ARSENE WENGER yesterday accepted responsibility for Arsenal’s decline and admitted the club’s supporters had every right to voice their displeasure at the failure to strengthen the squad.

IF Harry Redknapp was looking for inspiration to mastermind Tottenham’s fifth place finish, and to secure a Europa League spot, then he found it here.

LIVERPOOL manager Kenny Dalglish chose not to publicly criticise referee Howard Webb after his side’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield but claimed officials “get away scot-free” by not having to explain their decisions.

HAD a good Christmas prezzie haul, dear reader? I got most of what I wanted in the first 20 minutes against Sunderland, thanks for asking: that sort of sparkling play-through-a-hangover carefree performance is exactly what St Stephen’s Day football should be about.

Fulham captain Danny Murphy has pointed the finger of blame for the rash of dangerous tackles at the managers of Stoke, Wolves and Blackburn for sending out their players too pumped up.

Burnley’s hopes of earning a place in next season’s Europa League have been dashed after England slipped down the UEFA Fair Play League.

AFTER the high of Wednesday night, it was a case of ‘mea culpa’ from Harry Redknapp as Tottenham produced the kind of embarrassing collapse the like of which they no doubt thought they’d consigned to history.

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN is the only member of the Irish team that started Saturday’s Six Nations defeat to Scotland included in Munster’s squad for Friday’s Magners League game with Glasgow at Thomond Park (8pm).

Motherwell are in line for a place in the Europa League qualifying rounds after UEFA confirmed Scotland had earned a sixth European place via the Fair Play League.

MANCHESTER CITY boss Mark Hughes was delighted to celebrate “a positive day all round” after seeing his side qualify for the UEFA Cup first round with a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over FC Midtjylland last night.

Manchester City have won a mini-battle to ease their fixture congestion.

Brazilian striker Jo is expected to make his Manchester City debut tomorrow in the first leg of the club’s UEFA Cup first qualifying round tie in the Faroe Islands.

Manchester City have celebrated their return to European combat by landing a one-year extension to their multi-million pound sponsorship deal with travel giants Thomas Cook.

Manchester City are likely to make a decision by the end of this week over their UEFA Cup qualifying round venue.

MANCHESTER City manager Mark Hughes has been promised substantial funds for new players after taking over at Eastlands.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has been promised substantial funds for new players after taking over at Eastlands.

Mark Hughes seems certain to cross the great Manchester divide to become City’s next boss.

Manchester City have confirmed Sven-Goran Eriksson has left his post as the Barclays Premier League club’s manager.

The future of Man City manager Sven Goran Eriksson is likely to become much clearer on Monday.

FURIOUS Charlton chief executive Peter Varney has branded the demise of the club’s hopes of appearing in the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play League draw a “complete shambles”.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan insists Alex McLeish will come back better than ever after taking a break from the relentless pressures of managing one of the Old Firm clubs.

Tottenham may play in next season’s UEFA Cup after finishing second to rivals Arsenal in the Premier League Fair Play rankings.

The eircom League prize fund for this season has been increased with the winners set to receive a €100,000 windfall – a massive €82,000 increase on last season.

THERE is more chance of Elvis turning up alive and well on the day the Loch Ness monster surfaces than Arsene Wenger aping Jose Mourinho by courting Alex Ferguson with vintage wine at Highbury tomorrow night.

Cork City and UCD topped the eircom League Fair Play League for the Premier and First Division’s respectively.

Cork City may have been pipped to the top spot in the eircom League this year but they finished top of the Fair Play League, it was revealed today.

Cork city’s European dream for next season came to an end tonight when they missed out on a place in the UEFA Cup following the Fair Play League draw in Germany.

Cork City take on Shelbourne in the eircom League tonight but they are up against Matt Holland's Charlton also in the draw for the Fair Play League.

Charlton have been confirmed as the Football Association’s representatives in the draw for an extra place in next season’s UEFA Cup via the Fair Play League.

Charlton face an agonising wait before they know whether they have gained automatic entry into the UEFA Cup through the Fair Play League.

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson did himself few favours at today’s FA Cup semi-final draw.

RIO FERDINAND will be asked by the Football Association for his mobile phone records before they decide on any charges for missing a drugs test.

Arsenal may be in the thick of disciplinary action with the Football Association but the Gunners have also managed to make to the top of the Premier League’s Fair Play League table.

Robbie Fowler has been told to forget about the critics again taking a swipe at the Manchester City striker and hit back with a flood of goals.

Celtic, Bohemians, Derry and Shelbourne are all eagerly awaiting today's Champions League and UEFA Cup draws in Switzerland today.

CHAIRMAN John Wardle hailed David Seaman’s arrival at Manchester City and then delivered a statement of European intent to the rest of his Premier League rivals.

CORK CITY will be praying for a good clean showing from Republic of Ireland sides between now and May as it could net them a UEFA Cup place next autumn.

Manchester City are on course to earn a surprise place in the UEFA Cup next season.