Columnists
ROYAL APPOINTMENT | Making Colm O'Rourke their new manager would unite Meath football
BACKTRACK | Why are people who backed the GAA's split season now totally against it?
banner time | How Shane O’Donnell and Clare are again threatening to become the story of the hurling summer
He’s closing in on a decade older, no longer the boyband hurler who, beneath Saturday night lights, seized Croke Park’s title deeds with the charismatic charm of a helmeted, will-o’-the-wisp, goal-hungry Ed Sheeran.
doomed | Meath, Tipp and Monaghan are in a shambles
BENJAMIN Franklin was an intellectual giant.
final countdown | Liverpool will see off Villarreal to reach Champions League final
LIVERPOOL should make it through to another Champions League final on Tuesday night – as this time Villarreal will have to come out of their shell.
fan fury | How the legacy of Heysel disaster underpinned deteriorating relations between Liverpool and Everton
After a week that contained a double dose of Hillsborough-related Mancunian bile, Merseyside badly needs a friendly derby. The likelihood of getting it is slim.
LONDON CALLING | Beer tents and the smell of frying onions: games in Ruislip do as much for GAA as glamour days in Croker
This is a world apart from All-Ireland final day in Croke Park
Brennan' brief | How landing Harry Kane would allow new United boss Erik ten Hag to clear out Old Trafford deadwood
So Erik ten Hag is finally confirmed as the Captain of the Titanic that is Manchester United. Now he must steer the ship into clear water and someday into the harbour that would be winning a big trophy again.
Brennan's brief | Why the Glazer family are not the only ones to blame for the state of Manchester United Football club
There are lots of people to blame for the state of Manchester United football club – I’m just not sure the Glazer family who own the club are one of them.
comment | Snarling Diego Simeone is pure box office – I’d love to see him in the Premier League
If there is one manager in the world I would love to see in the Premier League, it is Diego Simeone. Unfortunately for the Atletico Madrid coach, he may be long retired before the football world is united in their appreciation for how much …
ROAD WARRIOR | He may have a bulging medal cabinet but Limerick's Seán Finn has reached his pinnacle
Seán Finn's trophy cabinet in Bruff is already overflowing - and he's only 26.
king con | How Con O'Callaghan's return will add more firepower to Dublin's failing bid for Sam
It tells you everything you need to know about the Leinster Football Championship of 2022, that the semi-final draw won't be made until after the four teams who qualify are known.
fairy-tale run | How everything is perfectly set up for the red carpet to be rolled out for Roscommon this year
Let's imagine this year's Connacht championship as a fairy tale based on the story of Cinderella. Who will fill the role of the Prince?
flare play | Tiger Woods is fighting for different kind of victory after looking death and amputation in the face
Tiger Woods, crimson shirted among the azaleas, the blinding wattage of his competitive charisma firing a cosmic flare across Amen Corner and out athwart the world, remains the most untouchable sight in all of sport.
Dubs' critical issues | Con O’Callaghan will be a big addition, but the Dubs need to sort out their defence
CONTRARY to what might be anticipated, I have no intention of driving the final nail in the Dublin football coffin today.
red alert | Mo Salah's loss of form is a massive concern heading into the biggest month of the season
MOHAMED Salah was off the pace for Liverpool against Watford on Saturday and it is a massive concern heading into the biggest month of the season.
Tiger roll | Patrick Cantlay could bag the Masters crown even if Tiger is on the prowl again
WILL HE, WON'T HE? For the next few days every word written or spoken around the 2022 Masters hangs on Tiger Woods.
comment | Why the GAA's failure to endorse Plan B will go down as one of their worst decisions
NO other Sunday in 2022 will produce as much drama as the final round of the Allianz Football League did last weekend.
blue murder | How the stats prove it's very hard for a Division 2 side to win the All-Ireland
Tyrone, the defending All-Ireland champions, are fourth in the betting market at 9/1 in the 2022 title race, which begins in 34 days’ time when they face Fermanagh in the Ulster championship.
joy of sex | Sexton's display handed Eddie Jones the unpalatable task of once more having to eat humble pie
JOHNNY Sexton bid a triumphant adieu to Twickenham – handing Eddie Jones the unpalatable task of once more having to eat his own overcooked pre-match stew of incendiary words.
scot to be better | Why a Triple Crown is never a bad return in the season that Ireland have to play England and France away
The most important stat in any sporting contest is the final scoreline.
glory boys | It's only when an Alex Ferguson or a Jim Gavin move on that their brilliance is appreciated
AS a sustained meteor shower of dysfunction – in grim concert with a fireball of Roy Keane’s rage – pummels Manchester’s red planet, an old truth is reasserted.
GLOVE HURTS | Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher must ask himself... should I stay or should I go?
CAOIMHIN Kelleher is the unflappable kind an airline would favour in the cockpit if one of their passenger jets suffered engine failure 35,000 feet above the Atlantic.
safe hands | Caoimhín Kelleher is the best thing to come from Cork since Roy Keane
CAOIMHÍN KELLEHER was the 30-goal-a-season striker, tipped to become the next big thing in Irish football.
new faces | I can't wait to see the new guys against Italy but we have to get a bonus-point win
Well, Irish coach Andy Farrell has gone half way to where I wanted him to go.
right for rom | If Lukaku gets a look-in Chelsea could beat Liverpool and win today's EFL Cup Final at Wembley
.It's not easy being a Chelsea fan this morning. We're all set for a EFL Cup final at Wembley against Liverpool.
watershed moment | It's D-day for Dubs if Kildare become first Leinster county in 22 seasons to beat them in a regulation match
DUBLIN last lost four league games on the spin nearly half a century ago.
they're off | How the opening race at Cheltenham could be the big Mullins v Henderson battle of the week
It shows you just how powerful Willie Mullins’s stable is, that a couple of bookmakers are offering prices about him having more winners at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival than Britain in three weeks’ time.
Sam plan | All you need to know about new All-Ireland football Championship plan
Delegates at next weekend’s GAA Congress in Mayo are expected to endorse a new format for the All-Ireland football championship to be introduced in 2023.
rebuilding | Dessie Farrell's Dublin are not a bad team and are still learning after Mayo defeat
ANOTHER defeat for the Dublin footballers - but it only becomes really serious if we lose in Newbridge next Sunday.
Too safe | I salute All-Ireland Club Champions Kilcoo - but the game was a borefest
It was another example of this kind of 'bastardised basketball' we have witnessed all season
one-man mo | Why Mo Salah must be considered one of the all-time legends of Anfield's history
MOHAMED Salah scored his 150th goal for Liverpool in yesterday's 3-1 win against Norwich - and now the door is ajar for him to join the true greats of the club.
Wreck-it Ralf | Attitude of Manchester United's players is a huge concern for boss Ralf Rangnick
All the word is that Ralf Rangnick has a guaranteed two further seasons with Manchester United 'upstairs' as a Director of Football.
Brennan's brief | Man United just might fancy a two-game tie against their neighbours City in Champions League
We’ve been here before. Manchester City look good on the way to the closing stages of the Champions League – and then implode.
pot luck | Miracles can happen - the fact Jimmy White is still here, aged 59, dreaming of Crucible glory proves it
The miracle after a life that so frequently burst into flames of anarchy is that Jimmy White is around to tell his tale.
feisty affair | Dublin don't have to press the Div 1 relegation panic-button yet - they might have to if Mayo beat them
THERE'S a shot in golf called a power fade. It's not easy to execute, and when it goes badly wrong it can lead to big trouble for the golfer.
IN THE BLACK | The GAA is in rude health financially, thanks to the taxpayers
sam hope | Nothing could remotely stir the blood west of the Shannon quite like Mayo ending their All-Ireland famine
OPINION | Don't write off the Dubs, league form comes with a health warning
Diehard Armagh fans might disagree but I doubt if there was a GAA fan or pundit who forecast that after Game One in the league the Orchard County would be first and Dublin last in the Division 1 table.
rising stars | Last weekend’s performances from Armagh and Kildare felt like a signpost to something bigger
The sample size is microscopic, substantially less than the minimum required scientific evidence to declare the bloodbirth of a new democratic Gaelic football era.
fighting tears | Watching Barry McGuigan relive the loss of his daughter was heart-wrenching
EVEN for an unbending old prize-fighter there are blows that upend the senses and leave him broken beyond repair.
SPILLANE'S ALL-STARS | Pat Spillane's top 50 footballers of the past 50 years
ONE sure-fire way to lose friends is to start naming best-ever GAA teams.
'G' FORCE | Gerrard looked nervous on Anfield return but Kop idol will have been pleased with Villa's fighting spirit
STEVEN Gerrard’s return to Anfield was always a sideshow to what really mattered at Anfield yesterday - and Liverpool just about managed to get over the line.
heavy mettle | Origi's late-late show proves that doubting this Liverpool team is a fool's game
I WOULD have bet my house on Liverpool failing to find a winner for most of yesterday’s game — yet doubting this team is a fool’s game.
just ron-derful | It's total nonsense to suggest that Cristiano Ronaldo is THE problem at United
top of the klopps | Liverpool have a 'ticket to ride' with their fab four frontmen – Mo, Sadio, Diego and Bobby
back on kop | Liverpool have exorcised the demons of last season and are a match for anybody right now
killer instincts | Stephen Kenny's men can end the year on a real high with revenge in Luxembourg
We’ve reached the end of a disappointing World Cup campaign, but at least Ireland’s footballers now have something to play for in Luxembourg tonight.
squad of gaa-lacticos | Pat Spillane's top 30 footballers in the country - and there are some surprises
Rather than grow a moustache or take the pledge in November, I've decided to pick my top 30 current Gaelic footballers.
