A weekend of history, fast masses and Oscar Wilde

9 years ago

A selfless act…

9 years ago

Liverpool were winning 1-0 at Old Trafford in an FA Cup tie in 1999 and Paul Ince went off injured. Manchester United went on to win in injury-time and Ince’s manager Gerard Houllier wasn’t happy. A week later, when Ince spoke out at a meeting, Houllier brought up the game. “When my team are 1-0 […]

9 years ago

Are English clubs beginning to inhabit a domestic bubble?

9 years ago

If Wenger leaves this summer then his achievements won’t be forgotten

9 years ago

Trapped in a season they can’t get out of

9 years ago

Jack Byrne explains why he chose Wigan

9 years ago

Captured the public’s imagination

9 years ago

Klopp still possesses the key ingredient

9 years ago

In October 2014, Bayern Munich played Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. Roma were second in Serie A and a threat to Bayern in the Champions League, but not for long. At half-time Bayern were 5-0 up. They went on to win 7-1. Afterwards Bayern’s coach Pep Guardiola described the result as a “fluke” and said […]

9 years ago

Among the many stories that emerged at the weekend to illustrate the rejuvenation of Manchester United under Jose Mourinho were a couple which focused on the influence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the club. Mourinho, it was said, spotted Ibrahimovic’s wife after a recent match as he walked by the players’ lounge and told her, “Thank […]

9 years ago

He knows who he is fighting for

9 years ago

Gazza’s plight is shining a light on a misunderstood disease

9 years ago

And so it has come to pass

9 years ago

Wes Hoolahan has had better games for Ireland, but few did more to underline his importance. Ireland’s victory over Austria in Vienna could have been very different or, to be more precise, it could have been another version of the same old story. In the end, Ireland might have been grateful to Marc Janko who […]

9 years ago

Enough money can make tradition irrelevant

9 years ago

“That Kerry team, we were heavy metal enough now when I think back on it. We were a bit wild…”

9 years ago

But Spurs looked like a side that can’t escape their history

9 years ago

If there is a cult protecting Pep Guardiola, its fanatical membership fell silent on Saturday night, even if their absence didn’t stop some suspecting that Pep was benefitting from suspiciously gentle treatment. “If Jose Mourinho was manager of this Man City side, he would be getting absolutely hammered for that display,” Robbie Savage said on […]

9 years ago

There are times reading Mark Chapman’s new book, The Love of the Game: Parenthood, Sport and Me, that you find yourself asking why do we do this? Why do we give our lives over to sport when there might be so many other ways to spend our time? Chapman has devoted huge chunks of his life […]

9 years ago

“The rest of the world aren’t doing that,” Gareth Southgate said on Thursday when his appointment as England manager was confirmed. Of course, he wasn’t talking about the appointment of Gareth Southgate as England manager, even if the path to his appointment might be one of the many, many aspects of English football which belong […]

9 years ago

Tottenham Hotspur may be a side shaped in the image of its maker, even if the maker may not be the manager Mauricio Pochettino, but the club chairman Daniel Levy. Before their implosion in the title race last season, Spurs were praised for their fitness, their physicality and their relentlessness. “We’ve got a big squad […]

9 years ago

There was probably a lesson here. There was probably something to learn about defeat and adversity at the Aviva on Saturday night. Within four minutes of the second half, Australia turned a 20-14 deficit into a 24-20 lead and Ireland were beaten. They had been brave, they had been resolute and they had nobody to […]

9 years ago

The Frenchman’s supersub role may not be as great as it seems

9 years ago

After one of the great victories, this was one of the great moral victories. Or at least a moral maze. Ireland under Joe Schmidt may always aspire to more, but there is only so much they can do at times, only so much a team can do to be free of history twice in a […]

9 years ago

Before the 2005 FA Cup final, Arsene Wenger was asked about the revolution taking place in English football. On the face of it, all seemed well. Arsenal had won the league in 2004 while remaining unbeaten. In the final in Cardiff, they would meet a familiar enemy. Manchester United and Arsenal had been rivals before […]

9 years ago

Formations and personnel can change but the Ireland squad is now one where a number of players who can deliver when O’Neill demands it

9 years ago

Just over three years ago, Giovanni Trapattoni walked into the press room at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion and tried to insist all was not lost. Trapattoni knew his time as Ireland manager was coming to an end after a David Alaba goal brought another defeat and closed off another escape route. Trapattoni insisted he could see a […]

9 years ago

In the opening minutes in Vienna on Saturday, it looked as if Wes Hoolahan was making the case for those who feel he is too much of a risk when Ireland play away from home against tough opponents. In the great culture war of Irish football, the battle over when Wes should play and when […]

9 years ago

Scotland once had dreams of ruling the footballing world – now they barely have hope

9 years ago

In his world the truth is always brutal and relentlessly unforgiving

9 years ago

More ruthlessness up front could have made the difference in North London

9 years ago

Antonio Conte is reminding Jose Mourinho of what he once was

9 years ago

Some people who know Martin O’Neill like to joke that, with the Ireland manager, there is “always a row round the next corner”. O’Neill, it could be said, knows how to find his way round that corner, even if he would feel he is simply defending himself when he gets there. He does so vigorously. […]

9 years ago

Rui Faria’s heavy sarcasm when talking about Mark Clattenburg’s performance during United’s game again Burnley was widely commented upon this weekend, but Faria was being serious when he went on to praise Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a big player, a “top player” who knows how to deal with these tough periods. Zlatan had played his part […]

10 years ago

He resembles Graham Taylor in his post-England years, a man trying to overcome the change in perception

10 years ago

Who said Manchester United couldn’t entertain under Jose Mourinho? When Manchester United closed down the game at Anfield last Monday, it was generally agreed that Mourinho’s methods would from now on guarantee a certain solidity as they took effect at the club. Within 30 seconds at Stamford Bridge on Sunday that seemed another aspect of […]

10 years ago

On Saturday afternoon, Steven Gerrard posted a message on Instagram which led many to speculate that his time at LA Galaxy would soon be coming to an end. “Living in Los Angeles and playing for the great Galaxy supporters has been a privilege,” he wrote. “You have made this place feel like home to me. […]

10 years ago

Before the game at Anfield on Monday evening, Jose Mourinho was asked about the contrast in styles between the dynamic, relentless Liverpool and his staid Manchester United. “When we have the ball, we want to score,” Mourinho explained. “When Liverpool have the ball, we want to defend. When Liverpool have the ball, the best way […]

10 years ago

Monday night is about more than the players

10 years ago

Sometimes too much is not enough.

10 years ago

After 45 minutes, it seemed as if Martin O’Neill’s pre-match words would turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. “We’re not the type of team that is going to wipe the floor with people, we have to fight for everything,” O’Neill had said the day before the game. When Igor Bugaev equalised for Moldova just […]

10 years ago

Ireland are picking up points in this group, but anyone who thinks this is a good sign isn’t paying attention. It is better than the alternative, but this is an Ireland team which needs to find a sense of purpose. Martin O’Neill might point to the way Ireland’s performances improved over the course of the […]

10 years ago

Martin O’Neill wants his Ireland players to be more confident on the ball when they play Georgia at the Aviva on Thursday evening. Ireland were criticised for their performance in Belgrade last month and O’Neill encouraged his side to be more expressive in their first home qualifier. “I think that the players feel should feel […]

10 years ago

And so, under the cover of darkness, or, at least, apathy, Ireland’s home qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup begin on Thursday night. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t noticed, switched off or have been otherwise engaged. It’s tough to get excited about a visit from Georgia, especially when it feels like we’ve been here […]

10 years ago

Why can’t Ryan Giggs catch a break? No sooner had he – a man with no managerial experience – been overlooked for the manager’s job at one of the biggest clubs in the world than he has to deal with the ignominy of being interviewed but failing to secure the position at Swansea, which has […]

10 years ago

When the end was coming for David Moyes at Manchester United, he was still clinging to the terms under which he had been employed. He’d been given a six-year contract only ten months earlier, an indication that United understood what he had to do and how Moyes liked to do it. They had appointed a […]

10 years ago

And so it’s over. The Championship summer is at an end. The purists and traditionalists will tell you it hasn’t been a vintage year and I’ll have to take their word for it. All I know is that I’m going to miss it which is not what I expected last June. I knew I was […]

10 years ago

He was brought down by the constant craving for easy money

10 years ago

They are not the finished article yet

10 years ago