Second Captains

Welcome to our World Service tasting platter. This week we travelled to Crossmaglen to chat to Oisín McConville and weigh up the mood ahead of this weekend's All Ireland Football Final, Ken offered us up some strongly held views on the future of Hurling and Joe Callaghan gave us the run down of the Open Championship at Royal Troon. Join the party for a fiver a month – there’s no contracts, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony Kelly climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand yesterday to raise his county’s fifth-ever Liam McCarthy Cup and in a haze of hurling and religious fervour, declared Brian Lohan ‘God’.A down-in-the-dumps Jamie Wall and an elated Podge Collins join us to today to pick over how Clare managed to pip Cork by the finest of margins, weigh up the extra time debate, and reflect on what was a final for the ages.Ken, meanwhile, has major issues with Hurling’s imperialism and scoring system. Plus, there's Nesbitt watch, Clare's Flair and Jarlath Burns on Irish emigrants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our 3000th episode we trekked up to the Temple of Dunphy. Eamon was one of the earliest guests on the pod and has made numerous - always memorable - appearances over the years.We chat to Eamon about the latest wild happenings in the US Election, the rise of nationalism, the new Ireland manager and his old job of stopping Robin Friday from sparking up a spliff during their days together playing for Reading. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our weekly best of the world service show. We discuss Southgate's departure, disharmony in the Bellingham/England camp, the contenders to take over, Rory's blocks, Heimer's arrival and Frawley's future.Join the party for a fiver a month – there’s no contracts, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kieran McGeeney joined the Armagh senior panel for pre-season training in 1989. Thirty-Five years ago. On Saturday in Croke Park he led his county to their fifth ever All-Ireland Final. There they will face Galway.Neither county were a red-hot favourite when the ball was thrown in on this Championship back in April, McGeeney dealing with internal slings and arrows while Galway's squad consisted mainly of damaged chassis. But there they will be. And football thanks them for adding unfamiliarity to the sporting summer.Plus, amongst the chaos, there was Carlos Alcaraz's back-to-back Wimbledon titles after beating Djokovic in straight sets yesterday. Has the tennis torch been officially passed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How should we play this game? We turn and ask Spain and once more they show and tell. Tonight they won their fourth European Championship, playing in a manner befitting of champions. To Iniesta, Xavi, Pique, Busquets, Alonso and Alba now add Rodri, Laporte, Cucurella, Yamal and Williams.By the time the World Cup comes around England will have been waiting, expecting, hoping to win a men's football tournament for 60 years. Sixty. It's quite incredible.As he has done all summer long Ken dials in from the stadium after full-time joined by Miguel Delaney of The Independent and Jack Pitt-Brooke of The Athletic while we also chat to our Basque correspondent Beñat Gutierrez and ask, given the Basque heavy make-up of this Spanish side are the people of Bilbao dancing in the streets..? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've had a mad busy week on the World Service between an All Ireland Hurling Championship for the ages, Lamine Yamal marking his spot on the world stage and England making a second consecutive Euros final. All that before you throw in the announcement of Heimir Hallgrímsson as the new Republic of Ireland Head Coach. Join the party for a fiver a month – there’s no contracts, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saturday in Pretoria was supposed to be many things, a battle between two teams who don’t like each other very much, the teams ranked 1 and 2 in the world, a chance for Rassie Erasmus to finally coach a team to victory over Ireland… in the end, it came down to 2 hours of watching to see if James Lowe had stepped out of touch in various weird and wonderful ways.  South Africa 27-Ireland 20 - we speak to Shane Horgan and Ruaidhri O'Connor of the Irish Independent about why this was a deserved Springbok win, how a couple of huge errors cost us, and how a bruised and battered Ireland can salvage something from next Saturday's second test. Plus we join Ken in München to discuss what impact the French election results will have on the striking French footballers, England's buddy system on penalties, and the exquisite joy of seeing the world's biggest laundrette right beside your new hotel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There'll always be an England, and under Gareth Southgate it’ll always reach the latter stages of major football tournaments. This was his fourth straight ¼ final and now his side are one game away from back-to-back European Championship Final appearances. So what’s the bloody problem then? We chat to Ken from the stadium, accompanied by Jack Pitt-Brooke of The Athletic. While England may be the footballing equivalent of a week away at Centre Parcs, watching Turkey has been whatever the same length of time would feel like at Wayne Lineker’s compound. Fun. But maybe a little too much. Jonathan Wilson joins us from Berlin where - like Recep Erdoğan, he saw the Netherlands advance past the surrogate host country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a great week here at Second Captains as we chased Ken around Germany as he followed the Euros Circus from Frankfurt to Berlin. Murph also developed a sense of wanderlust and packed the car for Cork where he met with Jamie Wall to chat though this coming weekend's All-Ireland Hurling Semi-Finals.Join the party for a fiver a month – there’s no contracts, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dublin are out at the quarter-final stage of the All-Ireland senior football championship for the first time since the “startled earwigs” of 2009, and it took an incredible second half performance by Galway to take them down.Michael Murphy and Paul Flynn talk to us about the end of an era (?) Galway’s tactical bravery, Kerry’s safety-first approach to handling a misfiring Derry, Donegal’s serene march to an All-Ireland semi-final… and why Armagh are a dangerous animal as we get to our final four. Plus there’s joyous local radio commentaries, the Sawdoctors in Fairview, central casting in Galway, and Branno’s requiem for Dublin’s dream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

England were truly awful for most of tonight’s game against Slovakia, until Jude Bellingham's sweet finish bailed out his country at the death. We get Ken’s post-match analysis from Gelsenkirchen. Southgate lives to fight another day but surely this crew can't beat the Swiss army knife?And Lars Sivertsen gives us his thoughts on the Spain game, Nico Williams' superstar status, and what this tournament has meant to the proud, skilful Georgians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our best of Euros show. It’s been a great tournament so far with underdog wins, Willy's mighty Georgia, Turkish finesse, lunatic fans, English mediocrity, and loads of 0.0% and 5.1% Pilsner Ken.Join the party for a fiver a month – there’s no contracts, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Gaelic football season is the party that no-one was allowed to leave for large spells of this summer... but now the blade is being lowered with ruthless efficiency, and the narrative quickly moves on to those teams left standing. Michael Murphy and Paul Flynn say goodbye to Mayo, Tyrone, Monaghan and Cork in short order, before we look ahead to this weekend's All-Ireland football quarter-finals. We also discuss the possible end of Conor McManus' glittering inter-county career, a Cork-man manages to be both bored and infuriated simultaneously watching his football team, and Paul Flynn's support for Louth wins him some Wee County love.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scotland have qualified for 12 international football tournaments, and they have failed to get out of their group at each and every one of those 12 tournaments. This time around it was a 98th minute winner for Hungary that finally put paid to their hopes.  Jonathan Wilson joins us from Stuttgart for the latest episode of Scottish tournament heartbreak while Ken was at the other game in that group to see Niclas Füllkrug score a late equaliser and further burnish his own sparkling global reputation, and ensure the hosts qualified for the Round of 16 as winners.  Plus there’s Ken's thought on pitch invaders harassing Ronaldo, a Grunge Week 2024 teaser, and the first rule of qualifying as a third-placed finisher (finish third). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our best of Euros show. It's been a great tournament so far with wild games, mad fans, power ballads, low-energy England, Mbappe's politics, and a happy Ken on tour. Join the party for a fiver a month - there's no contracts, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh Rory. Oh Rory, Rory, Rory. Lawrence Donegan and the lads wrestle with what we saw last night. Is it career-defining? How can it not be? Paul Flynn is with us to discuss two draws in the Gaelic football championship yesterday, with vastly differing outcomes. And there’s the Football Review Committee’s ‘sandbox games’ this weekend, trialling some revolutionary new rules - committee member Michael Murphy talks us through them.And there’s also the inevitable mentions of Bill Buckner, Scott Norwood, Doug Sanders, Jean van de Velde… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

England expects. England awaits. England bores. England Wins. We chat to Ken and full time England watcher Miguel Delaney.  While riding the rail to Gelsenkirchen Ken encounters an Albanian man who literally risks his life and limbs for our football correspondent. The Euros may not even be out of the first weekend but the littlest hobo is all in.Elsewhere we saw Italy grind it out, Hungary confirm their Aviva form-line, and Spain answer those podcasts (like ours) who insist on sleeping on them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Ken heads off to the Euros in Germany, now is the time to become a world service member if you want to gain access to our all our coverage throughout the tournament.Plus there's instant access to all our archives (almost 3,000 shows), there's features such as this week's fun chat with Conor Niland and Gavin Cooney about the tennis netherworld, we have Jamie Wall on hurling, we will be covering the Olympics. the URC semis and final, all the GAA football, the summer tour of South Africa, and all the big golf and tennis stories, plus all the breaking news.It’s 5 euro a month; there's no contracts, no hidden fees, no ads, and we're independent and member-led. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday with Germany v Scotland in Munich - and here's our tournament preview pod.James Horncastle and Jonathan Wilson join us to talk through the contenders. What can we expect from the champions, Italy, under Luciano Spalletti? Can England justify their status as tournament favourites? What about the hosts, Germany, who have lately put in their most pathetic tournament performances in memory? Why does Wilson continue to disrespect Kylian Mbappe? And who do they think is going to win? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was an incredible weekend for Irish athletics. Last Friday, Sonia O'Sullivan was the only Irish person to have ever won gold at a European Championships. Ronnie Delany, Eamon Coghlan, John Treacy - all had tried, none had succeeded. By this afternoon, we had added 5 names to that roll of honour, after the success of Ciara Mageean and our mixed relay team. Cathal Dennehy and Derval O'Rourke join us to talk about the extraordinary achievement of our (geographically, demographically) diverse team which marries youth and experience - and how richly deserved this is for Ciara Mageean, who now has a gold to go with her silver and bronze European medals. Ken predicts gold for Ireland in tonight's 400m women's final, and we raise a toast to Jerry Kiernan, so fondly remembered in the RTE studios last night.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the World Service we had Ken on Man City's latest legal power grab, Caitlin on turbulent times in the tennis world, and Ian Madigan on Irish rugby's inability to fix the 10 succession plan. Plus we have daily Euros shows coming up with Ken in Germany, Murph as Gaeilge, the Olympics, the summer tour in SA, football with Flynn and Murphy, and hurling with Jamie.There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s 5 euro a month, it's independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Real Madrid did that Real Madrid thing to win a staggering 15th Champions League title at Wembley - but it takes more than that to impress Don Diego Torres, who joins us from the Spanish capital to evaluate their triumph. Has this Madrid generation surpassed the Di Stefano-Puskas team of the 50s? Do Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Ancelotti deserve to be considered the world’s best? Who are the players who really make this team tick? And how is Kylian Mbappe going to fit in? And we talk about how Borussia Dortmund’s sponsorship deal with Rheinmetall might be the biggest sportswash of all time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the World Service we had a top-class Champions League final preview with Sid Lowe and Rapha Honigstein, we discussed Carlo's chill, watery Dortmund, Duff man said a lot of things to Richie Sadlier, plus there was hurling with Jamie, football with Flynn and Murphy and we will chat to Brian Murphy about Celtics legend Bill Walton who overcame a childhood stutter to become an NBA all-star, a legend of the flower power generation and one of the great US broadcasters.Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erik ten Hag finally cottoned on to the winning formula for Man United managers - treat the press scum with the contempt they deserve and win the hearts of the crowd.But did this display of alpha dominance come too late to save his job? We argue the case for and against.Mark Critchley and Barney Ronay join us to look back at the FA Cup final - and forward to United's season review. Where did it all go wrong for City? Does a glorious win secure ten Hag's future at United? Should it?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yet again it was Champions Cup misery for Leinster, this time with Extra Time, for maximum pain and anguish. Despite trumping Toulouse on almost every conceivable metric and spending lots of the game in the opposition 22, they conceded 19 turnovers and failed to score a try in normal time. We chat to Shane Horgan and Ruaidhri O'Connor about death by poach, the "take your points" decision-making process and a performance for the ages from Antoine "everything everywhere all at once" Dupont.Are Leinster’s issues simply rooted in a fragile mentality? Has their old attacking DNA been neglected? Where exactly was the Nienaber knockout rugby mentality? What do they do about their gaggle of outhalves? And can they win the URC with all those broken hearts knocking about the place?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our World Service Best Of show. This week, we feature a chat about the brave new world of top-level football management with Jonathan Wilson, celebrity St. Pats fan Ciarán Murphy's trip to Richmond Park, the culmination of what's been a box office Munster Hurling Championship, and why Shane Horgan is feeling shaky about Leinster's chances ahead of this weekend's Champions Cup Final.Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having been dubbed “Mr Thursday” by certain ill-informed commentators last week, Xander Schauffele answered every criticism in securing his first major title. We review a wild US PGA championship with Gavin Cooney and Lawrence Donegan, featuring arrests, Kentucky Cops, divorce, Rory's repeat and Shane Lowry’s 62. We also discuss Oleksandr Usyk’s thrilling split-decision win over Tyson Fury to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world on Saturday night - and Ken asks when is a knockdown not a knockdown? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manchester City are champions, as it was foretold by Eoin McDevitt some months ago following their 0-0 draw with Arsenal. No Premier League opponent got within two goals of them since, as also foretold by Eoin McDevitt.With all this having been so long foretold, we start off today talking about Jurgen Klopp's farewell at Anfield and what the early reactions might be foretelling us about the future.Dion Fanning and Lars Sivertsen join us to look back on the final day and the Premier League season in general. How excited were they to watch City's historic four-in-a-row? How does Jurgen Klopp manage to always leave his clubs wanting more? Is Rodri correct that Arsenal lacked the winning mentality to seal the deal? And while we're about it, what's next for Roberto de Zerbi? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Second Captains World Service Ken sat down with Brian Kerr to reflect on Kerr's short stint back in the Republic of Ireland dugout. Meanwhile, Olympic medal hopeful Rhasidat Adeleke joined us for a chat about her love for relay.However, things turned sour for Jacob Rees Murphy who found himself confronted by critics/haters of his neolib views on the much maligned streaming service, GAAGO.Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cork/Limerick was an occasion for the ages, and Murph was there with today’s guest Jamie Wall to experience the home team’s 3-28 to 3-26 win in a raucous Páirc Uí Chaoimh. We reflect on how Cork managed to pick holes in Limerick’s defence, the champions’ come-back, the last-minute penalty that won it, and why Paul Kinnerk was losing it on the line with the Cork bench. There has also been some discussion around the fact the game was on GAA GO… Ken, as ever, stands up for the little man. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does it say something about the level of drama in this Premier League title run-in that the most-talked-about thing this weekend was the leaking roof at Old Trafford? Or is that just because everybody is making the same unjustified assumption about Tottenham strewing Man City's path to the title with rose petals tomorrow night?Mark Critchley and Clive Palmer join us to talk through Arsenal's win. Is their season a success now even without the title? What do you have to do to get dropped from this Manchester United defence? And why is everybody - with one or two exceptions - apparently so sure that City are going to cruise through these last two matches? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our World Service Best Of show which this week features a look at what's likely next for Erik ten Hag and the managerial merry-go-round that's sure to follow. There's also Steve Staunton the true Gael and Gus Poyet getting quantified. Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leinster are going to London and before Eoin gave up on his buffering Wi-Fi it looked as if they were cruising. Instead, they somehow found themselves staring down the barrel of one of the great European Cup comebacks - no need to remind you of the other one..We chat through a huge day for Leinster and Irish sport with Shane Horgan and the BBC's Chris Jones.A happy Murph details his day in the Salthill Sun and we get ahead of ourselves in predicting just how many medals the Irish Athletics relay team - powered by Rhasidat - will be bringing home from Paris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our World Service Best Of show which this week features Ken's rousing rendition of You May Be Right by Billy Joel, a debate as to the real ability of Jude Bellingham, Welcome to Wrexham, reaction to the Munster Hurling Championship and much more. Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the fireworks of their defeat of Derry in the Ulster quarter-final, it was always going to be something rather different and more difficult for Jim McGuinness' Donegal team this weekend, and they needed extra time to overcome Tyrone and set up an Ulster final against Armagh.  Michael Murphy and Oisin McConville are on hand to talk through their respective counties' wins at the weekend, and also run the rule over Louth, who reached successive Leinster finals for the first time since the 1950s by putting sorry Kildare out of their misery and into the Tailteann Cup.  We also discuss Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry's tandem win on the PGA Tour last night, Rory's pipes, and sartorial elegance in the GAA management class. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eoin presides again over the weekly humiliation ritual in which Ken is forced to grudgingly accept that Kai Havertz played well over the weekend while grumbling vaguely about opportunity costs. Jonathan Wilson and Lars Sivertsen join us to talk about the NLD and other weekend football lines. Is Havertz the signing of the season? And how long can Ange Postecoglou get away with a vibes-based approach to set-pieces? We also talk about why the issue of 'tourist' fans at Premier League games is becoming increasingly heated, and find out how optimistic Jonathan and Lars are for Arne Slot's prospects at Liverpool.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our world service best of show which this week features reaction to Liverpool's loss to Everton, an exploration into Klopp's likely successor, Ken and Murph's trip to Tolka Park and just how popular Rugby continues to be in Ireland.Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was a classic weekend of GAA action, but maybe the surprising result of all came in Celtic Park, as Donegal travelled to Derry and knocked off the league champions with a four-goal, five-star performance. Michael Murphy was working for BBC TV, was in attendance, and was designated driver for a car full of Donegal legends on Saturday night, and he joins us today to talk about Derry's lethargy, Jim McGuinness' impact, and the future of Odhran Lynch's upfield excursions. Ken brings us the news that Jose Mourinho is finally paying attention to Kieran McGeeney's tactical innovations, and we discuss Leinster's incredible popularity as they sell out Croke Park - with some public service announcements for their ticket- (and pint-) hungry fans.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coventry City almost pulled off the greatest FA Cup comeback of all time, but thankfully VAR was there to save us all from that happening by spotting one of the most fractional offsides of all time. Blessed are we who live under its eye.We also discuss Marc Canham's video communiqué from last Friday, what he seemed to be trying to say and what he might have said instead.Miguel Delaney joins us to talk about his experience at the Cup semi-final, and also the reverberations of Nottingham Forest's inflammatory comments about Stuart Attwell.Does a club accusing a referee of bias represent some kind of radical break with the norms and traditions of football? How else are clubs supposed to respond to the nonsense foisted on them by refs? Are corruption accusations inseparable from the use of VAR? And is there anything referees can practically do to extricate themselves from the conspiracy vortex that is engulfing them? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our world service best of show which this week features reaction to Man City's dramatic loss to Madrid, a backlash to the relationism backlash, a meaty hurling preview and Oisin McConville explains why he is so open with the media.Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's (maybe) set to be a big week for the Irish Football Family with a new Men's Senior manager imminent but GO TOBANN just as Ken goes to grab the mic news breaks that FAI CEO Jonathan Hill will be stepping aside. Events, they just keep occurring.Outside of the FAI internal re-structuring The Great Debate of our epoch revolves around the conflict between Relationism and Positionism. On today's show Ken goes deep with tactics guru Jamie Hamilton.We also discuss the small matter of Liverpool and Arsenal handing the title to Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen triumphing in Deutschland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leinster went for a 6/2 bench, a Will Connors horse for the La Rochelle course, and defended with manic speed and aggression to beat ROG's team for the second time this season. They won with 27 points to spare, and the Nienaber factor was there for all to see.We chat to Shane Horgan and Ruaidhri O'Connor about slaying the dragon, the mental strength and skill required to score the Ryan Baird try after halftime, Ross Byrne's best-ever performance, peak Furlong, Leo Cullen's role in the side's evolution, how dangerous Toulouse look, Aviva boos, selling out Croke Park for a bank holiday weekend and how the Irish women's team ended their long 6N losing streak by winning in style against Wales.Plus there's Larmour's comeback, ROG's rebuild, Scheffler's dominance and a McTepid Masters prediction.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on our World Service highlights show; Ken exalts the value of watching football in double speed, Branno reviews Eric Cantona's live musicianship and Eoin bravely asks the big question - can Rory McIlroy win the Masters this weekend? To join up go to secondcaptains.com/join – it’s a fiver a month plus VAT, with no contracts, no minimum stay and no sneaky fees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Man United v Liverpool used to be a byword for stultifying boredom and dreariness. Not any more. We discuss another Liverpool fumble-job at Old Trafford, the cult of Darwin and the maniacally optimistic analysis of Erik ten Hag. Simon Hughes and John Brewin join us to talk about the game at Anfield. Did Liverpool get what they deserved? Is Ruben Amorim likely to succeed Klopp in the summer. What did John make of the Kev Show at Selhurst Park? And who do they feel is looking the strongest out of the three title contenders?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Manie Libbok placed the ball on the tee for the kick that would have knocked La Rochelle out of Europe, you just knew the Rugby Gods (and Libbok's 66% kicking stats) had other plans. And so it's come to pass that ROG and Will Skelton will march on Dublin once more, and Leinster will have to try and pass their greatest mental and physical challenge, once more.We chat to Shane Horgan and Ruaidhri O'Connor about Gibson (s)Park, lethargic Leinster, the case for Nienaber's defence, Munster's rotten luck and why speed, and a lack of it, is becoming a huge problem for the Irish provinces.There's also Connacht's big win in Pau, Ulster's surprising shot at a trophy, why losing a RWC winning prop might be good news, what Tadhg Beirne, Bundee Aki and Gibson Park have in common, and McDevitt warns ROG him not to feed the animals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our world service best of show which this week features an on form Pep, Duff and the regime, Rassie's rabble rousing and Leinster's battle at ten and drive for five. Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A great weekend of football at Tallaght Stadium, at Anfield, at St James' Park, at Stamford Bridge, at Croke Park - joy, fun, excitement everywhere except at the Etihad Stadium where Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta's two sets of brightly coloured robots offered a terrifying portent of the future.Jonathan Wilson and Jon Mackenzie join us to talk about what it all means. Was this game bad? If so, whose fault was it? Did this game represent a decisive episode in the ongoing ideological war between positionism and relationism? Are we ready for a football future in which everything is under control except the egos of the coaches? Let's get stuck in... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seemed like everyone was piping up to have a go at the Irish football team after not even registering a goal during the drab March international break.. including the Swiss media, as we were alerted by a World Service member based there. US Murph chatted to us about the latest sporting superstar in the US, Iowa State basketballer Caitlin Clark who has recently broken the all-time NCAA scoring record across both the men's and women's game. Closer to home, Derry play Dublin in the Division 1 league final at HQ this weekend. However, Michael Murphy has much greater ambitions than that for the back-to-back Ulster Champions. To join up go to secondcaptains.com/join – it’s a fiver a month plus VAT, with no contracts, no minimum stay and no sneaky fees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clare and Kilkenny are in the National Hurling League final, and Jamie Wall is back on the pod for the first time as the reigning 2024 Fitzgibbon Cup winning coach to talk us through their semi-final wins this weekend.Limerick were abysmal, according to their own manager John Kiely, and they’ve also been wrestling with the Kyle Hayes court case.  We discuss what likely impact the case will have on Limerick’s Drive For Five.We also find time to outline just why jersey-ripping has become such a key part of our Gaelic football consumption, and Eoin and Murph admit their complete ignorance when it comes to what exactly it is that insurance companies do to turn a profit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.