After a decorated playing career Cork native Sarah Kelleher has carved out quite a reputation in the world of hockey coaching and business consultancy. Yet for all the plaudits and praise she has gained for her innovative approaches, the former Irish international has been overlooked for a number of high profile roles. "The top jobs," she says "invariably go to a man"

There was an important landmark in a developing horror on Thursday.

There was still tension in the air at Anfield — but now they believe, writes Chris Hatherall.

Here's the story of 2019, as told through Examiner Sport front pages.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool juggernaut is rolling inexorably towards footballing immortality.

Forget talk of controversial decisions, painful debates over VAR and ongoing confusion over the handball rule; the real headline news at Anfield yesterday was that Liverpool have the drive, momentum, and sheer emotional energy to end 30 years of hurt.

Liverpool finally laid one of the Champions League’s more bizarre statistical shortcomings to rest, but it was the performance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain that will have most pleased manager Jurgen Klopp.

Upbeat Emery sees some signs of hope amid the destruction at Anfield

Jurgen Klopp spent the summer preaching the need to jump out of the blocks with the reflexes of an Olympic sprinter when the new Premier League season kicked off against newly-promoted Norwich at Anfield.

In days gone by, a winger wasn’t a winger unless the soles of his boots were covered in white paint from spending so much time standing on the touchline; and that’s a tradition which might be making a return in 2019-20.

Football does not have rules but instead laws which govern what is allowed on the field of play.

Meh. As European Cup triumphs go, I’ve seen better… OK, I’ll stop being an unbearable gobshite. For now.

So there was not to be one last comeback, another dramatic late goal to keep Tottenham in the cup, which did not have their name written on it after all.

Liverpool's final performance never hit the heights of earlier in the competition, but few Reds fans will care after an early Mo Salah penalty and late Divock Origi strike saw Tottenham beaten 2-0 in Saturday evening’s far from classico Champions League final at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid.

Graeme Souness talks in much the same way he tackled. There is no room for niceties as he speaks.

Having watched the epic unfold on television in the squad’s City West base, Irish U17 international Josh Giurgi took an important lesson away from Liverpool’s staging of the ‘Miracle Of Merseyside’ against Barcelona on Tuesday night and, in particular, the fact they pulled it off without any input from two of their most important players, Mo Salah and Roberto Firminho.

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.

Cork’s Oliver Plunkett Street is 850m metres long.

It would be remarkable if a club that has been lambasted and mocked for failing to win a single trophy since the League Cup in 2008 began their collection with the biggest one of all.

Jurgen Klopp is closing in on an historic season for Liverpool, as he again steered his side into the semi-finals of the Champions League. Only this time he returns to Premier League action this weekend top of the table and in a position to make a mockery of the fantastical claims surrounding Pep Guardiola brilliant Manchester City side.

So that’s Monday nearly 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.

Zero f***s given.

Put Sunday May 12 in your diary now because Liverpool have given the best possible indication that this remarkable title race is going to go to the very final day of the campaign.

All eyes might be on Liverpool and Manchester because of the two horse nature of the Premier League title race but the also-rans from London could yet prove pivotal to the outcome.

Jurgen Klopp was at his snappiest with the Anfield press corps when it was suggested before this match that an exit from the Champions League against Bayern Munich would only boost their chances of winning a first domestic title in 29 years. He said the suggestion was mad. Now we will see if the energetic German coach is right.

One of the nice things about Graeme Souness’ stubborn refusal to sugarcoat his punditry is that he sometimes seems to forget who his lords and masters are, writes Liam Mackey.

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.

What’s bugging Mo Salah? asks Liam Mackey.

A third of the way through the 2018/19 season, the top three teams remain unbeaten – the first time this has happened in top-flight history. But who will reign supreme come May? Darren Norris assesses the state of play.

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1

Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler is convinced that Mo Salah’s annus mirabilis in his debut season at Anfield was no one-off.

Here’s your round-up of what’s on today and tomorrow at the World Cup.

Egypt boss Hector Cuper has kept Russia guessing over whether or not he will be able to unleash “one of the best players in the world” on them in St Petersburg tonight.

There have been some remarkable stories in the World Cup over the years but this one you really couldn’t make up.

There will be 100 Premier League players in action at the World Cup, spread across 25 international teams.

It was a shameless act. Premeditated. Despicable, disgusting, dastardly. Did he mean it? Of course he did.

In the tunnel underneath the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon moments before the 1967 European Cup final, Celtic’s players lined up alongside their opposition, Inter Milan.

Liverpool 4 Brighton 0

Mo Salah has rightly taken all the plaudits this season after winning the PFA Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year awards, but as the campaign comes to a close he is not the only one enjoying a lap of honour and the adulation of his fans.

Tottenham 1 Newcastle 0

And so the 2018 Champions League final will be contested by Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Liverpool players have been told to filter out the noise of history at the Stadio Olympico tonight and focus only on fighting for their dream of reaching the Champions League final on what could be a landmark night in the Jurgen Klopp era.