Most calculations had Noel McGrath arriving into the madhouse after around 52 minutes with instructions to introduce sanity. 

The former Arsenal man's autobiography is written by Martin Keown about Martin KEY-own, he says. If there are two Keowns, the Irish and English version, there are also two Martins, before and after Arsene Wenger.

It's that time of year all over again (the waning hours, to be exact) when we hand out the coveted awards for 2024's guff merchants and overlords, its worst stunts and best, er, swordsman with some mystery and natural justice mixed in

In his new book, Hugo Lloris admits he feared the worst the moment the Spurs players received the pricey mementos from chairman Daniel Levy in the run-up to that Madrid final with Liverpool.

Though like the two-pointer, it's a long shot.

Despite all the hullabaloo about Arsenal’s ‘dinosaur tactics’ and reliance on wrestling, a potentially more interesting stat emerged late this week, via Opta.

 In 1976 at Wembley, Ireland's moral victory was meant to unlock our gateway to the world. 

Already, in this house, in the constant battle for use of the big television, dangerous language has crept in.

It might just be the last piece in the impressive jigsaw Arteta has assembled, injecting a little bit of chill.

The crucial thing now is for Pat Ryan to get a copy of Limerick's film of Cork celebrations.