We Literally Need a Replacement, Richard.

January is normally the month that is dominated by the transfer window in terms of football, however with the recent sexism row at Sky, it's had to settle with second place.

Typically, I was expecting to be writing an article about a pending multi million pound move of <insert player here> to <insert team here... probably Manchester City> which would be a waste of money/worth it's weight in gold [delete as appropriate] but I certainly didn't expect to be speculating over who will be taking the leading seats for Sky's football coverage.

So after the stream of videos being leaked about Gray's chauvinistic tendencies and Keys' live publicity funeral on talkSPORT we are left with two empty seats at one of the world's biggest sports channels.  Sky are hardly scraping the barrel for cash, so the may not necessarily internally recruit for the position, but there are also a lot of prospective applicants within the company too.

Who will be 'cut' out to be the new Keys?

Ben Shepherd (Best Odds*: Evens)

Shepherd has recently joined Sky to present their Champions League shows during midweek, this could be the chance of a lifetime for him if he manages to jump to Sky Sports' flagship show in his first year at the company.  However, I think this will be his hindrance - would the Sky exec's want to rush him straight into the role?  He is a well known presenter after all... albeit not in sport.

Jeff Stelling (5/2)

Stelling has already proven himself to be an esteemed presenter who has an excellent chemistry with all the members of the Soccer Saturday crew.  He combines a good mixture of humour, knowledge and passion for the game but will his other commitments hinder him from taking the position? Would Sky want to risk losing the "unbelievable, Jeff" (unless Kammy comes with him of course) moments by moving him from Soccer Saturday to Super Sunday and Monday Night Football?

David Jones (7/2)

Jones has risen up through the ranks at Sky, starting as a pitch side reporter for the Premier League games, he moved to become a presenter for Sky Sports News and regularly hosts the prime time reports for the channel.  He also takes the presenter role for any Football League games, so he has experience already.

Ed Chamberlain (10/1)

Chamberlain, like Jones, started off as a presenter for Sky Sports News and has worked his way up the chain landing a role as the  host of the midweek Soccer Special programmes.  Like Stelling, he has experience interacting with the crew but always does seem like the "midweek replacement".

Gabby Logan (12/1)

Logan would certainly be a very interesting choice, appointing a woman to take over from a man who was fired for being sexist? It makes a lot of sense.  She is already hosting the BBC's equivalent of Sky's Soccer Saturday, in the form of Final Score and is a renowned presenter within entertainment and sport.  She has the CV for it, she would prove that Sky are not a "sexist company" but would it all seem a  bit forced?

James Richardson (20/1)

The absolute outsider, but if Sky want to go in a different direction then Richardson would be the answer.  Renowned as a charismatic presenter who has a fantastic knowledge of the game and has vast experience in the hosting role after the success of Football Italia and the Football Weekly podcast via The Guardian.  But would Richardson take the role?

* - correct as of 27th January 2011.

Who will bring the colour back to Gray's old seat?

Jamie Redknapp (Best Odds*: 8/13)

Redknapp has been nurtured into this role and it almost seems a given that he'll be taking the lead pundit role from Gray.  He's been one of the secondary pundits alongside a mixture of relative guest pundits relevant to the covered match for the past couple of seasons and has cemented his position in the television booth at the matches.  Jamie does literally have some odd interpretations of the word 'literally' but we've all grown to love it, right?

Graeme Souness (9/2)

Souness, like Redknapp, is a regular in the studio for Sky's live matches.  As an esteemed an experienced ex-pro and manager, he comes with all the right credentials to give the interesting and inspired views for the thinking points of the matches, hence his re-appearances on the show.  But when you think of Souness, do you think Sky presenter? Or do you think ex-pro/manager who gives his thoughts on Sky?

Chris Kamara (10/1)

Kamara and Stelling, the "dream team" of Soccer Saturday, could they make the move to Super Sunday and Monday Night Football in a way that people would not just be hoping Chris spurts out the word "unbelievable" followed by his colleagues Christian name?  There is more to Kamara than the token catchphrases we've grown to love, though.  He's the host of Sky's Goals on Sunday and comes across in a much more professional way on the Sunday programme in comparison to his pitch side demeanour on Soccer Saturday.

Ron Atkinson (250/1)

...Nah, scrub that thought.

* - correct as of 27th January 2011.

So from the potential candidates, whom I have only just brushed upon, there is plenty of competition both within and outside Sky. Certainly more candidates for the punditry position, but it once Gray's successor is made, will he be the new partner to Martin Tyler? Or just merely a studio pundit? A lot of questions, soon to be resolved.