Think about the greatest atmospheres and greatest occasions you have ever seen or experienced at Anfield since the day Bill Shankly walked into the famous old ground 60 years ago and vowed to turn it into a bastion of invincibility.

Mick McCarthy has never had much truck with spin.

Shaun Edwards is irreplaceable in the Wales set-up after another master class from the defence guru put Warren Gatland’s side on the brink of a Six Nations Grand Slam.

If Cork’s exit from the championship was highly embarrassing, then Ronan McCarthy’s exit interview to the print media was most intriguing.

The Anyone-But-England brigade will be up bright and early tomorrow, whistling a merry tune and flexing the brims of their Panama hats.

The Anyone-But-England brigade will be up bright and early tomorrow, whistling a merry tune and flexing the brims of their Panama hats.

Larry Ryan writes a strongly worded letter to the week’s sport 

Mike Ashley's turbulent decade as Newcastle's owner could be over by Christmas after the club was officially put up for sale.

Whether it was playing on the pitch, or partying off it, Terry McDermott gave it his all. The Liverpool legend lived life to the full and he remains a larger-than-life character

Having scored 73 tries in 18 Aviva Premiership matches and conceded 49, it is perhaps unsurprising to learn that Wasps are being labelled as rugby’s answer to Kevin Keegan’s Entertainers.

It may may go unnoticed as a footballing landmark, but this week marks the halfway point between the controversial awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in December 2010, and the tournament kicking off in the tiny but wealthy Arab state in November 2022.

It’s not just a jersey they hand you, but one with a number, and often that number counts.

20 sportspeople, reporters and fans look forward to Euro 2016 and reveal their own predictions for Europe's festival of soccer.

Kevin Keegan knows a bit about fairtytale endings except, that for him, there was to be no happy ever after when English football’s greatest tale of the unexpected — until Leicester City came along — reached its climax on a famous night in Madrid in 1980.

Liverpool 1 Swansea 0: How Garry Monk must wish he could turn the clock back three months. Swansea’s manager ended August with a victory over Manchester United that lifted his team into the Premier League’s top four. He ends November barely clinging to his job.

West Ham 3 Bournemouth 4: It has been a long time since the Premier League boasted a team that every neutral could have a soft spot for — not since the days of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle perhaps — but Bournemouth are looking contenders to carry that mantle.

They played nice at their respective press evenings but it’s hardly surprising that when two counties who share such a storied, chequered recent history meet, there are going to be unpalatable truths for both.

The excitement is building for football fans as the Premier returns for the 2015/16 season this Saturday.

Patrick Geoghegan is a professor of history at Trinity College Dublin and presents Talking History on Newstalk radio on Sundays at 7pm.

Former Liverpool striker Kevin Keegan believes Brendan Rodgers was misguided in thinking youngster Raheem Sterling could help fill the void left by Luis Suarez.

Mike Ashley is running Newcastle “from another planet” and should sell the club as soon as possible, according to former manager Kevin Keegan.

Though we’re not sure what this says about the choices of Ireland’s finest footballers.

Argentine defender Fabricio Coloccini has been installed as surprise favourite to take over as manager at Newcastle, should Alan Pardew leave the club as expected.

Staff at Ulster Bank are set to get a pay rise next year, with managers also in line for a return to performance-related salary increases.

Staff at Ulster Bank are set to receive pay rises.

Manchester United made it three wins in a row for the first time in almost a year as Louis van Gaal’s men put Hull City to the sword with a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.

Newcastle welcome Liverpool to St James’ Park today for a fixture that hasn’t ended in 0-0 since 1974. Whatever the final result viewers can expect goals galore.

Mario Balotelli gave away his Liverpool shirt at half-time against Real Madrid in a moment that symbolised the gaping gap between the two sides; and there will be now be inevitable speculation over whether he will ever get it back again.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is hoping a rejuvenated Papiss Cisse can continue a rich vein of form to fire Newcastle out of their dismal run.

As Premier League transfer activity intensifies, armies of sports lawyers are poised for an orgy of t-crossing and i-dotting on complicated contracts.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes it was the right time for the club to sell controversial striker Luis Suarez.

Steven Gerrard has warned his England team-mates they are likely to be in for a long and miserable summer if they do not beat Uruguay on Thursday.

Having rocked them in the Dáil, as the Sawdoctors had it, Michael D certainly rocked them in the Guildhall, and beyond, when he announced during his visit to London that he would be supporting England at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

Adrian Chiles has been voted the most gaffe-prone TV football pundit.

West Ham 1 Liverpool 2

Barcelona midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta should recognise their surroundings when they emerge from the tunnel for tonight’s Champions League last 16 first leg at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

Joe Kinnear resigned as Newcastle’s director of football on Monday night after a turbulent week on Tyneside.

Ray Wilkins has become the latest high-profile member of Rene Meulensteen’s backroom staff after being named as the new assistant head coach of the Barclays Premier League strugglers.

Mike Ashley has alienated Newcastle fans, who now see no prospect of their club ever challenging for major honours with the billionaire in charge.

You’ll probably have noticed, given the torrent of coverage, that Alex Ferguson talks about himself in the third person quite a bit in his new book.