It’s taken seven years, but the Republic of Ireland will finally avail of the opportunity to exorcise some of the ghosts from the infamous ‘Hand of Gaul’ game at the Stade de France this day week when they open their Euro 2016 account against Sweden.

France have pinpointed Wes Hoolahan as the Ireland player they need to thwart if they’re to prevail in today's Euro 2016 last-16 tie.

Robbie Keane will not cast his mind back to Thierry Henry’s controversial handball for one second as the Republic of Ireland attempt to dump hosts France out of Euro 2016.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho issued a veiled swipe at Graeme Le Saux after insisting all of his players were happy to travel to Israel for tonight’s Champions League clash with Maccabi Tel Aviv, despite heightened security following the Paris terror attacks.

So what’s the story with Martin O’Neill and the number 31?

The very first manager to have “lost the dressing room”, according to Google, was John Barnes in 1999.

Arsenal’s embarrassing collapse against Anderlecht in the Champions League has reopened the debate on the future of Arsene Wenger and re-ignited criticism of his defensive blindspot.

Former Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole has arrived in Italy and is expected to complete his free transfer to Roma later today.

It’s funny how things change, isn’t it? Ashley Cole was initially one of our most unpopular signings ever when he arrived from the Marble Halls of Mordor as part of the William Gallas deal in 2008.

If this is the end, we should have known from the beginning what we were letting ourselves in for with Giovanni Trapattoni because he never disguised his intentions for the Republic of Ireland.

Tottenham have completed the signing of Romania defender Vlad Chiriches from Steaua Bucharest.

Tottenham 2 Everton 2

PREMIER LEAGUE: Tottenham v Everton

Tottenham received a huge boost in their hopes for Champions League qualification this evening with the news that Gareth Bale will return to training within two weeks.

Tottenham forward Gareth Bale will miss Sunday’s Barclays Premier League game against Everton after he suffered an ankle injury in last night’s draw against Basle.

Gareth Bale will today have a scan on the ankle injury which threatens to derail Tottenham’s season.

Tottenham 2 FC Basel 2

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned Thomas Vermaelen he cannot expect to be the first name on the team sheet simply because he is captain.

UEFA is expected to decide today whether Inter Milan will face action after racist abuse appeared to be directed at Tottenham players in last night’s Europa League tie.

Andre Villas-Boas expects UEFA to take action against Inter Milan after their supporters appeared to racially abuse Tottenham players last night.

Inter 4 Tottenham 1 (AET: 4-4 on agg, Spurs win on away goals)

Inter Milan 4 Tottenham 1 (Agg: 4-4, Spurs win on away goals)

Europa League last 32: Tottenham 2 Lyon 1

Tottenham 2 Lyon 1

Tottenham will have striker Jermain Defoe back from injury in time to travel to face Norwich in the Barclays Premier League on Wednesday.

Tottenham midfielder Scott Parker could make his first Premier League start of the season against league leaders Manchester United on Sunday.

Andre Villas-Boas today effectively ruled out signing Leandro Damiao and insisted he is happy with his attacking options as Emmanuel Adebayor prepares to leave for the African Nations Cup.

Left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto has overcome his knee injury and looks set to make his first Tottenham appearance in four months tomorrow against Coventry in the FA Cup.

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas rotated his defenders once again as he looked for a second successive away victory at Sunderland.

Aston Villa 0 Tottenham 4

Tottenham 1 Swansea 0

Everton 2 Tottenham 1

Fulham 0 Tottenham 3

Andre Villas-Boas admits Tottenham may struggle to hold on to Gareth Bale after watching the Welsh winger end Liverpool’s eight-match unbeaten run in fine style last night.

Arsenal 5 Tottenham 2

He may have become public enemy number one after his sleight of hand denied the Republic of Ireland a place in the 2010 World Cup but a new biography of Thierry Henry argues the Frenchman was as much a victim of the incident as the Boys in Green.

Man City 2 Tottenham 1

Manchester City 2 Tottenham 1

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Wigan Athletic 1

Andre Villas-Boas admits his team put on their worst performance of the season as Tottenham slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat to strugglers Wigan at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham 0 Wigan 1

After all the angry controversy at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the almost innocent chaos at the Madejski Stadium on Wednesday was a welcome break. Instead of talking about anything untoward, we were talking about pure entertainment.

Southampton 1 Tottenham 2