely be a strict 'no'. And there are a number of reasons why one would be inclined to give Newcastle United no higher than a fifth spot on the log come May 2012.

But let's first give props to the men wearing the black and white stripes.

It has been a superb start to the season for Swansea City, as the club has proven the doubters wrong by climbing to tenth in the Premiership after a dramatic 3-1 win over Bolton at the Liberty Stadium last weekend.

Much has been made of the passing style of Brendan Rogers and his side, and many pundits have claimed that the sides who do play the old fashioned way of passing from the back instead of 'lumping it to the big man up front' more often than not come away with nothing.

Fresh off their 5-3 triumph over a highly rated Chelsea side at Stamford Bridge, the early-season talk of Arsenal as overmatched and immature may now be in need of a fresh reconsideration.

Manchester United gave every Gunner the pain of endless scorn and ribbing following their 8-2 collapse against the champions, and early moments of dramatic heartbreak still linger in the club without influential Jack Wilshere and adjusting to deadline-day additions.

After yet another disappointing campaign under Nigel Worthington, and a continuation of the unenviable streak that will now see Northern Ireland fail to make a major tournament for at least 32 years, the IFA will seek out a new manager to try and reverse the fortunes of the small nation who have struggled in recent years for both talent and results on the international playing field.

In less than 72 hours, Anfield will be host to an epic Barclays Premier League battle that has drawn fierce passion from all corners of the globe.

While Sir Alex Ferguson has toppled the Kop off it's perch by clinching Manchester United's nineteenth EPL title, the fire will not burn any less stronger when England's two most successful clubs clash heads at Merseyside.

With Barcelona linked with a surprise move for Chelsea star Ashley Cole, it may seem that the time may be right for Roman Abramovich to cash in on his controversial left back and reinvest the profit in his team.

Cole's time at Stamford Bridge has been extremely successful, but with the former Arsenal player turning 31 just before Christmas, and out of contract in 2013, the financial benefits of a move should not be lost on the Chelsea board.

After an enthralling climax to last year's Scottish Premier League, which saw elder statesmen Walter Smith's Rangers side take the title over newcomer Neil Lennon's Celtic by just a solitary point, hopes were high that this year would also be a season to remember for the Old Firm.

Lennon is in his first full seasonsecond season as the manager at Parkhead, and long-time assistant Ally McCoist has finally taken over for Smith at the Govan club.

With just two matches left in the qualifying process for the 2012 European Championships, the Republic of Ireland remain in with a very real chance of getting to their first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup.

Thierry Henry and France's controversial- and undeserved- win meant heartbreak for the Boys in Green in the 2010 World Cup play-offs.

Senegalese hitman Demba Ba got off the mark for the season in style against Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, hitting a hat-trick at St. James's Park in a near-perfect performance for both him and the Magpies as a whole in front of their home crowd.

Andy Carroll's shock departure last winter, along with fellow starts Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton also leaving Tyneside this summer, has left the supporters in want of another high-profile goal getter who can propel them to higher ambitions.

The return of the Carling Cup had plenty of entertainment to offer and although there will always be those who dismiss the value of English football's fourth-tier competition, there were several important lessons to be learned from what we saw this midweek.

Lesson 1: Hargeaves can come good: Roberto Mancini's signing of injury-plagued Owen Hargreaves brought the inevitable slew of crock jokes, especially in the wake of the infamous YouTube videos featuring the former Manchester United and Bayern Munich midfielder.

After a largely inactive summer, a late spending spree sanctioned by new owner Tony Fernandes has done wonders for Queens Park Rangers' squad by giving Neil Warnock a much deeper and talented pool of players to work with.

This new-found quality in the team has turned QPR from a likely relegation candidate to a side that can perhaps push into the mid-table region and cause a few upsets along the way.

So, Swansea City now have their first win under their belt, scoring their first goals and securing their first ‘sell out' of the season as the stadium finally hit the 20,000 mark.

It's been a long time coming but the Swans can now breathe a huge sigh of relief, with the vital three points propelling Brendan Rogers's side into fourteenth and after a superb performance on Saturday, Swansea fans will be wondering whether pundits may have been too quick to right off the team as relegation fodder only a few weeks into the new season.

Lost amid all the debates and media coverage about the respective merits of David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard, Tomasz Kuszczak silently fades into oblivion and obscurity, left out in the cold by Alex Ferguson and stranded at Old Trafford with his only football coming on the Carrington training ground and in meaningless reserve matches.

I don't know about anyone else, but it kinda frustrates me when I watch football matches in the Premier League and I hear commentators and the like praising a player or stating how important he is... yet in my opinion that said player is actually massively over-rated, and rarely contributes much to a game at all.

Quite interesting comparisons being made ahead of Man United's match against Benfica tonight in the Champions League with Benfica coach Jorge Jesus claiming that Wayne Rooney is more Brazilian or Argentinian than English.

An interesting point, Rooney perhaps does play with the ability that often comes with Brazilians and Argentinians; he's not dissimilar from the likes of Carlos Tevez in the way he's stocky, powerful and a great goalscorer.

England only just managed to scrape a narrow victory against Wales a few days ago in the Euro Championship Qualifiers, yet player for player England outclassed the Welsh players (well, with the exception of Bale and Ramsay perhaps), so the burning question on everyone's lips seems to be why are England so inconsistent?

Man United put up a brave performance last night against the Spanish champions Barcelona and yet this wasn't enough as they ended up being comprehensively beaten 3-1 with goals from Pedro, Messi and Villa.

Rooney had equalised in the first half to cancel out Pedro's initial goal but in the second half of the game there was only ever one side in it, with strong memories of the final 2 years ago where Barcelona were again too strong.

Man United put up a brave performance last night against the Spanish champions Barcelona and yet this wasn't enough as they ended up being comprehensively beaten 3-1 with goals from Pedro, Messi and Villa.

Rooney had equalised in the first half to cancel out Pedro's initial goal but in the second half of the game there was only ever one side in it, with strong memories of the final 2 years ago where Barcelona were again too strong.

With West Ham, Birmingham City and Blackpool all on their way down to the Championship the three respective clubs will all be hoping that Premier League managers and managers from the other top leagues of Europe stay well clear from some of their most prized assets.

Often referred to in the media as vultures by managers such as Ian Holloway of Blackpool, the three clubs will have to try hard to ensure their top stars are happy to compete at the level of the Championship, along with the inevitable wage drop that follows.

With West Ham, Birmingham City and Blackpool all on their way down to the Championship the three respective clubs will all be hoping that Premier League managers and managers from the other top leagues of Europe stay well clear from some of their most prized assets.

Often referred to in the media as vultures by managers such as Ian Holloway of Blackpool, the three clubs will have to try hard to ensure their top stars are happy to compete at the level of the Championship, along with the inevitable wage drop that follows.

Manchester United can beat Barca, but the match officials, also known as the referees are rooting Barcelona.

We have seen the ref's questionable decisions in the semi-final match between Chelsea and Barcelona years ago. There were obvious calls for penalty that fell on deaf ears. Clear handballs by Barcelona players inside the penalty box.

Gennaro Gattuso was punished by UEFA for his unsportsmanlike behavior towards Tottenham's Joe Jordan.

The incident occurred after the match between AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs.

Gattuso already apologized for his actions, "I lost my head and I'm taking responsibility because I did something I shouldn't have done.