Irish rugby will not go on an overseas spending spree for galacticos when the IRFU gets its cash windfall from CVC Capital Partners, Munster CEO Ian Flanagan has warned.

SO, it was Man United against lower league opposition in the Cup, and it was a six-goal winning margin to boot but, really, it was the mud what done it.

Manchester United might be able to claim misfortune, if they look hard enough.

Munster’s new chief executive has told the Irish Examiner the team’s disappointing run of form should not detract from the “extremely bright” future he believes is awaiting the province under head coach Johann van Graan.

Daniel Storey gives his Premier League review.

Could Liverpool become the new Invincibles?

Danny Drinkwater has joined Aston Villa on loan from Chelsea for the rest of the season, the Villa Park club have announced.

A year to the day since Liverpool last tasted defeat, in a reverse to Manchester City that effectively cost them the league title, Mohamed Salah helped ensure his team remained firmly on course to put that matter right in 2020.

With the 2019/20 Premier League now just past its halfway point and a busy Christmas programme almost done, it’s time to hand out some imaginary mid-season awards.

How very West Ham. The club’s owners twice gave Manuel Pellegrini an ultimatum that he must win his next match to avoid the sack, and twice saw their side win.

Daniel Storey breaks down the big talking points of the Manchester Derby.

Daniel Storey asks if Mourinho will change for Spurs or if Spurs will change for Mourinho.

Yesterday, Denmark celebrated the two-year anniversary of the 5-1 win in Dublin which secured qualification to the World Cup in Russia.

Denmark have named an initial 20-man squad for their final Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and the Republic of Ireland.

Daniel Storey looks at what we learned in the Premier League this weekend.

The history of sporting tournaments is littered with tales of players and teams who broke a glass ceiling but ultimately fell away before the summit was attained. The lesson seems to be that the fairytale, captivating as it may be, rarely has a happy ending.

Mick McCarthy is considering delaying a decision on the make-up of his final squad for the Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland and the friendly against Bulgaria, amid concerns about the impact of injuries and the amount of game-time some of those in contention are getting with their clubs.

Wolves have never hidden their ambitions. At a business breakfast event in the city in September 2018, then-managing director Laurie Dalrymple spoke of his pride at Wolves’s progress over the previous two years.

For the past three seasons, the top of the Premier League has been a closed shop. While both Manchester United and Arsenal have recently dropped out of the Champions League places, so far their financial advantages and traditional pulling power for top players have kept their heads above water.

Considering Arsenal were pleading poverty at the start of the window, the capture of a player who has been of interest to every big club on the planet was a huge statement of intent from the Emirates’ new-look recruitment team.

There are two definitions of ‘charisma’ in the dictionary - and while Jose Mourinho may prefer the description as a ‘divinely conferred power or talent’, we're sticking to the more traditional understanding of the word - a ‘compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others’.

Joe Hodge proved the coolest man in scorching Yerevan by striking a sweet equaliser in Ireland’s Euro U19 finals opener against Norway last night.

Leicester have completed the club-record signing of Youri Tielemans from Monaco.

Waterford FC’s former Republic of Ireland international central defender Damien Delaney today announced his retirement from football with immediate effect, having ‘lived the dream’ of a career in the professional game.

And so we begin the second golden age of the Premier League. Only this time, resistance may be futile.

Colossus. Giant. Leader. Legend. However hard you try to find the words to describe Vincent Kompany, they don’t seem to be enough.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp believes his team can put their 3-0 Champions League defeat to Barcelona out of mind and focus on winning tonight’s crucial Premier League trip to Newcastle.

Ger McCarthy looks at the three things we learned as Man City beat Man United 2-0.

Spurs, for many, has long been a byword for a particular sort of flaky flashiness, a sense of style over substance, of glamorous underachievement.

Denmark manager Age Hareide admitted he went from hell to heaven as his team mounted a staggering late comeback in Basel to extract a point off Switzerland in the battle of Group D’s top seeds.

Against Leicester City on Sunday, Manchester United produced their worst performance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s short stewardship.

Plans to build a helipad at Cork University Hospital have been temporarily grounded after Cork City Council planners sought further information about the development.

Solskjaer has brought Manchester United up off their knees

How the Irish fared

Every now and then there comes a match which not only has the potential to define a season but also possesses the power to force a seismic change in the football tide; and Liverpool’s visit to the Etihad tonight is one such game.

Between defeat at Chelsea in their first away game under Emery and mid-December, Arsenal took 14 of a possible 18 points on the road, but face trips to Brighton and Liverpool having been haunted by the ghost of seasons past against Southampton at St Mary’s.

Ireland underage star Troy Parrott helped fire Tottenham past Barcelona in the Uefa Youth League yesterday.

Daniel Storey shares his Merseyside derby questions

Daniel Storey on the weekend's big talking points.

Twenty years after their on-field tension rivalry ended, Ian Wright insisted his summer squabble with Roy Keane on the pundits’ couch at the World Cup hasn’t dimmed his respect for the Corkman.