Last Saturday afternoon, the car carrying Giovanni Trapattoni made its way along the A50 motorway south of Stoke city centre and pulled up alongside the red-brick Britannia Stadium.

So eight months into his first season at Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers finally has a win against a top-six side.

St Patrick’s Day will mark 22 years since the day Diego Maradona’s career fell to pieces.

Roberto Martinez seemed as delighted with Swansea City’s victory in the League Cup final as though he was still their manager.

IN recent seasons it’s become commonplace to hear statistics based on the top five leagues, meaning the top divisions of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

Aston Villa against West Ham on the day Ireland play England in the Six Nations is not an assignment many Irish journalists dream of being handed.

Last April I went to the Emirates and saw Mario Balotelli get sent off.

In March last year Roman Abramovich sacked Andre Villas-Boas and speculation linked the then-Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers with the vacant position.

When news broke last week that Pep Guardiola had agreed to become the next coach of Bayern Munich, much of the reaction focused on how wise Guardiola had been to choose a ‘real club’ with proper football values over the kind of plastic pop-up projects on offer at Chelsea or Manchester City.

When Howard Webb blew the final whistle at Old Trafford the roar made it sound as if Manchester United had just beaten somebody big.