AH, the dilemma of the successful: who to laugh at first? Arsenal’s “11 babies”, as memorably skewered by ‘Potty’ Paddy Evra the other day – much to French team-mate Silvestre’s fury?

AS has been said before, a week may be a long time in politics but in football it can prove to be an eternity.

UGH. I think it’s safe to say that was the worst FA Cup semi-final I have seen United involved in since I started watching them in 1976, and that’s not just because we lost one for the first time in my memory.

IT had been brass monkeys weather all week in Manchester until the day Chelsea arrived, when the thermometer shot up eight degrees.

IT’S the time of year for facing truths and making resolutions so we might as well start by admitting that we are becoming a tad concerned about the failure of the Liverpool title bandwagon to derail so far.

GREETINGS from my Christmas holiday base, where I am escaping the vicious UK weather and economic collapse; I figure what’s good for the players is good for the fans too.

SALUT, camarades! Greetings from Monte Carlo where it’s 28 degrees, sunny and pleasingly packed with lithe, tanned mademoiselles.

The Examiner’s football correspondent Liam Mackey likes a good argument when he hears it, and he’s got strong views of his own.