So, some calls have already been made. Anyone care to comment, or speculate on who else will or won't make the cut?

At the moment, I am cautiously in favour of the apparent move to clear away some of the dead wood. This is on the assumption that Terry will also be told to sling his hook, however, since I can't imagine Hodgson will risk taking him over Rio Ferdinand with the trial hanging over him - too much potential fallout if he's convicted, surely?

I would quite happily leave Gerrard and Lampard at home too. I don't think England have the quality coming through that Germany did at the last World Cup, but would love to see them try a similar approach and give some of the younger players a go. Even Andy Carroll, provided there was a plan for how to use him.

As a Charlton fan, last week's trophy-presentation was marred for me by what is now a jarring ritual: players insisting on parading their familes around with them. Am I the only one with whom this grates? Well done boys, but I have no interest whatsoever in your families.

So, 34 years later, UK are finally reformed and gigging in London - at the "Under the Bridge" Club at Chelsea Football ground.

http://underthebridge.co.uk/events/listings/uk/

This august occasion (though sadly lacking Alan Holdsworth and Bill Bruford) has strangely not fired the enthusiasm of the many prog heads I know. It's the conjunction of a club gig (i.e., late, over-priced), midweek (some of us have jobs to go to), and a dubious locale more for footballers out finding WAGS to 'roast'. One of the oddest booking decisions I've ever heard.

Unless, of course, YOU know different....

The football results on Final Score have just been read-out by the bloke who does the voice-over for The X-Factor and he mistakenly added a 'City' to Portsmouth's name.

This made me wonder about all those football teams which don't have a suffix and whether suitable ones could be found for them: I came up with Brentford Nylons, Walsall Ghetto and Bury Gordy - can you do better?*

*Yes, of course you can.

The jury in the Redknapp trial have retired to consider their verdict. I believe this means we can now speculate wildly about the likely outcome without fear of being found in contempt of court!

Personally, I think the Revenue have got him bang-to-rights, but the jury might just have fallen for his cockney-geezer schtick and give him a pass. It wouldn't be huge shock if he's spending the next few weeks behind bars, though.

(So overall I'm sitting on the fence, just like a good pundit should!)

Forgive me starting 2 football threads in a row, but this little collection from the Guardian marking the 20th anniversary of the decision to form the Premier League is interesting reading/viewing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/from-the-archive-blog/2012/feb/02/20-...

I particularly like the original Sky Sports ad, which I remember well:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2009/feb/05/sky-sports-football

although, I now find it hilarious that we were asked to believe that Peter Reid sent his team out to play with the words "All the very best, boys"!

I think it is also a real marker of how much the money has distorted the competitiveness of the league that a team (Norwich) that one of the country's top football writers predicted would finish bottom of the table in the first pre-season review, actually went on to come third (and were realistic title contenders for a while). Can't see that happening again any time soon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/03/john-terry-stripped-engla...

I find it hard to be fair to John Terry because, to be honest, I hate him, but does anyone think he's been hard done by?

Personally, I think his 'defence' to the racism charge is a farce, but it's not up to me to decide his guilt on that and, as a liberal with a law degree, I am strongly wedded to the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

That said, the England captain should arguably be beyond reproach and it would greatly weaken the FA's stance on racism if they do nothing and he is later convicted. So, overall, I think they've done what had to be done.

It has also solved a dilemma for me as I would genuinely rather England not win a tournament than see John Terry receive the trophy and be immortalised alongside Bobby Moore. (I know this is a highly unlikely scenario in any case, but we do have as much of a chance as Greece in 2004 or Denmark in 1992!)

Mention of Dundee United's past successes on another thread made me smile, I'm a big fan of theirs. Er... sort of. I've never seen them play. Never actually been to Dundee. Don't think I've even seen them on the telly. Actually I'm a Leeds fan. They're relatively local to where I grew up, and they're the team I used to go and watch as a kid, had the strip, the posters of Bremner, Clarke, Cooper etc.
So why the love for Dundee United? Why do I look for their results every Sunday morning?
It's the strip - the tangerine.
Back in the early '70, a comic - I believe it was Victor - gave away a free booklet with illustrations of all English and Scottish football teams's kits. I remember most to this day - so much that when the footie results are read out on Saturday tea-time I'm overcome with a kind of soccer-based synaesthesia as I see combinations of striped, hooped and quartered shirts dance before my eyes. If a lesser known club (to me), say Plymouth Argyle, makes a rare appearance on the FA cup MoTD in anything other than the shirts I remember from 1972 (white with a black/green/ black hoop combo running across the middle) it just seems wrong.
Anyway - Dundee United - looked bloody amazing in the drawing. I liked Albion Rovers's red and yellow strip too (remember it was the Glam era and the Sweet were my faves so despite Leeds's non-strip it was the brighter the better for me.) but they fell at the second hurdle - were they an Albion or a Rovers? I had no time for such indecision. My 'other' team were and always would be Dundee United.
I soon discovered more about the place too. Several of my beloved comics were published there - of course they were - it was the magical kingdom of Dundee, what else would they make? The big-as-your-head sugary chocolate coated biscuits sold at break at big school? Dundee biscuits! Of course they bloody were! When Andy Gray confirmed what an arse he was last year I actually thought 'tschh and him an ex-Tannadice Tangerine. The shame.'
So, there you go. That's my other team story. Am I nuts? Or do other people have wholly irrational allegiances sporting or otherwise?

The moles had a hard day in London yesterday so spent the morning light e-mailing in front of Murray v Djokovic. And as there's little posting about tennis on the blog I thought I would stick up for the sport. What a match. First Djokovic appeared to be set to win in three, then Murray turned it right around, then Djokovic rolled over him in the fourth and was 5-2 up at the last. Then Murray incredibly came back again and had breaks for 6-5 before being finally battered into submission.

Firstly, how lucky are we to be watching these four (Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray) - right from the Sampras-Federer in 2001 at Wimbledon when the old guard was blown away men's tennis has been getting better and better. There are rivalries, periods of domination, classic matches, and in Federer's case a compelling dying of the light of the old champion that must match any sporting rivalry anywhere.

Second, how fit are they? I play tennis quite a bit and after two hours of singles I am shattered. That match was almost five hours with many side to side rallies of over twenty shots. And then, when footballers complain about playing 90 mins twice a week they have to get up and do it again 48 hours later. Rather like Eddie Izzard and his marathons one is just in awe of the human physique's capacity to endure.

And lastly, Murray is nobody's angel but both of them behaved like true athletes - giving everything they had until one came out on top.

then I don't know what will…
The Ghana squad enjoy a prog-length singalong in their hotel ahead of their opening Africa Cup of Nations game against Gabon.

Despite chipping in on a few other threads, this is my first actual blog post, so I'll request a little indulgence if you please (particularly as it's a football post)....

Last night saw the return to North London of the King, Thierry Henry, and, as I'm sure you're all aware, he marked it in some style. I was fortunate enought to be at the match and what a pleasure it was - I'm still buzzing as I sit at my desk.

In the modern game it's easy to be cynical, and it only takes one look at the Terry/Suarez thread to realise that we've become accustomed to talking about players for all the wrong reasons. I'm massively biased of course, but last night seemed to me the perfect antidote to all that.

Henry was clearly overwhelmed by the experience, and his post match interview suggested a fan who'd won a competition to play for his club, rather than a seasoned pro who has won all there is to win in the game and has the statue to prove it.

It's quite possible that he'll do little else during his time back with the club. That's fine if so, because for one night he reminded me (and I'm sure others too) of a time when the game was a little less jaded, a little more heart on sleeve and a little easier to love.

Oh, and if there are any Leeds fans about - I thought your lot were excellent and would have been well worth a draw on the night. Great support too.

Some say that football today is full of overpaid mercenaries. Some suggest that my club, Manchester City, is the worst offender. But what City have in fact done is to distill all their best and worst traits over the last 30 years and put them all into one player. After all, when was the last time you saw a player score with his shoulder?

For those unfamiliar with his early work, check out this article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/28/mario-balotelli-mancheste...

Why always him? Well, who else could it be?

Went to Wembley last night - almost wish I hadn't.

I can't remember looking forward to a match so much in ages. It's not every day you get to see the World and European champions in the flesh, including two-thirds of perhaps the greatest club side ever.

Well, what a disappointment. I really should have known better. After all, it was a 'friendly' and especially in the first half Spain didn't look particularly interested. And I thought England were dreadful throughout, although they took one of their very few chances, which is obviously more than Spain did.

Second half was better, as once Spain went behind they did make more of an effort, and really should have equalized.

We left five minutes from the end in an attempt to beat the rush, my young son not having enjoyed at all a very unpleasant crush on the Jubilee line on the way to the game.

Random thoughts -

- The new Wembley really is great. We were quite high up and the view was sensational. I can understand the nostalgia for the old ground, but it was awful from a spectator's point of view;

- We went for drinks and snacks at half-time (on the expensive side of course, but not outrageously so) so were spared a performance of the new single by 'The Soldiers', thank God;

- And although there were loads of kids there and the atmosphere was generally very pleasant, there are still a few ghastly people following England. The nutters in front of us seemed to feel the need to constantly scream and flick V-signs at the very good-natured Spanish fans below, and we heard an enthusiastic rendition of the Anton Ferdinand song as we were leaving.

The draw has been made,
Estonia it is,
we'll take that.

Imagine this lot talking about it:

Top Six
1
2
3
4
5
6

Bottom Three
18
19
20

And in-between if you want. And FA Cup, Carling Cup, Champions League, Scotland, anything...