Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed they are the best team in European football over the last few months, but the idea that they have started a new era of dominance is a long way from becoming a reality.
Making a success of an academy is harder than ever at the top of the game, but this is one of many areas where Liverpool are a step ahead of their rivals.
People are always slagging me for criticising the GAA. Well, here’s a new twist.
Here’s a sobering thought. There are now only five games remaining in this exhilarating football championship.
Of the eight teams left, Meath are the rank outsiders – as they are for today’s game.
As you are well aware by now, I’ve given RTÉ Sport and GAA+ a hard time over their lack of coverage of a lot of the big matches, particularly in this year’s football championship.
The weekend of the Munster hurling final served up a wonderful couple of days of sport.
At almost 70 years of age, I have been lucky to have a very healthy and happy life, surrounded by a wonderful family.
When the Americans first went to the moon, they discovered that the ballpoint pen didn’t work in space. So NASA got to work, spending billions of dollars to invent a biro that would work in zero gravity and on any surface imaginable.
Harold Wilson, the former British Prime Minister, was quoted during the sterling crisis of 1964 when he declared that a week is a long time in politics. He could just as well have been commenting on this year’s GAA championship.
The 2025 senior football championship is the competition that keeps on giving.
I have a range of mixed emotions looking at the latest GAA action. They fall under three headings: happy, bored and angry. Let’s start with the positive.
“The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so” – Gore Vidal
THE great champions make it their duty to stay at the top of the sporting mountain– and that’s what Rory McIlroy and Liverpool need to do after their momentous moments of glory.
A friend texted me during the Cork-Kerry match the weekend before last saying the game was exciting but the football was poor.
Liverpool will win the Premier League title this afternoon and the celebrations that follow will feel like they have been five years in the making.
As a TV sports addict, the final round of the Masters was my Nirvana. Sport at its very best.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure from Liverpool now appears inevitable – and it disappoints me that it has come to this.
I know you are used to this by now, me giving out about the GAA.
Mohamed Salah ended speculation over his Liverpool future by signing a new contract on Friday and now he needs to emerge from his untimely hibernation and prove he is still one of the world’s best players.
I won my first National Football League medal in 1974. Christ, I was thrilled. I’d made it as an inter-county footballer.
Isn’t it hard to believe the above headline, that only two weeks after the National League regulation matches finished and a week after the finals, the championship kicks off this weekend.
The warning signs have to be flashing for Liverpool manager Arne Slot and if the Premier League season was starting afresh tomorrow, he knows his team would be struggling.
I make no apology for naming this my main highlight. Gaelic football has been taken out of the control of the modern coaches who I’ve often said were single-handedly responsible for destroying the game.
Has Pep Guardiola’s brand of total football had its day?
As GAA supporters, we should have looking forward with huge interest to the final round of the National Football League yesterday, with so much to play for.
I won’t addle your head with the various permutations, like scoring difference and head-to-head implications, but suffice to say that today’s final round of the NFL will be full of twists and turns with the final promotion-relegation placings …
It was an honour to spend time with President Michael D Higgins and my old Ireland teammates from the 1990 World Cup squad on Paddy’s weekend as we reminisced about a great moment in our nation’s sporting history.
When I’m struggling to think what I should write about, there’s always a simple solution. If I want a reaction all I need to do is compile a list – the greatest games, the greatest teams, the greatest players. It’s great crack just to sit back and …
Dermot McCabe, the Westmeath manager, had a major problem with the hooter after last weekend’s league match against Meath.
Mo Salah may have his eyes on this year’s Ballon d’Or after his incredible form in the Premier League with Liverpool, but he won’t be crowned the best player in the world if he repeats his anonymous performance against Paris Saint-Germain on …
I consumed a big feed of Irish sport on TV in the final weekend of February.
Liverpool’s owners hit the jackpot when they hired Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp’s successor – now they need to give him the finances he needs to build an Anfield dynasty.
Jim Gavin has been keen to stress from the outset that these FRC reforms are not actually rule changes but rule enhancements.
Only a chosen few defenders can be compared to the great Paul McGrath and Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is now one of them.
Here’s the good news: this column is a new rules free zone today. I’ve decided to cast my eye over what else is happening it the world of the GAA.
First, an admission. Since last week’s article – sadly – nobody famous has contacted me to have a chat about the new rules. Meanwhile, Jim Gavin continues to do no wrong. The man can walk on water.
For years, I’ve been jealous of my good friend Joe Brolly.
Here’s a break from tradition to start the new season. Usually at this time of year I preview the league games that are on today, but I feel I have to change because previewing these matches is virtually impossible.
The good news is I got the result of the club final spot on. The even better news was the attendance. More than 31,000 in Croke Park. Can you imagine if it was marketed properly?
Watching the All-Ireland club semi-finals the weekend before last, I couldn’t help feeling a bit puzzled.
Errigal Ciarán (Tyrone) v Cuala (Dublin), Croke Park, 3.40pm – TG4
Liverpool face Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night and I think it has become their biggest Premier League match of the season.
I could be accused of taking the easy option with this week’s column by rehashing one of my anti-split season rants.
Should Liverpool cut their losses and sell Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid in this month’s transfer window?
The first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis year got underway in Melbourne today, with a huge cloud hovering over defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner.
The time has come to hand out my annual awards for the Gaelic football season. But be warned that, unlike some other awards, this will not be an exercise in political correctness.
It’s that time of year when I give my verdict on the Gaelic football season of 2024, reflecting on the good, the bad and the ugly.
Several people wondered if I was alright last week after my effusive praise for Special Congress voting to introduce the new Gaelic football playing rules in 2025.
