THIS weekend’s sporting agenda will be dominated by the publication of a squad list that is likely to cause division, drama and upset. For once, though, Fabio Capello will not be the man facing the subsequent flak.

He probably should be.

The England boss names his squad for next month’s European Championships qualifiers with Bulgaria and Switzerland on Saturday evening, and all available evidence suggests he is poised to return to many of the players who underperformed so spectacularly in South Africa this summer.

Twenty-four hours later, though, and an even more controversial list of names is due to be released. On Sunday evening, Colin Montgomerie will confirm the identity of the 12 golfers to represent Europe in this year’s Ryder Cup.

Then, the arguments and acrimony really will begin in earnest.

In many ways, it would be easier if Montgomerie was responsible for all 12 names, but that is not the way the process works.

Nine players will qualify automatically, and eight are already pretty much guaranteed a spot on the team.

Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell will make it thanks to their position in the world rankings. The latter pair have won Majors this year, while Westwood finished second in the US Masters and Open Championship and McIroy came third in both the Open and USPGA.

All four will play major roles in the European team.

Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher and Francesco Molinari have looked like qualifying automatically for a while now thanks to their ranking on the European Tour, and Peter Hanson effectively joined them when he won a play-off to lift the Czech Open title last weekend.

At the moment, the final automatic spot is filled by Miguel Angel Jimenez, and while Simon Dyson and Alvaro Quiros could overtake him with a strong finish in this weekend’s Johnnie Walker Championship, Montgomerie will be hoping the amiable Spaniard makes it. His task is already tough enough without another star name making its way onto the ‘You should pick me because...’ list.

Assuming Jimenez survives, Montgomerie will effectively be left with a choice of three from five.

The problem, and for all that managers in a variety of sports claim to enjoy a selection dilemma, a problem it is, is that all five would probably be automatic selections for each and every session if the Scot was able to pick them all.

Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Eduardo Molinari – two will be kicking their heels in frustration when the action begins in earnest on October 1.

In many ways, the most controversial decision, but perhaps the easiest to predict, relates to Molinari.

The Italian has enjoyed a strong finish to the season, topped by his victory at the Scottish Open in July.

He partnered his brother, Francesco, when Italy won the World Cup in 2009, and his inclusion would guarantee Montgomerie a tried-and-tested partnership for both foursomes and fourballs.

By playing in this week’s Johnnie Walker event at Gleneagles, Molinari has also displayed commendable commitment to the European Tour.

The European Ryder Cup team is supposed to be representing the European Tour, but rather than attempting to qualify in Scotland this week, Casey, Rose, Harrington and Donald have opted to chase the dollar in a competing Fedex event in the United States.

As a staunch advocate of the European Tour, Montgomerie must be tempted to select Molinari to make a point. I would, but I don’t expect the European captain to be as bold. Molinari’s lack of bigtournament experience will cost him.

No European candidate boasts as much Major success as Harrington, and the two-time Open champion is surely guaranteed a place at Celtic Manor despite his failure to sparkle this season.

Harrington has not won a tournament for more than two years, and his Ryder Cup record – 8.5pts from 21 matches – is poor.

Nevertheless, he is a proven winner when the chips are down, and Montgomerie will want as many of them as possible in five weeks time.

For that reason, I also expect Casey to survive the cull. The Englishman boasts 11 tournament wins, with his most recent having come at last year’s PGA Championship.

He has recorded top-12 finishes in the last two Majors and has appeared in two successful Ryder Cup teams. Some might question whether he has what it takes to finally get over the line in a Major, but his competitive qualities are obvious and all but guarantee him a place in the team.

That leaves a straight choice between Rose, in great form at the start of the year but somewhat subdued recently, and Donald, who has spent more than 60 weeks in the world’s top ten.

My preference would be for Rose, as his two wins on this season’s US Tour should have given him a psychological edge over America’s leading players and he won three of his four matches at the most recent Ryder Cup at Valhalla.

Most golfing pundits expect Montgomerie to plump for Donald, however, as the 32-year-old boasts better recent form and is a former winner of both the Walker and Ryder Cups.