Features

Last week, Gareth Southgate named West Ham midfielder Declan Rice in his 25-man England squad ahead of their European Qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro. The call-up was Rice’s first since completing his international transfer from the Republic of Ireland to England; the end of what was a long and drawn out saga which captured the imagination of football …

In GAA, why do so many feel the need to vilify teams for getting positive results playing in a way that doesn’t suit the purists? We hear terms like ‘black death’ and ‘puke football’ all too often when really what we are witnessing is the growth of tactics within a game that is constantly evolving. While this may be new …

Mayo travel to Austin Stack Park on Saturday evening to take on a Kerry side who have been firing on all cylinders so far in the Allianz Football League. After three games of the season, these two sides looked destined to meet in the final after both teams won their first three games. Since then, however, the two sides have gone …

Dublin are phenomenal that much is for sure and if they can complete the famous five-in-a-row then nobody can argue against them being considered the greatest team of all time. Let’s get that part out of the way first.  The likelihood is that they will indeed complete the ‘drive-for-five’, they may even do six, seven and eight for good measure, …

Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford side had a strong win over rivals Kilkenny on Sunday in front of a packed out Innovate Wexford Park. Kilkenny were the better side for much of the first half but seemed overrun in the second as the Yellowbellies came to the fore and dominated their Leinster counterparts, outscoring them 1-11 to 0-2 in 35 minutes of …

Zinedine Zidane returned to Real Madrid on Monday just 10 months after resigning from the reigning European Champions. Here, Pundit Arena takes a look at Zidane and other famous managers who returned to their former clubs, some more than once. _____ Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) 2016-2018, 2019 – During his first tenure as Real Madrid manager Zidane brought incredible success …

A hectic weekend in the Allianz Hurling League saw a lot of the counties fates sealed ahead of next year’s league campaign.  With the leagues restructuring for the 2020 season, this year’s campaign meant that counties were fighting to remain in Division 1 ahead of next year. The GAA today announced a whopping 20-game fixture list for Saturday as the …

Wow. The diehards have a tough choice in front of them this weekend.  Last weekend’s horrendous weather conditions led to the postponement of multiple Allianz Hurling League games which were all replayed on Sunday. The knock-on effect of this is that only one of the four quarterfinals ties were played as Limerick swept aside Laois on Saturday evening. The GAA …

As the Championship season begins to reach the business end, three teams are fighting for automatic promotion places and a ticket back to the Premier League. Only four points separate Norwich City in 1st and Sheffield United in 3rd, while Leeds United sit in 2nd two points below the former and two above the latter. But who has the upper …

Normal service resumed in the Allianz Hurling League after the last week’s fixtures were thrown into chaos following some typically horrible Irish weather. In what was a fantastic weekend for the ‘small ball’, fans were treated to some epic encounters as we learnt the fates of some teams battling it out for both relegation and promotion. In the marquee game …

Mick McCarthy has selected his provisional 38-man squad ahead of Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia. Over the last few weeks, Pundit Arena had been putting together an XI of the best Irish performers from around the English leagues. Now that McCarthy has chosen his pool of 38 players to select from we take a look at who …

Brought to you by Allianz, proud sponsors of the Allianz Football & Hurling Leagues.   “If you’re in full-forward every day, you become predictable”. Those were the words of Tipperary captain, Seamus Callanan, following today’s 1-29 to 1-16 win over Cork in Pairc Ui Rinn.  Liam Sheedy’s charges were far from predictable today, especially in the forward line with their …

Irish head coach Joe Schmidt was full of praise for fullback Jordan Larmour following his late inclusion in the starting XV during their 26-14 victory over France on Sunday. Back at the Aviva, Schmidt’s side looked much improved from their lacklustre victory over Italy two weeks ago in Rome as they swept the French aside with a bonus point win. …

It was the weekend of the Ireland-New Zealand game in November, and the quotes and cuttings were worthy of keeping. On the Friday before the off, Stephen Watson on BBC NI’s Newsline programme set the tone when calling it “the biggest sporting fixture this year”. The World Cup final and Super Bowl may have had something to say and, even …

Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium Ireland will be keen to quickly move on from their bonus-point victory over France as they must immediately prepare for next weekend’s trip to Wales which is made all that more difficult considering Ireland’s six-day turnaround.  Ireland’s week, will, in Joe Schmidt’s’s words, be “truncated” and that will pose it’s own challenges as …

Arsenal picked up an excellent 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates on Sunday to leapfrog Solskjaer’s side and move into 4th in the Premier League table. Both sides started livelily but it was Arsenal who took an early lead after Granit Xhaka’s long-range effort wrong-footed David De Gea in the United goal to put the Gunners’ 1-0 up. …

Jack Grealish scored the winner in a fiery Second City derby between Birmingham and Aston Villa, despite the 23-year old being attacked on the pitch by a fan in the first half. The game had started off as a typically edgy derby game, with challenges flying in as both sides looked to gain an edge over each other in the …