Let’s get this nonsense over and done with, writes Steven Kelly.

Well, yes, and here we go again… But before we get into ‘Dane-ja vu’ or even ‘Oh, Dane-ger here’ territory, a word of two about the headlines that got away on account of Troy Parrott being so inconsiderate towards us hacks as to refrain from crowning his senior debut, at the ridiculously tender age of 17, with the goal or two or even three which we were all demanding.

Imagine for a moment you were the kind of John Bull-ish Anglo United fan who wears St George’s Cross underpants to bed. It would certainly have been a gutting week for you.

After what United fans have been through this past six months, one doesn’t wish to sound ungrateful.

"Blimey. We almost beat the European champions in a game 90% of us had presumed would be heavily lost. And so now, please hold me back, lads."

Fergie wouldn’t have stood for what the Astro.ie fixture computer has thrown at us.

So that’s nearly Thursday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

As is now traditional here when United play the (snigger!) ‘Super Eagles’, I salute the entire mass of the Crystal Palace Irish Supporters’ Club.

Brian Cody and Winston Churchill might not seem to have that much in common, apart from a shared disdain for appeasement.

In an unprecedented development, it has been widely accepted the Premier League has returned at roughly the correct time.

Is it possible to a view a game through fresh eyes? To sit back and let what unfolds take its course without expectation, opinion, or prediction to cloud the experience?

It was just of 5pm local time, four hours before kick-off, when an open-topped party bus stopped in traffic outside the Ireland team’s hotel in the centre of Copenhagen.

Not long ago, the cult of the manager was under threat. Sure, the gaffer was never more important or regarded.

A modest proposal: Uefa should now do the decent thing and cancel this year’s Champions League final.

The ‘Week from Hell’ duly ended on Wednesday with the thoroughly expected defeat to City. So, now begins the ‘Fortnight of Purgatory’.

As we approach the business end, minds already drift to business time at the Premier League’s fallen powers.

In a title race which has been billed as the heavy metal football of Liverpool against the melodious harmonies of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s side proved they can crank up the amps when they really need to - and the Etihad maestros must surely now be favourites to be crowned champions.

No doubt as to what was the dominant angry shout of the past week: “That was never a pen!” (Well, leaving aside Neymar’s dad yelling at King Eric.)

Amidst the 101 different things we like about Ole is his refreshingly succinct and honest style in front of the microphones.

Nobody wants to say it out loud, but quite a few Reds are thinking it: has The Ole Bounce ended? A harsh suggestion, perhaps, after a ninth win in 10, and at a ground where even Manchester City have recently fallen.

It is somewhat disappointing that, despite all the fine, sophisticated minds operating at the top top levels of football, nobody has yet landed on any kind of labour-saving system.

In one of those ludicrous articles where players’ putative contractual valuations are bandied about, Harry Kane was priced at €330m on Saturday. What’s he worth now, I wonder, after striking out last night? More to the point, what’s De Gea to be booked in at — half a billion?

Ole Gunnar always struck me as a lucky player at United. That ‘good luck charm’ quality seemed apt for his impish, otherwordly-creature demeanour, too. He’d come on for the final act at the Theatre of Dreams like some Shakespearean sprite and conjure up another improbable Midwinter’s Night winner, before exiting stage left and taking the next magic sleigh ride to Lapland. (Well, Kristiansund; near enough.)

So, the post-Fergie era consigns another manager’s Old Trafford reign to the history books, and with David Moyes’ six-year contract still having six months to run too!

Jose Mourinho has been in more than his fair share of make-or-break scrapes during his Old Trafford reign.

What a week this is going to be for the chief. Assailed by critics on all sides, ridiculed in the media, undermined by rebellious underlings, and with another European test looming. Is this survivable?

Ahead of ECHOES, a three-day event at Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre (October 5-7) to celebrate the work of Maeve Binchy and other Irish writers, Helen O’Callaghan asks six authors about their favourite Binchy book and her influence.

Alex Ferguson has revealed how he was “smitten” with Liam Miller’s midfield intelligence the first time he saw the Cork man play.

Tony Cascarino has become the latest former Ireland international to criticise Roy Keane’s actions as Ireland assistant boss – stating that the former Man United great was ‘anything but a professional’.

And so with one coatless bound across Turf Moor, he was free; what a disappointing Sunday for all the Mourinho haters across the world.

This week was all about Éamonn Fitzmaurice, a man of considerable dignity and wisdom, pointing out some uncomfortable truths about the way we support the games we love.

Germany weren’t just shocked by Mexico on Sunday, they were just pipped by Galway too. And Roscommon.

It’s been a weekend for saying goodbye. Not only to the 2017/18 Premier League season — good riddance, on the whole — but also to some characters who’ve marked the competition’s last 15 years or so.

Daniel Storey on the weekend’s big talking points...

Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1: For a fixture that has offered us the Battle of the Buffet, the sight of Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane snarling at each other like a pair of Rottweilers on steroids in the Old Trafford tunnel, this was a particularly low-key, some might say sad, way for Arsene Wenger to bid farewell to Manchester United.

It’s certainly been a week for unlikely bedfellows getting pally. Trump manhandled Macron; the two Koreans hugged; and then, most unexpectedly of all, Old Trafford embraced Arsene Wenger. Where once would rage ‘shooting by other means’ now reigned sentimental applause.

What constitutes a ‘good season’ to you? One asks, because José Mourinho raised the question after United’s efficient and occasionally rousing victory at the new Wembley on Saturday.

The ‘noisy neighbours’ were back, but this time all we could hear were their sobs.

As a 1970s Mancunian boy, I lived in fear of Manchester City winning the league title. As a 1980s teenager, that fear faded as City declined. As a 1990s man, I grew to think it would never happen in my lifetime, so comical had MCFC become.

One of Bryan Robson’s last acts as a player at Old Trafford was to back Alex Ferguson’s judgment in signing Roy Keane.

Who would have thought so many Reds could be so happy on a day when Manchester City were playing for a trophy?

Conor McGregor became a father, Niall Horan saw his solo career take off, and Saoirse Ronan was an award-winning Ladybird. Those were some of the positives celebwise in 2017, writes Kelly O’Brien.

If Jose Mourinho has heard of Christmas and peace to all men and women, then he does a bloody good job of hiding it, writes The Secret Footballer.