Attacking absences do not excuse Mourinho’s lament.

Last week, the GAA reported on the organisation’s activities for 2019. The GAA’s financial review for the year showed that it is in robust health, recycling an environmentally-friendly 84% of its €73.9m in revenue back into GAA units, writes Jack Anderson.

SHORT of some fiendish combination of brainwashing, kidnapping, bribery, rule-bending, and sending time’s arrow into reverse, Ireland’s only hope of seeing Jack Grealish grace the Aviva Stadium in the summer is if England top their Euro 2020 group and so contest a round-of-16 game in Dublin, potentially against Germany.

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.

Aston Villa striker Scott Hogan has joined Birmingham on loan after being recalled from Stoke, the Premier League club have announced.

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

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.

Ian Whittell on the biggest talking points from a dramatic Manchester Derby.

Feuds between make-up artists, conspiracy theorists and Irish comedy made up the most popular videos on YouTube in Ireland this year.

It was the first day of meteorological winter yesterday, and the temperature had duly dropped on cue, perhaps reminding some at Old Trafford of Ice Station Astana.

Sadio Mane rescued Liverpool as the Reds’ late show at Aston Villa maintained their title charge.

Pep Guardiola’s annoyance at a passive first-half performance dampened the Manchester City manager’s mood despite ultimately running out comprehensive victors against Aston Villa.

Former Aston Villa defender Derrick Williams has come out in support of disgraced youth boss Kevin MacDonald after the veteran coach was sacked by the club in August following an investigation into claims of bullying that stretched back over 25 years.

Aston Villa cruised into the Carabao Cup fourth round, with substitute Jack Grealish sealing a comfortable 3-1 win over a young Brighton side.

Conor Hourihane, Greg Cunningham, and Enda Stevens were teammates in the same Ireland U21 side when James Collins hit a hat-trick on his debut against Liechtenstein.

Jack Grealish has stressed the importance of Aston Villa cutting out the mistakes following Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Bournemouth.

As Fulham found out last season, spending is no guarantee of survival in the Premier League.

It’s fair to say that Arsenal have under promised and over delivered in the transfer window

He might be about to join football’s elite as a Premier League player but his native Bandon helps keep the feet of Ireland and Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane firmly on the ground.

He might be about to join football’s elite as a Premier League player but his native Bandon helps keep the feet of Ireland and Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane firmly on the ground.

Birmingham have signed midfielder Dan Crowley from Willem II for an undisclosed fee.

Aston Villa have announced the permanent signing of Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings.

Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Brazilian striker Wesley Moraes for a club-record fee, believed to be worth around £22million.

His Bandon accent doesn’t quite reach the same caustic shrill of exasperation as, say, a certain someone from Mayfield, but there could be no denying that this was Conor Hourihane channelling his inner Roy.

If Aston Villa’s decision to release Glenn Whelan hardly came as a complete shock to the veteran, he was still taken aback by the manner in which he found out.

Conor Hourihane’s first taste of competitive English football was a League Two draw between Plymouth Argyle and Shrewsbury Town at the compact New Meadow Stadium just shy of eight years ago.

Norwich clinched the Sky Bet Championship title after a 2-1 win against play-off bound Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Leeds forward Patrick Bamford has been charged with "successful deception of a match official" following the Sky Bet Championship match with Aston Villa on Sunday.

The battle for promotion from the Championship reaches a crescendo this weekend with at least eight teams still dreaming of making it into the Premier League and two able to seal it right now. But how well prepared are any of the sides for what could lie ahead?

Conor Hourihane proved the match-winner as Aston Villa continued their charge towards the Championship play-offs with an eighth successive win on Saturday.

Chris Hughton, one of the calmest and most under-stated managers in football, admits that even he will allow himself a leap of celebration if he can recreate a glorious memory of 1981 by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup at Wembley today.

A new year, new manager and new outlook is working a treat for Conor Hourihane after impressing on Saturday.

Mick McCarthy confirmed potential Ireland recruit Patrick Bamford has agreed to meet him in the coming weeks.

He joins Ireland's Enda Stevens, John Egan and David McGoldrick at the promotion-chasers.

O'Neill was a hugely animated figure and was lectured by referee Jeremy Simpson after straying from his technical area and down the side of the pitch once too often.

Quotes to remember from the year in football...

Alan Hutton's superb solo goal sealed Aston Villa's thrilling 4-2 derby win over Birmingham.

Scott Hogan has seen enough clean slates to roof a housing estate but the Aston Villa striker is hopeful of a few more as he looks to kickstart a career that has been starved of momentum at club level and with the Republic of Ireland.

Smith, a lifelong Villa fan, leaves Brentford, while Terry moves into coaching having just announced his retirement as a player. Jesus Garcia Pitarch has also been appointed as sporting director.

Bruce had a cabbage thrown at him before last night's game.

An exquisite free-kick from Conor Hourihane rescued a point for Aston Villa in Saturday’s Championship clash at Blackburn.

Conor Hourihane is long used to the constant comparisons to Roy Keane and he has no hesitation in sharing his fellow Corkman’s view that he had to break the Dublin monopoly to find his way up the Irish ladder.