Stan Wawrinka is the real deal

If you are a casual tennis fan, you can be forgiven for looking in amazement at the new men's tennis rankings which see one man from Switzerland, Stanislas Wawrinka at World Number Three and his countryman Roger Federer languishing five places below at number eight.

Indeed, you might be such a casual follower of the sport, that today following his Australian Open victory over Rafael Nadal, might have been the first time you've 'properly' heard of Wawrinka.

However for us dedicated lovers of tennis, Wawrinka is somebody that has been threatening to reach the top for a significant period now and whilst today's victory was slightly over shadowed by the injuries suffered to Nadal in the match, it was no more than the 28 year old deserved for the improvements he has brought to his game.

Wawrinka has always been a supremely talented tennis player. In 2009, as he pushed Andy Murray all the way in a five set thriller at Wimbledon, John McEnroe commented that his backhand is one of the most powerful he has ever seen and the best in the game today.

However, for years Wawrinka seemed unable to push the large shadow of Roger Federer out of his way as his countryman collected Grand Slam after Grand Slam on his way to being arguably the greatest man to ever pick up a tennis racket. Wawrinka on the other hand was only producing the odd occasional result that made tennis followers take notice, such as beating Federer in Monte Carlo in 2009 or indeed gaining revenge over Murray by beating him in the third round of the 2010 US Open.

He seemed destined for a career on the fringes of tennis. Between July 2007 and January 2010 he lost in five consecutive finals as he failed to add to his one career tournament victory (which was only achieved in 2006 due to a retirement by Novak Djokovic). His single tournament victories in 2010 and 2011 came over journeymen Victor Hanescu and Xavier Mallise respectively and apart from runs to the quarter finals of the 2010 US Open and 2011 Australian Open, he never contended at the latter stages of the grand slams.

2013 though was when things started to click for Wawrinka. Sportsmen in all disciplines have had breakthrough years and this proved to be Wawrinka's. The signs emerged during an unbelievable fourth round clash with Djokovic at the Australian Open, where after over five hours of absorbing tennis, Wawrinka only just lost 12-10 to one of the finest hard court players ever.

Despite losing, that seemed to give him the confidence to truly believe that he could reach the top of the sport. He subsequently reached a final in Argentina, losing to David Ferrer before gaining revenge for that defeat by winning the Portugal Open in May, his first title since January 2011 before going on to reach the Madrid Masters Final having beaten Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych, fellow top ten players along the way.

He enjoyed his best performance at the French Open, reaching the quarter finals having come from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet in a one-handed backhand classic before losing to clay court king Nadal.

A true sign of Wawrinka's growing mental strength was that despite a bad loss to Lleyton Hewitt in the first round of Wimbledon, he produced his best run at a Grand Slam by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open. He knocked out the more fancied Berdych in the fourth round before truly announcing himself on the world stage by beating defending champion and Wimbledon winner Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarter finals.

Once again, Djokovic was his nemesis as he won another five set thriller despite Wawrinka being two sets to one up on him in the semi-finals. But the 2014 Australian Open was to finally give Wawrinka the biggest title of his career.

And boy did he have to do it the hard way. Still seeded only eighth for the tournament despite a superb 2013 when he enjoyed nine victories over top ten players, he finally got the better of Djokovic in a Grand Slam at the quarter final stage, showing incredible resilience to win 9-7 in the fifth set.

Tomas Berdych, the number seven seed was next up in the semi-finals and although this time it was done in four sets, three of those were tie-breaks. Unlike Berdych, Wawrinka had never reached a slam final so his mental strength in winning two of those three tie-breaks has to be greatly applauded.

The sternest test awaited Wawrinka in today's final. That of World Number One Rafael Nadal who had bounced back from a lengthy injury quite superbly in 2013. Few commentators gave Wawrinka much hope. However, he came out of the blocks firing which took Rafa by surprise and he was able to take the first set 6-3.

The second set will forever be remembered as the moment when Nadal broke down on court clearly suffering a back injury and had to take a medical time-out. Now some harsh people might say that because of this Wawrinka's win deserves a star next to it or it was a win by default because for a significant amount of time Nadal couldn't even serve properly.

The newly crowned Australian Open champion shouldn't listen to anyone who says that. In his first slam final, he had to work out how to deal with the injured Nadal, who wanted to carry on out of respect for himself and the crowd. That's hardly a situation himself and coach Magnus Norman could have prepared for over the last few days.

Wawrinka showed superb mental strength to carry on playing his natural game, especially after losing the third set (if anyone could have come back, it would have been Nadal) to hold on in the heat of battle and secure a memorable first Grand Slam title.

Make no doubt about it, over the next few years Stanislas Wawrinka is going to become a much more widely known name in households across the world. With an incredible one handed backhand, a solid serve and a sheer determined will to win, the man they describe as "Stanimal" is the real deal.

Can Andy Murray win the Australian Open?

As Andy Murray prepares for the first grand slam of the season, the 2014 Australian Open which begins at midnight tonight, the man from Dunblane stands at a crossroads.

That may sound like a peculiar thing to say considering Murray became the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years last July and he still sits at number four in the world rankings. However, Murray has only just come back after an operation which he hopes will finally cure his pains in his lower back which caused him to miss the rest of last season after helping Britain beat Croatia in the Davis Cup in September.

Due to that lengthy lay off Murray goes into Melbourne horribly short of match fitness and practice. He has only played in three exhibition matches since Boxing Day and only two competitive singles matches proper. In facing 40 degree Australian heat and the potential of five set matches against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in succession if he is to win the Australian Open for the first time, the odds look stacked against Murray.

The short answer would be to say Murray can't win the Australian Open and should just write it off. He could perhaps get through a few rounds and then lose to perhaps John Isner, the giant American in Round 4. I don't buy this. Murray won't be going into this tournament aiming to lose. He is simply too good mentally nowadays to think like that.

He's hardly favourite considering his lack of matches since the US Open in September, but you cannot rule him out. He is well and truly one of the players in the draw that most other players fear after his exploits of two Grand Slams and Olympic Gold over the last 18 months.

And although the latter stages might be filling Murray with dread, the early rounds on paper do seem to be relatively kind to him. He won't be taking anything for granted considering his lack of match sharpness, but he cannot complain at drawing Go Soeda in round one, who is ranked 112 in the world and has never been beyond the second round of a grand slam. Then comes a qualifier in round two and Feliciano Lopez in theory awaits in round three. 

Lopez can be a tricky customer but Murray has won all seven meetings with him and assuming he gets through to meet him, he would be starting to get more confident in his game.

It's then really a case of how Murray's body and back in particular can cope with the heat. But this is a tournament he loves. He's reached the final three times in the last four years as well as narrowly losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi finals in 2012. He's determined to add this to his Grand Slam collection and despite winning Wimbledon last summer knows all too well that the British public still expect him to deliver down under.

The other big bonus for Murray is that he will have coach Ivan Lendl in his corner for the tournament. Murray isn't suddenly a bad player when Lendl isn't there, but there is no doubting that he is a far better player when Lendl is looking on pensively in the Wimbledon's champions box. Ever since Murray hired him just before the Australian Open of 2012, his career has went on an upward trajectory thanks to Lendl's superb tactics and his ability to make Murray believe.

There is an intriguing sub-plot to Lendl's coaching relationship with Murray as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have hired fellow 1980s legends to coach them in terms of Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker respectively. If Murray was to meet one of them or indeed both, Lendl would be very keen to show them who's boss in terms of coaching the best players of this era.

Push come to shove, I'd be very surprised if Andy Murray goes onto win the Australian Open this year. Stranger things have happened though. Like a British man winning Wimbledon after a 77 year absence.

Why the England Cricket team don't need to panic

No sports fan likes to see their team get humiliated. I never found it easy to go into school, work or university on a Monday morning if Rangers had suffered a bad defeat at the weekend.

And I suspect that a few English cricket fans will be feeling that way tomorrow as they head out the door in the morning after Australia completed a 5-0 Ashes whitewash earlier today. However, the obituaries on English cricket shouldn't be written quite yet.

Let's not beat around the bush though. England were absolutely destroyed by the Australians in every department as they struggled to deal with Mitchell Johnson's ferocious bowling and Brad Haddin's counter-hitting in particular. Factor in some dire performances by senior players, Jonathan Trott returning home and Graeme Swann's retirement, then this was an utterly shambolic series from England.

People have been calling for captain Alastair Cook, coach Andy Flower and batting coach Graham Gooch's heads throughout the series but this isn't a time for England to panic. They haven't suddenly become a bad side overnight. It is true that this isn't a great Australian side. Infact, the teams are evenly matched and England had beaten them 3-0 only a few months previously.

From day one Australia looked fitter, hungrier and sharper in every way and Cook was simply out-thought by his Australian counterpart Michael Clarke. However, this England team are now in transition just like they were after a 5-0 humiliation in 2006/2007 down under.

England have lost some massive influences in the dressing room over the last couple of years. Captain Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and now Graeme Swann have departed. Matt Prior looks to be on his way out whilst Kevin Pietersen and Jimmy Anderson aren't getting any younger. But England rose from the Ashes in 2006/07 and can do so again. These senior players will know they have let the team down but they haven't become bad players in this series.

A top order featuring Cook, Pietersen, Bell and hopefully a refreshed Trott is a match for any in world cricket. And with Broad and Anderson leading the attack, England still have a top class line and length bowling double act. And there are a lot of promising youngsters coming through right now.

Andy Flower has already described the 5-0 loss as the "end of an era" and I have to agree with the England head coach, but it shouldn't mean the start of a spell in the doldrums for England. Look at the emergence of Ben Stokes with the bat and ball over the last couple of tests. It's too early to start labelling him the next Flintoff, but he looks a confident player.

Joe Root is still only 23 and has proven he can handle big games in test series against Australia this summer and against India in 2012 on his debut. Gary Ballance replaced him in the last test and whilst hardly setting the world alight, he has averaged over 50 in first class cricket and that isn't to be sniffed at.

Factor in wicket keeper Jos Buttler who will be playing in the One Day internationals and players such as opening batsman Nick Compton and fast bowlers Steven Finn and Boyd Rankin who will be going away to improve on their games, then England can still have a bright future.

Andy Flower has had a shocking Ashes but this is a man who led them to three Ashes victories in a row and to number one in the world. He deserves a chance to reinvent this England team again. 

However, I do agree with former England captain Michael Vaughan who says that Kevin Pietersen should be appointed as vice-captain. Flower and Cook are very much "Yes" men. Pietersen is disliked for obvious reasons (he can be arrogant, he throws his wicket away too much and has fallen out with players in the past) but KP is creative and still the wicket opposition teams prize the most. He should be at the forefront on the field, helping Cook plot and plan. He currently stands out like a spare part.

England didn't panic after losing 5-0 in 2006/07 and went onto become the best test side in the world. With a mixture of experience and exciting young players, they can reach the top again. Call off the hounds.

Why Phil Taylor deserves a Sports Personality of the Year nomination

As the late great Sid Waddell would have said in the commentary box- There's only one word for that- magic darts!.

The Geordie voice of darts would have been almost lost for words this year if he had still been around to commentate on the major PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) tournaments this year. That's because one man like so many other years, Phil Taylor, has simply been too good almost of all of the time for his darting rivals.

Whilst Andy Murray will surely walk away with the award for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 after his memorable Wimbledon triumph, Phil Taylor is more than deserving of a nomination for a third time. He was nominated in 2006 and 2010 and in the latter year he secured a memorable and richly deserved second place.

However, the thing is that remarkably after over 20 years at the top, 'The Power' as he's affectionately known looks to be in the form of his life at 53 years old having won all but two of the Major titles in the darting circuit this year. Over the last few months in particular, nobody has been able to get near him even when they are playing their best.

Before anyone shudders at the thought of darts being recognised at the Sports personality of the year award, darts has been officially categorised as a sport since 2005 by all the Sporting Councils in the UK and as pointed out, Taylor has already been nominated twice before by the esteemed panel who decide the Sports Personality shortlist.

The criteria for this years BBC award sets out three clear categories to decide their 12 person shortlist. It will reflect UK Sporting achievements on the national/international stage, it will represent the breadth and depth of UK sports and it would take into account the impact over and beyond the sport/sporting achievement in question.

Now in my eyes, Taylor clearly ticks all the boxes for this year for the judges. He started off the year by winning the pinnacle title in his sport, the World Championships for a remarkable 16th time by beating young Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen in the final, 7-4. That comeback from 4-2 down in the final on New Years Day seemed to give 'The Power' the surge to go and dominate the 2013 world of darts.

Since then he has won the World Cup of Darts, with Adrian Lewis, the UK Open, the World Matchplay, the Sydney Masters, the World Grand Prix, the Championship League, The Masters and yesterday, the Grand Slam of Darts.

Only Michael Van Gerwen by beating him in the Premier League Final and Ronny Huybrechts by inflicting a shock 10-5 defeat on him in the second round of the European Championships in July (Taylor's last televised defeat) have stopped him claiming a clean sweep of the 2013 PDC titles.

It's not just his sheer desire to win or the sheer consistency, it is Taylor's utter domination of top, top quality darts players in all these tournaments. If this was Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Usain Bolt or Tiger Woods, Taylor would be the talk of offices, pubs and text messages across the land. But darts still struggles to transcend stereotypes unfortunately despite Taylor and others incredible efforts.

Just look at those final wins. He won the UK Open beating former World Finalist and world number five Andy Hamilton 11-4. He beat Adrian Lewis 18-13 in the Matchplay final averaging a record 111.23 for each three darts thrown. He thrashed Lewis, the two time world champion 10-1 in The Masters in Edinburgh. Van Gerwen was demolished 10-3 in the Sydney Masters and 10-3 in the Championship League Final.

Former World Finalist and a man who knocked him out of the world Championships in 2012, Dave Chisnall only managed to get one leg off him in a 6-0 sets thrashing at the World Grand Prix. And last night he thumped Scotland's Robert Thornton 16-6 at the Grand Slam, having managed to defeat Lewis in the semi-finals earlier in the day, despite Lewis averaging 111 and hitting 18 180's.

You have to wonder where this run will end. At 53 years old, Taylor is a multi-millionaire who has won over 200 tournaments, including 80 majors. Yet everytime he steps up to the oche he wants to win. Somewhat bizarrely names like Eric Bristow (perhaps helped by an appearance in the I'm a Celebrity jungle last year), Jocky Wilson and John Lowe are still more revered than Taylor, but they wouldn't have got near Taylor in this form.

Taylor is a true master of his sport. As soon as the latest young 'upstart' arrives on the scene whether it be Van Gerwen, Lewis or even more experienced rivals like Raymond Van Barneveld or John Part, the man from Stoke-on-Trent makes it his mission to take them down and he has being doing so for the best part of almost 25 years now.

For his longevity, dominance and putting darts on the map as a global game which is played to pack arenas, Phil Taylor is more than worthy of getting a nomination for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 when the shortlist is revealed next Tuesday night on The One Show.

Why Kenny Shiels would be a perfect fit for Inverness

With Terry Butcher finally being unveiled as Hibs manager yesterday, the Highland club are now on the search for a new manager.

It won't be an easy task replacing the Englishman who leaves Inverness Caledonian Thistle sitting second in the Scottish Premiership and with a second successive League Cup Semi Final against Hearts to look forward to in February.

However, the answer for Inverness could lie with a manager that was tipped at first to take over from Pat Fenlon at Hibs- Kenny Shiels. The Northern Irishman has been out of work since being controversially sacked by Kilmarnock in June but he has been keen to get back into a job and is surely more than capable of keeping Inverness flying high.

Butcher was a man who got the best out of his players by instilling a great team spirit within the dressing room and Shiels did likewise at Kilmarnock. He led the club to a memorable League Cup triumph in 2012, which was the clubs first trophy in 15 years and somewhat impressively, it was done without conceding a goal. And since 1997, only Livingston and Hibs had won the trophy outside the Old Firm duo, showing how hard it is for a smaller club like Kilmarnock to come through the pack.

Shiels also loved to play good passing football at Kilmarnock, something Butcher's players got well used under him. At home in particular Caley Thistle were strong under Butcher, winning five out of their six home games this season. Whilst Shiels only led Kilmarnock to five home wins last season, that shouldn't put Inverness off. This group of players have shown they have a will to win and will believe in Shiels's philosophy and tactics of quick passing and pressing high up the pitch.

And last season did include a memorable win over Celtic, Kilmarnock's first since 1955 at Parkhead. And Shiels also led Kilmarnock to two wins over Rangers during his tenure, showing that he doesn't have any fears of leading smaller teams out against the Glasgow giants, just like Butcher did during his reign in the Highlands. I'm not sure I can imagine the defensively minded Craig Levein doing that or former Caley boss John Robertson either who are also contenders for the hotseat.

Terry Butcher was a manager who somewhat surprisingly came to absolutely adore life in the Highlands and showed this when he turned down a move to Barnsley earlier this year. If Shiels's reign in Kilmarnock is anything to go by then he would do the exact same. There are reasons outwith football as to why a significant section of Kilmarnock fans want Shiels back- it's mainly because in his own words 'he fell in love with the club'.

Sometimes, this admittedly went over the score but on the whole I didn't think Shiels did anything wrong in his passionate backing for the club, the town and the community. Infact, more managers should be like Shiels and Butcher and make sure their clubs are represented positively in the press. Shiels even went as far as saying his clubs League Cup triumph in 2012 made his side the club of the year, despite Celtic reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.

Agree or disagree with his comments, Shiels once again was showing his love for the club and you can well imagine him saying things about Inverness's budget and how they are miles away from the hub of the Central belt of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Again, would a Levein, Robertson or even Paul Hartley be as outspoken as Shiels?

For me Shiels ticks most, if not all the boxes if Inverness want to continue their remarkable rise up the top league in the future. Inverness Chairman Kenny Cameron should be ringing Shiels's number without any hesitation.

The final fling: A preview of the ATP World Tour Finals

The world's eight best male tennis players (minus Andy Murray) will be at the 02 Arena in London this week as they compete in the end of season world tour finals.

Murray's absence shouldn't put British tennis fans off as this will be a week full of high quality tennis with lots of interesting sub-plots along the way.

Novak Djokovic will be looking to prove that he is still the best in the world, whilst Rafael Nadal will be looking to win the event for the first time. Can Roger Federer have one final swansong or will Juan Martin Del Potro continue his recent superb form?

With that in mind, let's look at the two groups of four who'll be lining up in the UK capital.

Group A:
Rafael Nadal ( Seed 1). Who could have predicted this time last year that Nadal would be lining up in London as World Number One and the man to beat? You'd have been a brave individual to bet on that. But here we are with Nadal having won two more grand slams this year (the French Open and the US Open) as well as Masters titles in Indian Wells, Rome, Madrid, Toronto and Cincinnati. 

He might have lost to David Ferrer in the semi-finals in Paris yesterday, but Nadal will be very happy with his draw. He lines up against three players he has had the beating of on a regular basis over the years. 

He has 20 wins out of 25 matches against David Ferrer, 16 wins out of 19 against Tomas Berdych and a perfect 11 wins out of 11 against Stanislas Wawrinka and will be big favourite to top this group.

David Ferrer (Seed 3): Nadal's fellow Spaniard has had something of a breakthrough year in 2013, particularly when he reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in June, before losing to that man Nadal.

He also reached a career high ranking of world number three and every player knows they are going to be in a battle with Ferrer when they take him on, no matter the surface. Slightly worrying for Ferrer is that despite reaching nine finals this year, he has only won two and they were both at the start of the year.

More positively, he has a winning record against both Berdych (7-3) and Wawrinka (7-4) so he'll fancy his chances of getting through the group.

Tomas Berdych (Seed 5) The Czech big-hitter is another consistent performer, but the question is- can he challenge the likes of Nadal and Djokovic at the very top here?  He has hardly been handed a kind draw with losing records against all players (his 5-7 record against Wawrinka rounding out a poor sequence), but this is his fourth consecutive world tour finals appearance.

Berdych proved at Wimbledon in 2010 that he can beat the best as he enjoyed wins over Federer in the quarters and Djokovic in the semis before losing to Nadal in the final. However, that was over three years ago and you can't say he's kicked on since then. And even Wawrinka could pose a big threat to his chances since the Swiss star beat him at the US Open in August.

Stan Wawrinka (Seed 7) Wawrinka's performances since the summer have been sensational, enabling him to compete in his first World Tour Finals. He showed signs in January that he might finally be stepping out of countryman's Roger Federer's shadow, when he forced Novak Djokovic into a five hour, five set epic at the Australian Open, but he really delivered at the US Open when he beat Berdych, before thrashing Murray in the quarter finals.

And he arguably should have defeated Djokovic in his first ever grand slam semi-final when he had a two sets to one lead. The belief is there now with Wawrinka and whilst he might have prefered a group without Nadal, he can nick in to take the second spot away from the fancied Ferrer.

Prediction
1. Nadal
2. Wawrinka
3. Ferrer
4. Berdych

Group B
Novak Djokovic (Seed 2) Last years winner Djokovic has been drawn in a tough group, but the Serb has never been a player to shirk a challenge. He might have lost his number one ranking to Nadal, but there can be no denying he's still had a good year.

He became the first man in the 'Open Era' to win three consecutive Australian Opens when he defeated Murray in January and he also made the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Add in Masters titles in Monte Carlo and Shanghai as well as a French Open semi-final, the Serb has hardly hit a crisis by falling to number two in the world. He might have a losing record against Federer, but would always be big favourite to beat him nowadays whilst against Del Potro he has a record of 10 wins in 13 matches and against Richard Gasquet, it's nine wins from 10 meetings. Like Nadal, I expect the top seed to top the group.

Juan Martin Del Potro (Seed 4) The Argentinian is slowly reproducing his best form and says himself he is playing his best tennis since 2009, when he won the US Open and reached the final of this event.

He has again been hampered somewhat with injuries again this year, causing him to miss the French Open whilst he suffered early exits at both the Australian and US Opens. However, he was brilliant at Wimbledon, pushing Djokovic all the way in a five set thriller in the semis and in recent weeks he has been in great form. He has won titles in Switzerland and Japan as well as reaching a final in China. 

His huge forehand and sheer presence of being 6 foot 6 make him my darkhorse to go all the way in London.

Roger Federer (Seed 6) The 17 times record slam winner may have qualified for a 12th consecutive end of season final event, but there can be no doubting he is not as good as he used to be. If you exclude his Wimbledon triumph of last year, he is without a slam since 2010 and has fallen to number six in the world.

Players simply don't fear him anymore and that can be typified by his defeats to Murray, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tommy Robredo and the unheralded Sergiy Stakhovsky in the Grand Slams of 2013. Indeed, this is the first year Federer failed to reach a slam final since 2002 and his body is definitely slowing down.

He is still capable of moments of magic as he proved last week when he came from a set down to beat Del Potro in Paris, but those days are becoming rarer and rarer and he has only won one title this season.

Djokovic and Del Potro will prove too strong for Federer, so it will be a group stage exit for the fans favourite.

Richard Gasquet (Seed 8) Gasquet will be going out to prove to critics that he isn't simply there to make up the numbers this week. The Frenchman is in London on merit having won three titles this year and he reached the US Open semi finals.

His single-handed backhand is one to behold (like Federer's and Wawrinka's too) and in a shorter format, he can be a danger to anyone. However, with a combined four wins against his three group stage opponents, it's hard to see how Gasquet can get out of the group.

His mental ability can also be called into question, so he'll need to be at his very best to beat three superb players.

Prediction
1. Djokovic
2. Del Potro
3. Federer
4. Gasquet

It all starts tomorrow at 2pm with Berdych and Wawrinka getting things underway before Del Potro and Gasquet take to the court at 8pm. Then on Tuesday it's the ties of Nadal V Ferrer and Djokovic V Federer.

Who's Going to Make the 2014 European Ryder Cup Team?

The race for the twelve available spots on the European Ryder Cup team has begun in earnest and the event at Gleneagles, starting on 26th September next year will be here before we know it.

With that in mind, as it stands this would be my twelve men to make up the team and give Europe the strongest chance of retaining the trophy once again.

Ian Poulter (England)

The first name on any European Ryder Cup team sheet from now until his bones give up. His performances at Medinah in last years edition were simply out of this world. Poulter lives for this event and his passion lifts his teammates ten-fold. Even if Poulter doesn't make it in automatically, then captain Paul McGinley simply must pick him. He would be on the backfoot right from the start if he chose not to.

Henrik Stenson (Sweden)

The big Swede has been in sensational form in the latter half of 2013 and if he keeps those sort of performances up he'll be a shoo-in for the team. Winner of the Tour Championship and the Fed Ex Cup last month, Stenson has rocketed to number four in the world and also managed top three finishes at The Open and the PGA Championship in the summer. Blessed with a superbly long driving game, Stenson would be eager to impress in his first Ryder Cup since 2008.

Lee Westwood (Eng)

With McGinley being a relatively young Ryder Cup captain at the age of 47 (when the event starts), Westwood will provide a hugely experienced voice in the players room. 2014 would be the Englishman's ninth successive Ryder Cup appearance and whilst his putting can be erratic to put it mildly, he is a superb leadout man- much in the way Colin Montgomerie became in his later appearances in the competition.

Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland)

Whilst McIlroy has suffered a remarkably bad 2013, I cannot imagine the team next year lining up without him. On his day, he is the greatest player in the world and the great thing for captain McGinley is that he doesn't fear any of the Americans. He will surely bounce back next year (he's too good not to) and make sure of his place at Gleneagles.

Justin Rose (England)

This years US Open champion has matured into a tremendous golfer. Long gone are the days of missed cut after missed cut. The Englishman is now a threat in every tournament he plays in and with his fantastic all-round game, particularly from tee to green, he will be a superb asset for the European side. Infact, bar Poulter I'd say he's the one player the Americans wish was on their side.

Sergio Garcia (Spain)

Much like that man Poulter, Garcia lives for this competition. He might still yearn to win an overdue Major title, but nothing quite gets the Spaniard's fires burning as loudly as the Ryder Cup. A great man to have in the players room to lift spirits, he comes into his own, particularly in the foursomes.

Matteo Manassero (Italy)

I'm becoming more and more convinced that the young Italian will be lining up for his debut Ryder Cup appearance next year. He was superb in winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May and was equally impressive in the recent Seve Trophy event, which would have done his Ryder Cup chances no harm. And for the matchplay format, he also happens to have a brilliant short game which is a bonus.

Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium)

Whilst Ian Poulter was the main hero of Medinah, the Belgian's remarkable effort in the last Friday afternoon fourball match to gain Europe a point shouldn't be forgotten. He played round in ten under par leading partner Lee Westwood to effectively say he had carried him through the match. His driving length makes him a superb weapon to have on your side and the fact that he is a former winner of the Volvo World Matchplay ticks another box in my eyes.

Paul Casey (England)

Isn't it wonderful to see Casey back in some sort of form? Once he was the world number three, before personal and physical problems saw him take a tumbling down the rankings. But a win at the Irish Open in the summer boosted his confidence, and slowly but surely he is showing the form that enabled him to tee up in this event three times before. The fact that he has won at Gleneagles and has a good record in Matchplay events gives him more than a fighting chance of making the team.

Stephen Gallacher (Scotland)

I must admit to a vested interest in this selection- I'm good friends with Gallacher's nephew and as a result I would be delighted to see him tee it up at Gleneagles. That being said, Gallacher is more than capable of being a key player for Europe. A winner already this season in Dubai, he was also 2nd in the Johnnie Walker Championships (at a certain Gleneagles) and tied 3rd on Sunday in Portugal. With his extremely natural ball striking and consistent record around Gleneagles, he could be a secret weapon for Team Europe next year.

Martin Kaymer (Germany)

The man who holed the winning putt in Medinah last year is not the golfer he once was but he remains supremely talented. He is an intelligent golfer who when on form can blow away the opposition. The German also seems to like Scottish courses, winning the Scottish Open in 2009 as well as picking up fine results at St Andrews in the past few years.

Luke Donald (England)

Let me state on record, Donald is in this team by the skin of his teeth. He has had a pretty miserable 2013 by anyone's standards and will really need to buck up his ideas if he wants to ensure he makes a fifth Ryder Cup appearance. So why is he in right now? Two reasons- he's still a phenomenal putter and when looking at this team, he could partner up with just about any of them.

There is great strength in depth in European golf right now, so it was tough narrowing it down to a dozen. A certain Northern Irishman who holed the winning putt in 2010 has some work to do though for me...