Second Captains @ The Irish Times

It’s been another hectic week on the Second Captains podcast, we’ve had the Champions League, the addition of Johnny Sexton to the Ireland rugby brains-trust in a non-executive capacity, and we also had Eddie Dunbar in studio, one of the best road-cyclists in the world. While Ken, told us about Oleksandr Zinchenko’s new book, written by FriendOfTheShow Raphael Honigstein.Join the party for just a fiver a month—no contracts, no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no hidden charges, and no ads. Head to secondcaptains.com/join for more details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Gaelic football patient checked itself in at the weekend, gladly submitting to extensive, experimental surgery in full view of the watching public. We speak to Paul Flynn and FRC member Michael Murphy about the new rules (or enhancements, as Jim Gavin insists we call them) that worked, the rules that jarred... and the rules that our Murph reckons they put in just so we could get rid of them and feel like we were being critical.  There's also the latest earth-shattering press release from the World Conkers Confederation/Corporation, GAA arithmetic, and Paul Flynn looking to double his career points tally with Dublin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Howard Webb provided some good grist to the conspiracy mills over the weekend by getting himself filmed texting and earpiecing before Saliba's yellow card was changed to a red. But maybe the PGMOL supremo deserves some praise to go with the flak. At least his referees are providing an element of unpredictability otherwise missing from a lot of overcoached Premier League football.Branno brings us up to speed on his trip to Sligo to see Bohemians play their small role in the climax to the League of Ireland season. We also talk about how in a few short weeks under Arne Slot, Liverpool have undergone a complete transformation from the side they have been for years under Jurgen Klopp. And Neil Atkinson and Rich Jolly join us to talk about the game at Anfield. Could Slot's start have gone any better? Are the regular complaints about the poor atmosphere at Anfield and other Premier League grounds based on reality or nostalgia? And does the increasingly convergent style of play we see in the Premier Le

The appointment of Thomas Tuchel as England manager has divided both the proud nation of England and the ignoble profession of football journalism into two camps: Little Englanders and Merchants of Woke. Yesterday we heard from The 42's Gav Cooney and Rory Smith of the New York Times, and today had his say. Have the FA made the right choice in appointing a foreign coach? Earlier in the week we were joined in studio by one of the all-time greats of hurling, Joe Canning to talk about his new autobiography, whether he thinks he max-ed out on his potential and how he and his family have dealt with the loss of their mum. For daily independent, member-led journalism, sign up to the Second Captains World Service now at secondcaptains.com/join.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Johnny Sexton has won European Cups, Grand Slams, has the all time Irish and Six Nations points records and is a former world player of the year. It takes talent but also an obsessive drive to get this good, and his new autobiography, Obsessed, explains the mental toll this took on Sexton.He joins us in studio to discuss his big breakthrough in 2009 at Croker, his pattern of bust-ups followed by regret, Lancaster's personality test, about needing to change how he communicated with teammates and refs, how he feels about the RWC 2023 QF loss, and his relationship with ROG.Plus there's the contrasting management styles of Schmidt and Farrell, Snyman's paws, Doris the Swiss Army Knife and over-confident Scots. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

thens for breakfast, Barcelona for brunch, Fairview for lunch. Ken is back from his Grand Tour of Continental Europe, traveling through the night to bring you his thoughts on Ireland's latest adventures in the Nations League.Joining us in the studio to reflect on an international window in which we actually won a game is Richie Sadlier.We also try to decipher just what Lee Carsley is actually saying and why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we released a podcast on our world service - Sally Hayden, Irish Times Correspondent and author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned, spoke to Ken about life in Beirut under fire from the Israeli army - and such was the reaction that we decided to release it to non members.Sally explains the religious mix in Beirut, how embedded Hezbollah is in Lebanese society, the huge number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the internal displacement caused by the invasion and the anxiety of tomorrow. Ken and Branno also discuss the grim reality of the death toll in Gaza, empty words and two recent documentaries, one called We Will Dance Again about the Hamas attacks on Oct 7th 2023 and Al Jazeera’s investigation into Israeli army war crimes in Gaza. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ken has returned from the Land Of The Rising Sun, and he has stories to tell - of Shinto shrines (went to "one of" the most famous ones in Tokyo), Buddhist temples, and... storied sumo amphitheatres. We dominate the dojo in the company of our very own Alan Whicker.  Branno missed the most dramatic week in the HISTORY of the league of Ireland last week, as he was recuperating from invasive surgery - we discover which Second Captain presenter was a constant reassuring presence through his recuperation, and who was marked absent. Plus there's rawdogging, the Bering Strait, and whether Shels still have the league title in their own hands.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ken is back from Japan and we take the opportunity to revisit some of the highlights he missed over the last two weeks. We talk about the varying fortunes of Kai Haaland Havertz, Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer and Ange Postecoglou before Mark Critchley joins us to talk about what we had mistakenly anticipated would be the game of the weekend at Villa Park. Will this be the week when Manchester United finally pull the plug on ETH, or is it just too embarrassing for them to do that right now?Plus there's Ken's great Japanese regret and transatlantic travel: the small man's revenge.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Second Captains World Service we were joined by Lars Sivertsen and Glenn Evans from The Athletic and the 1874 Podcast to chat about last night’s incredible win for Villa, with some bonus Steve Bruce cabbage content thrown in for good measure.Closer to home, the League of Ireland title race has gone absolutely wild, with six teams out of a ten team league seemingly in contention for the top spot. We reacted to Shels vs. Pats, which might just be the greatest game ever played in the greatest league in the world (TM).And we chatted to US Murph about Shohei Ohtani putting in the greatest regular season in history. Join the party for just a fiver a month—no contracts, no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no hidden charges, and no ads. Head to secondcaptains.com/join for more details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Less than a year ago the Irish women's rugby team had finished bottom of the Six Nations table, were playing the likes of Kazakhstan in the third tier of WXV, had not qualified for the previous World Cup and along with stories of interprovincial teams changing in front of wheelie bins and 7s players being taking in and out of the 15s camp, there was very little positivity about. They have since come third in the 6N, qualified for the 2025 World Cup, made it into the top tier of WXV1, hammered Australia, and now best of all, beaten NZ, the team that has won 6 of the last 7 World Cups. We chat to Leinster head coach Tania Rosser, and Alison Miller, both of whom played against NZ last time Ireland beat them, in the 2014 World Cup.We also discuss world-class Aoife Wafer, Munster's leaky defence and Conor McKenna's AFL title win with the Brisbane Lions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Manchester United content-creating machine trundles remorselessly on: another day, another humiliating home defeat. Jack Pitt-Brooke and Dion Fanning were watching, goggle-eyed at the latest United capitulation - this one with added red card drama. Tottenham on the other hand had a delightful day at the office. It turns out the only thing a Premier League crisis club needs is a visit to Old Trafford. And there's also Liverpool's almost-silent progression to top spot in the Premier League, and Mikel Arteta trying to reverse out of a war of words with Pep.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been another bumper week on the World Service and we want to serve you up a tempting slice of the action. There was our chat with Dara Ó Briain live from London on the best summer of his sporting life, Barney Ronay and John Brewin on the still smouldering City-Arsenal discourse, and a sneak preview of our brilliant chat with legendary former League of Ireland player and manager Dermot Keely, which goes out tomorrow. Plus one of the country's best GAA journalists Cahair O'Kane joined us to talk about the end of the Casement Park Euro 2028 dream and where we go from here. Join the party for a fiver a month – there’s no contracts, no sign-on fee, no minimum stay, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sport of rugby barely survived the Ken Early Rugby Special on Second Captains last week, but after a weekend deluge of tries, drama and upsets, it's back, baby!We do a quick series recap of "last season, in rugby" including a reminder that the international team did rather well in 2023/24, while the provinces struggled.Gerry Thornley joins us to discuss the 10-try interpro that went loco, Connacht's dynamic halfback duo, Munster's brain drain, Ireland and Leinster's outhalf subplot, Ulster's last-gasp win and the rise of coach Contepomi.Plus there's bridesmaid Rory McIlroy's continuing psycho drama, Tony Ward the codebreaker and Ireland, THE NUMBER 1 TEAM IN THE WORLD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We had been told that Manchester City/Arsenal games are guaranteed snooze-fests, but it turns out we had been misinformed. John Stones got the final goal of a 2-2 thriller in the eighth minute of injury time, and it was a game so rich in drama, so packed with shithousery, and so laden with meaning for this year's Premier League title race that we simply had to hear from Jonathan Wilson and Gavin Cooney.  It might not have been a good week for Mr Mourinho in Turkey, but it will have gladdened his heart to tune into the Greatest League In The World to see both the top 2 turn into Jose teams.  It turns out he had the answers all along - why have a back 5 when you can have a back 6, and when all else fails, why not put a centre-half up top and try and get him on the end of a few diags.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's World Service roundup; Ken offers fresh perspective on Mikel Arteta's professional pickpocketer scheme, Eoin reopens a 34-year-old debate as to who was at fault for Toto Schillaci's goal that booted us out of Italia 90, and we share some of our chat with the great Katie McCabe live from the eartH Theatre in London last week.Join the party for a fiver a month – there’s no contracts, no sign-on fee, no minimum stay, no hidden fees and no ads. Go to secondcaptains.com/join for details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rory McIlroy was 4 shots clear at the top of the leaderboard early in yesterday's final round of the Irish Open, was playing at his home-from-home course Royal County Down, against a field shy on world class golfers... nothing could possibly go wrong.Malachy Clerkin of the Irish Times wants to take away the stigma of choking in sport, thinks putting is the base issue and explains why he thinks Rory will win another major, but simultaneously comes to the realisation that he may be the last person alive to admit that these late-Sunday collapses are a problem.The 1,700 page report into the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in west London in 2017, released 12 days ago, accused Kingspan of “deeply entrenched and persistent dishonesty” and having a “complete disregard for fire safety”. We discuss Shane Lowry ending his association with Kingspan and whether Cavan GAA should follow suit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If Ange Postecoglou's set-up yesterday harked back to the days of Ossie Ardiles, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal paid tribute to the spirit of an even earlier time. The Basque has reconnected Arsenal with their roots - and what lies beneath. We also talk about Heimir Hallgrimsson's blithe lack of concern for Optics.Jack Pitt-Brooke joins us to talk about the North London derby, the measures Ange Postecoglou has taken to address what are quickly becoming world-famous problems, and how Arsenal are likely to approach a week when they've had no favours from the fixture computer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We welcomed Eddie Dunbar into studio last summer to talk about the impact that a series of devastating crashes had on his career and his health.  Since then he has had another run of injuries including in this year's Giro D'Italia, but with that bad luck finally behind him, Dunbar has just won 2 stages of the Vuelta España, the second of which is the biggest win of his life. We talk to cycling journalist Cillian Kelly today about why this was such a timely reminder of Eddie’s class, why he has had so many crashes and what the future holds for the Cork cyclist.This weekend Branno took a time machine back to a more sedate, more gentrified Dublin, and he is now a fully-fledged polo man and a fan of complicated menus and the British commonwealth.Plus there’s a defeat for democracy at Central Council, and Oasis break the news of the status quo being maintained for another season in the GAA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You want it to be one way. You want it to be one way. You want it to be one way. But it's the other way. Rice '11, Grealish '26 - a script written by an English sadist. Did we manifest this? Damien Delaney and Richie Sadlier join us to sift through the wreckage. What didn't they like about Ireland's approach? What could we have done instead? And what should we do next? We also hear the latest from the press conference where John O'Shea had to insist that he is not actually at the wheel of the national team.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.