BALLON D'OR | JANUARY 11 | Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are once again set to battle it out for the title of 'World's Best Footballer', with Messi's Barcelona team-mate Neymar also included on the three-man shortlist. The Argentine is the favourite to scoop the prize in 2016 following two successive years of Ronaldo triumphs.

FIFA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS | FEBRUARY | After 18 years in office, Sepp Blatter will finally be replaced as Fifa President in February. Prince Ali bin Hussein, Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, Jerome Champagne, Tokyo Sexwale and Gianni Infantino are the five candidates who will be on the ballot.

FINAL DAY OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON | MAY | 2015-16 has been one of the most open and unpredictable Premier League seasons in living memory so far. If the second half of the campaign is as competitive as the first, the relegation spots, Champions League places and destination of the title may not be decided until the final day on May 15. Will it be Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Liverpool or Leicester City who get their hands on the championship trophy in the spring?

PEP GUARDIOLA TO MAN CITY? | SUMMER | The recent confirmation that Pep Guardiola will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season has put virtually all of Europe's major clubs on alert. Manchester City still looks the most likely destination, with Manuel Pellegrini likely to make way for the Catalan at the Etihad Stadium. Pep's had great success in Spain and Germany; can he do the same in England?

CHELSEA'S NEXT BOSS | SUMMER | Manchester City aren't the only Premier League giant likely to appoint a new head coach in 2016. Antonio Conte, Diego Simeone, Max Allegri, Manuel Pellegrini and Frank de Boer are just some of the names to have been linked with the Stamford Bridge hotseat since the sacking of Jose Mourinho in December. Talking of which...

JOSE MOURINHO'S NEXT JOB | ? | Mourinho's reputation has taken a hit this season, but as the scarf-sellers outside Old Trafford have demonstrated he remains a man in demand. Many supporters of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Inter and Paris Saint-Germain would bring the Special One to their club in an instant. Where will Mourinho end up next?

EURO 2016 | JUNE-JULY| The 15th edition of the European Championship takes place in France in the summer, with 24 teams set to take part for the first time. As well as the big guns of Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, England and the hosts, the likes of Albania, Wales, Iceland and Northern Ireland have made the cut. Who's your money on?

COPA AMERICA CENTENARIO | JUNE | If the Euros don't take your fancy (probably worth seeing a doctor about that) then there's also a special Copa America to look forward to in June. The competition is marking its 100-year anniversary with a special celebration, with all 10 Conmebol nations and six sides from the Concacaf region set to do battle in the United States.

FOOTBALL AT THE OLYMPICS | AUGUST | And if even that's not enough to sate your appetite, there's also the Summer Olympics in Brazil. The Selecao, Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa, Honduras, Mexico, Fiji, Argentina, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and Germany have already booked their places at the 16-team tournament, which provides an excellent opportunity to watch some of the most talented Under-23s in world football.

GOALLINE TECHNOLOGY IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | AUGUST | Uefa have yet to confirm whether the gadgetry will be in use in their premier club competition, but a number of reports in recent weeks have suggested that we will indeed see goalline technology in operation in the 2016-17 Champions League. Whether that will spell the end for the popular officials behind the byline remains to be seen, though...

BRING ON 2016!!!

Hopefully we get a great year of fooball. Euro and Copa America is pretty damn great. Especially when it gives Argentina a chance to redeem themselves for losing the last final.

Rafa Banitez to get sacked in Real Madrid, and since no big name is available (that Real hasn't previously sacked), Zidane to be named interim coach. Due to the tremendous respect and liking all the players of Real Madrid have towards a football legend with the pedigree of Zidane, the players end up doing exactly what he asks of them. This brings cohesion, team-work, and a beautiful flowing football to the Bernabeu. The type of a football that one has always expected from Zizzou when he was a player.

Before the season is over, Zidane is offered a 5 year contract and promises to bring many trophies to the Bernabeu.

Meanwhile, reports coming in from a few less respectable sources claim that the reason players are so obedient of Zidane is that they are actually afraid of him. It is well known in the football community just what Zidane does to people that get on his nerves. When questioned on the validity of the story, Materazzi chose not to comment.

Further, the speculation regarding the rift between Zidane and the players seems to have caused Manchester United to step up in their pursuit of Christiano Ronaldo.

The end.

A man can fantasize...

Of course, this is all still a lot more likely than me fulfilling any of my previous resolutions. To name a few: Go to the gym, work out, and build a lot of muscle. Another one is to quit smoking.

Can't wait for the Euro, hope Benz will get called back, he had a sensational start of the season before injury and extra sportive issues, best player so far with Navas and Marcelo this year.
Barca transfer ban ends in 2days, looked like an eternity with the actual depth and long term injuries...
Btw if someone plans to attend some games of the Euro please let me know, I could help if it's not too far from my location.

Everyday I feel so happy I'm not a Real Madrid fan. The arrogance and superiority complex that surrounds the club is truly disgusting. I guess that's what a few bogus champions league titles and being part of a rigged league does to you.

No need to start something Gustavo. Those comments aren't productive and its just to rile up the Madrid supporters.

I'd say my comment is the definition of productive. If it means "riling" a few people up to get a discussing going then so be it. I mean this is what football is now? You win a game by scoring 10 goals and all you get is "Benitez out". One major egocentric player is good enough to start deciding how a club is run? What kind of people are these fans who immediately expect results? Do they not realize that Barcelona have been building a team with manager and players much longer than they have and that they have no choice but to currently be overshadowed by them? I honestly could go on and on about how this sort mentality that permeates certain football clubs nowadays really ruin the game.

@Gustavo:

The superiority complex of fans belonging to elite clubs such as Madrid in particular, but also Barca, Juventus, Bayern, and to a lesser extent recently United/AC Milan, are what keeps the club at the top. Nothing but the best is permissible. The pressure is massive, but it literally ensures that the team will be top or near the top all the time.

I would argue that clubs who lose that edge in their fan base allow complacency in their teams and suffer for it. Liverpool itself is a fine example, you lot don't even expect to win the league anymore. I'm worried about the long-term future for United when we lose that cutting edge, to me, it will mark the point we truly die as an elite European club.

So yeah, it's super annoying. But it's what keeps the clubs as good as they are.

@sunflash

That day won't come but United is living dangerous live because they are on stock market after all .

Madrid is something else though. Like C.Ronaldo, humility is a word that isn't in their dictionary. My point is, is that they don't use that word not because they refuse to but because they just don't know it, they are ignorant to it. They are privileged and think they have some divine right to be better than everyone else. I'm sure to Messi, for example, "nothing but the best is permissible" but that doesn't mean he throws away all logic , like Madrid, when it doesn't happen for him.

Trust me, every Liverpool fan I know truly expects to win the league every single year. And the fight to get there is always more interesting to me than where the true complacency lies; that's with teams like Madrid who start every single season knowing beforehand they'll be among the top 3.

@Gustavo

So in a nutshell, you're jealous that we are good enough to be a Top 3 contender every season. It's okay, hatred as a result of envy is something Madridistas are used to getting from other fans a lot. Especially when a club falls off the top of the world as dramatically as Liverpool did after the 80's.

EDIT:: Ah, I just saw your previous two comments, to which Raimondo and SunFlash already responded. I've seen your comments before, you strictly choose to hate on Real Madrid for no particular reason. I don't know what Madrid has ever done to warrant your hatred this much, but I hope you get over it soon.

Woah! Did I just link that video? My apologies, didn't want to make your day any worse than it already is. Hope your mood improves soon. See ya! :)

Typical Dynastian. Not only have you ignored everything I've said, you've derailed it to something completely off-topic. Again, typical Dynastian. Nice recent threads though.

@dynastian lol completely pissed off there. You know it when you start linking videos to RMA v Liverpool when it has nothing to do with what he said. Either reply to his actual comment or just ignore. Whatever really - just so silly.

This thread is very good, this year is gonna be very interesting I believe, looking foward to seeing how thing progress.