As the country finally cobbles together a Government after months of dithering ‘will they won’t they’, one newly appointed junior minister’s major concern appears to be about relaxing the smoking ban in pubs and restaurants. That he is the junior health minister with specific responsibility for disability makes it all the more surreal.

1. Retaining possession is key.

So it begins. It might not quite be the final furlong but the finishing line is just about visible and the runners and riders know the margin for error is slim. 

It will be a busy night in the Premier league with 6 games taking place.

Premier League

"I don’t feel any pressure inside the club or outside.”

Man City 1 Hull 1: Samir Nasri picked through the wreckage of a season that is rapidly spiralling out of control for Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City with a stark warning for his under-achieving team mates.

Manchester United's faint Premier League title hopes receded even further as they began 2015 with a disappointing 1-1 draw at Stoke this afternoon.

Stoke 3 Arsenal 2

Our weekly round-up of what's being said on the terraces after another weekend of Premiership action. 

Arsene Wenger was not surprised to see Alexis Sanchez quickly become Arsenal’s main man after leaving the shadow of Lionel Messi at Barcelona, but will give the in-form Chile forward a much-needed "breather" next week.

Shrewsbury Town, the lowest ranked team left in the Capital One Cup have been drawn against Premier League side Chelsea in the fourth round.

SAILING: Four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie is confident his £80 million (€99m) America’s Cup team can follow the example of Team Sky’s cycling success at the Tour de France and bring sailing’s oldest trophy back to British shores.

We have to talk about Stephen. Well, actually, we don’t, but it seems that in at least every other encounter with a manager of the Republic of Ireland over the past seven years, we end up talking about Stephen.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was reluctant to make predictions about his team’s Barclays Premier League title prospects after their damaging 1-0 defeat at Stoke.

Manuel Pellegrini’s apology for his outburst against referee Jonas Eriksson has not spared him a Uefa disciplinary charge.

Kevin Doyle could be on his way out of Wolves before the 11pm transfer window deadline tonight, with Middlesbrough the favourites to land the Wexford man.

Stoke 3 Liverpool 5

Stoke 3 Chelsea 2

Stoke 1 Southampton 1

Stoke 0 West Brom 0

Stoke have confirmed the signing of Stephen Ireland on a season-long loan from Aston Villa.

While Cardiff City’s win over Manchester City was the standout result of the weekend another promoted club, Hull, were also celebrating a first win of the season thanks to a penalty from Republic of Ireland winger Robbie Brady.

“Traditional capitalist models” were not working and an alternative is needed, members of the UK's Co-operative Group were told today at its AGM.

Insurance giant Aviva is eyeing a £650m takeover of The Co-operative’s insurance business in the UK, it was reported today.

MARGARET Thatcher cast a long shadow over this island, from the days when she waved a big stick at men who were starving themselves to death, right down to the bonfire of the Celtic Tiger, which owed so much to her brand of economics.

Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry claims referee Howard Webb told him he did not get a good view of Glenn Whelan’s controversial tackle on Javi Garcia on Saturday.

FA Cup Fourth Round: Stoke v Man City

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admits a lack of consistency is damaging chances of progress at the club.

Everton defender Sylvain Distin hopes the Football Association takes a consistent line on what he called “wrestling” by Stoke players at set-pieces as team-mate Marouane Fellaini braces himself for a ban.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis could be set to welcome back midfielder Glenn Whelan into his side for tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League match against Sunderland.

Stoke striker Peter Crouch is not thinking about an England recall despite his good start to the season.

Am I being too charitable in assuming that the reason most of our politicians are just dying to send some guards and an ambassador to Mauritius is because that after more than 700 years of being ruled by Britannia compared to their mere 201, we consider ourselves better equipped to run their country than they do?

England may find themselves in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 tomorrow night or they may be boarding a plane back to London; but whatever the result against Italy in Kiev it appears Roy Hodgson’s side may finally have learned the lesson the world has been waiting for them to grasp for so long; the art of humility.

IT IS eighteen months now since Andy Gray and Richard Keys wandered into a debate about the respective merits of the English Premier League and La Liga during a league match between Manchester City and Everton.

Stoke have signed a new three-year shirt sponsorship contract with bet365 which chief executive Tony Scholes believes can only help the club’s future development.

Stoke 0 Valencia 1

FEW grounds have provided a better benchmark for a team’s title credentials than the Britannia Stadium this season.

MANCHESTER UNITED may have surrendered their perfect start to the season at the Britannia Stadium but the positives to be gleaned from a full-blooded 1-1 draw could well outweigh the negatives when it comes to the development of young goalkeeper David de Gea.