Second Captains

Arsenal are nearly there. As the manager flailed wildly with random substitutions, David Raya and Martin Ødegaard stood up to make sure that when the referees stepped up to rule on the climactic, decisive melee, Arsenal already had the crucial edge.  We go through the fallout, and also talk about the Southampton spying scandal, while Eoin confesses to a faux pas in the presence of a...

Welcome to our World Service taster show. This week was dominated by Arsenal Football Club, who could now win it all, or nothing, but either way should be allowed celebrate the wins along the way? We also covered PSG's second leg defensive masterclass, Guehi's blunder, Man Utd's next manager, Leinster and Ulster making European finals, footballers taking mid season holidays and we dedicate our Fri...

As Leinster eased into an 18 point lead with 12 minutes remaining in their Champions Cup semi final, everyone in the stadium could finally put that Northampton nightmare  behind them, right? We chat to Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley about that late wobble and what caused it, how such a good team can also look so vulnerable, big Joe McCarthy saving the day, the blitz gamble, Leo's lecture to...

Welcome to our World Service taster show. This week was all about PSG Bayern and what makes for a great game of football. We interviewed Harvey Vale about his decision to join Ireland, his Chelsea years and rejecting a move to the Saudi leagues. We also covered the Arsenal Atletico Madrid peno farce, the fallout from Munster's appointment of Roger Randle (a move that has since been cancelled), LBJ...

It’s the Jamie and Joe Show today, as Messrs Wall and Canning are together for the first time this summer to react to Cork’s thrilling 2-point win over Limerick in Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday, and the chaotic draw that Tipperary and Waterford played out a couple of hours later.   Cork were winners but with a few question marks, Limerick are going to Ennis next week without Aaron Gillane a...

What if Robert Sanchez hadn't been able to buy Chelsea some breathing space with a possibly-imaginary injury?  What if the ref last week had sent off Khusanov for fouling Havertz? What if Mikel Arteta and Daniel Farke weren't both believers in the philosophy of "you only complain when you're winning"? Pep Guardiola was buzzing throughout Manchester City's victory at Wembley though at times ap...

Welcome to our World Service taster show. This week we covered Rosenior's Waterloo, Cucurella’s mouthy barber, why the haters hate on Arsenal, Spain's approach to the climate crisis and renewable energy, Katie for Croker, and coming up we have the Champions League semis, Joe Canning on hurling, Dave Hannigan on Roy Keane's early days in Cork, the Champions Cup semis and the GAA football championsh...

The hurling championship has begun and we have a brand new pundit for the summer, as Galway's greatest-ever hurler Joe Canning joins us. He had a front-row seat in Thurles for Cork-Tipperary yesterday, and he talks to us about the envy he feels watching the Munster championship.  He was also watching on as his native county Galway tore Kilkenny apart in Pearse Stadium on Saturd...

It's done. Or is it? Is it done? It was hard to know how to feel at the end of that, as Arsenal played one of their best games in many weeks but still ended up ceding the title initiative to Manchester City.  City still need to win six games - and even then they can't be 100% sure. We talk through a great game that concluded a great PL weekend with Jonathan Wilson and Jamie Hamilton. Did the...

Welcome to our World Service taster show. This week we went deep on Liverpool's problems on and off the pitch, and in the medical room; we rejoiced in the splendour of Bayern - Madrid and recoiled at the ugliness of Arsenal Sporting. Plus there's McClean's social media output, Paul Flynn on the football championship, Arteta on fire and Sneyd & Branno on the latest young star to emerge from the...

Why, asked Rory McIlroy these past few days, have one Masters title when you can have two? And why win smoothly when you can terrorise your home country instead?  It was another wild and ultimately joyous weekend for McIlroy at Augusta and we're joined by The 42's Gavin Cooney live from Georgia and The Sunday Times' Michael Foley to take it all in.  Plus there's old green-fingers Paul Mc...

We're into what looks like the defining week of the Premier League season, as nine months of Mikel Arteta's careful order, structure and planning may just be about to be confounded by the spirit of pure chaos in the form of Rayan Cherki.  Lars Sivertsen and John Brewin join us to talk about the weekend's football. Why did the Emirates boo at the end of Saturday's game? Have Arsenal's eff...

The Champions League quarter-finals is usually one of the most exciting weeks of the football calendar and an entertaining bunch of FA Cup quarter-finals got things off to a good start, with family members of participants like Maria Guardiola and Danny Dyer adding to the gaiety, and Finn Azaz, Ryan Manning and Tomas Soucek experiencing reversals of fortune. Arsenal began "the most beautiful part o...

Welcome to our World Service taster show and this week it's all about the Prague come-down and the build-up to the Masters. As we watched on with horror as Czechia booked their place at this summer's World Cup, Ken was able to find the slimmest of silver linings; at least we're not Italian. And as Rory aims to go back-to-back at  next week's Masters, we speak to some Golf writing Big Beasts a...

Passing through the latter stages of grief today. Eoin, on the hunt for victims, puts Ken in the dock, accusing him of blaming the Ireland fans for our defeat in Prague. On the positive side, at least being out of the World Cup frees us up to talk more about the shadow of evil looming over the tournament. Elsewhere - Roberto de Zerbi might be about to take over at Tottenham, and thanks also to Ric...

The pain of Thursday night will last a long time in all our hearts, so let's hold hands and podcast together. Oisin McConville joins us to discuss Donegal's one sided league final win over Kerry, Michael Murphy's baffling yellow card, the huge influence kick outs now have on the game and his own heartbreak after Wicklow failed to gain promotion to Division 3. Plus there's disappearing Dr...

The World Cup Dream is Dead, Prague Week Ends It’s goodbye to Prague, farewell Denmark, so long Azteca Stadium. Over and out from Czechia. We reflect on the final whistle. We’re in Berlin after one of the great weeks on The Second Captains Podcast (before the extreme heartbreak took over).  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prague Week starts with Kenny Cunningham joining us in studio to talk about how he wants to see Ireland approach the World Cup playoff on Tuesday night.  Caution: Kenny's team may shock you.  We talk about the Carabao Cup final, and whether the tactical match-up of baiting the press vs refusing to press is the worst thing ever to happen to football.  While all this is happening Ken...

Kerry and Donegal are in the Division 1 final, Cork and Meath have won promotion, Armagh and Galway survive, Dublin are relegated, and even that fails to tell the full story of a thrilling last day’s action in the national football league.   Ger Brennan lost his composure at half-time in Salthill, and his team lost their composure thereafter; David Clifford continues to do David Clifford thin...

Welcome to our World Service taster show and this week it's all about the build-up to the World Cup Playoff against Czechia. We will be in Prague next week, in the heart of the action, broadcasting two shows a day from our balcony. We also had retro Mo, Pep's legacy, Rosenior's notes, Saint Parrott's Day, and coming up we have Gary Breen on the Iran 2001 playoff, and next week its more build up to...

Thomas Ramos' kick in the 83rd minute of the last game decided the championship, broke Irish hearts, and was one of hundreds of epic moments that made up the greatest Six Nations yet. We chat to Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble about the quality of rugby on display, Ramos' reliability, Pollock's winner/loser moment, McCloskey's massive influence on Ireland, Crowley's best performance&nbsp...

Is the future like a black highway at night? What does it really mean to 'respect the ball'? And is there anything in the game with such universal appeal as an implausibly aged footballer?  We pick the likely player of the year candidates and discuss why Manchester United's transformation under Michael Carrick is Arne Slot's biggest problem in more ways than one. Rory Smith and Rich Jolly joi...

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Rangers and Celtic timed their run well, staging a chaotic Scottish Cup quarter-final heightened by some old-school “disgraceful scenes” on an FA Cup weekend to finally get some overdue coverage on here. But are Old Firm riots as stirring as they used to be? The archive audio suggests otherwise. But - as we bemoan the violence crackling everywhere in the air, what about journalist-on-journalist vi...

Scotland defeated France 50 points to 40 on Saturday in one of the greatest northern hemisphere performances of the professional era, and are now in the frame for the 6 Nations championship… after losing to Italy in the first round. They face Ireland in Lansdowne Road next Saturday, a team Gregor Townsend has lost to 11 times in a row. We chat to Shane Horgan and the BBC's Chris Jones about the&nb...