20 May 2018 – 10 Years From Now. We used to be optimistic. Haughtily expectant and perpetually dissatisfied, but insuppressibly sanguine: a nation of boisterous, red-faced hope.

It’s time the Football Association of Ireland got on their hands and knees to beg Stephen Ireland to come back to the international scene.

Following William Gallas’ outburst last week, Arsène Wenger will have looked at his squad and thought: “realistically, he’s the only candidate for the job.”

It’s one of the biggest debates in English football. Can Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard play in the same midfield and still achieve the level of performance that they produce for their respective clubs each week in the Premiership and Europe?

After a dominant victory at the Emirates and a well earned competitive draw against Manchester United, are we finally seeing the establishment of a new big club in the Premiership? Is the ‘big four’ developing into the ‘big five’?

Upon entry into the stadium one could be forgiven for feeling slightly nervous. It was, after all, an Italian football match. We have all heard the horror stories before.

Goal-less bore-draws left, right and center? Not anymore. Just by looking at some of the incidents that took place last weekend, we can safely say that Italian football is up there with the best.

As the tennis season is wrapped up for another year, we take a brief look back at Andy Murray’s 2008 – a magical year for the Scot that saw him reach a Grand Slam final and move up to the dizzying heights of number four in the world.