The Second Captains Podcast

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Manchester City ended Jose Mourinho's hopes of establishing a new unbeaten home record for Manchester United by establishing their own new Premier League record for 14 consecutive league wins in the same season. Was this, as Mourinho suggested, all the fault of referee Michael Oliver, or have City proved beyond doubt that poets do win titles? Are we looking at a second half of the season in which...

It was billed as a classic battle across the Irish Sea, but when three Irish provinces took on the best from the Premiership, the result was 3-0 Ireland. Leinster took care of Premiership champions Exeter on the south-west coast of England, Ulster beat Harlequins in London, and Munster hammered Leicester in Limerick. Gordon Darcy and Shane Horgan are on hand to pick apart a wildly successful weeke...

It's European Champions Cup week, and after a barnstorming debut from Leinster's new signing James Lowe and the return from injury of Garry Ringrose, the options ahead of their big match against Exeter ‘Moneyball' Chiefs look impressive. Meanwhile, the dark clouds around Peter O'Mahony's future at Thomond Park are casting a shadow down south - we ask Gerry Thornley how the IRFU factor charisma int...

The World Cup draw went ahead without Ireland and FIFA President Gianni Infantino left nobody in any doubt that he finds Vladimir Putin very, very funny. Meanwhile, a busy Premier League weekend featured managers learning on the job, Big Sam and Marco Silva already going toe to toe, and an extraordinary admission from former giant of the refereeing scene, Mark Clattenburg. We are joined by Jonatha...

Eoin and Ciaran realise that Ken, who has until now concealed a violent past, is not the man they thought he was. Meanwhile World Service listeners take Ken to task for spreading fake news about Lionel Messi. We discuss the best-paid teams in world sport and how Mohamed Salah is a new species in football: the fox outside the box. Simon Hughes joins us to discuss Everton's increasingly desperate ma...

The November series ended on Saturday with 3 Irish wins from 3 games, as Ireland saw off Argentina 28-19 to complement the wins over South Africa and Fiji. But in the absence of a truly hard-fought win over top-level opposition, we're left to wonder just how much we learnt from the month. Shane Horgan and Denis Hickie run the rule over Jacob Stockdale, another explosive Irish winger with possibly...

The returns from injury of Pogba and Zlatan helped Manchester United to enjoy their best day in a while, as Manchester City had another of those now-quite-normal days where they play some of the most stunning football in the history of the Premier League. Are Guardiola's team not getting the credit they deserve? It was a bad day for British football managers, as Tony Pulis was sacked by West Brom...

Ireland have won both of their November Internationals so far - but the game widely expected to be tight they won handily, and the one they were expected to win handily, they scraped through. Where does that leave them going into next Saturday's test against Argentina? Gerry Thornley of the Irish Times and Shane Horgan are on hand to discuss the dilemma Schmidt faces with Joey Carbery at outhalf,...

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Ken returns from Copenhagen impressed by the city's sophistication and liveability and slightly taken aback by the rumbustious temperament of its people. We reflect on Ireland's performance in the 0-0. Was this anti-football taken to the Nth degree? Or do we need to recognise the often-unseen effort and tenacity that goes into a result like that? Which Laudrup was the best? Brian, Michael, or fath...

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Antonio Conte banished David Luiz to the stands and took all three points at home to Manchester United. Such a display of managerial decisiveness would impress most chairmen, but this is Chelsea. James McClean wondered why MOTD focused on his foul on Tom Ince but not the hail of projectiles showering down on him from the crowd. Does McClean also need to think about how he managed to lose the high...

Carl Frampton had pretty much a dream 2016 - he won his first world title, and with it became Ring Magazine's Fighter of the Year. 2017 has been rather gloomier, with a loss in the rematch to Leo Santa Cruz, a farcical return fight in Belfast which was cancelled with 24 hours notice, and a split with his management/training team, the McGuigans. But he's back in the ring on Saturday week, and he's...

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Eoin, Ken and Murph look back on a weekend that saw Jose Mourinho definitively answer the critics, in his own head. Following the release of his 2016-17 season diary with Guillem Balague, we discuss Mauricio Pochettino's belief in personal energy fields and the negativity-cleansing powers of lemons. And Joe Hart: when does agonising over a defeat cross the line into pointlessly insulting your team...

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The European Rugby Champions Cup weekend saw vital wins for Leinster and Munster, a dispiriting loss in France for Ulster, and Gerry Thornley and Eoin Reddan are on hand to talk us through the highlights. Ian Keatley and Cian Healy have both had their struggles in recent years, but as Eoin says, there is no new Ian, or new Cian - they're the product of their recent struggles as much as their own n...

Perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise that one of the world's most in-form strikers so thoroughly destroyed the Premier League's most-mocked defence. But the shocking manner of Liverpool's collapse against Spurs at Wembley has left Jurgen Klopp facing the most awkward set of questions since his arrival at Anfield two years ago. We talk to Jonathan Wilson and Daniel Storey about how Spurs have...

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We brave Hurricane Ophelia (or at least, the calm before the storm) to bring you a recap of the first weekend of the European Rugby Champions Cup, a weekend which saw all 3 Irish teams in the competition stay unbeaten. Gordon D'Arcy and Gerry Thornley are in studio to talk about the ongoing Munster coaching transfer saga, Leinster's academy beating moneybags Montpellier, and is Jacob Stockdale the...

Hurricane Ken and his meteorology mates Eoin and Murph refuse to let Mother Nature stop them podcasting - welcome to our Ophelia Special Second Captains Football Show. Why does Jose think 0-0 against a leaky vulnerable Liverpool side is good enough? Why is Jose discussing his future, and the delights of Paris? And what has Pogba's ability to link with current midfield teammates got to do with anyt...

Leinster and Munster is always a big occasion in Irish rugby, and for the 10th time in 11 seasons, the home team took the spoils at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Eoin Reddan and Gerry Thornley of the Irish Times join us to talk about Munster's ongoing search for an out-half, room for improvement defensively with Leinster's young guns, and the European Cup games coming up this weekend. P...

Events over the last three days have conspired to create another absolutely massive night in Irish football. Ireland need to beat Wales in Cardiff to secure a playoff place for the World Cup in Russia next summer - no other permutations exist, which only serves to simplify the task and magnify the occasion. Richie Sadlier is in studio to talk about how the loss of Shane Long is a blow, but gives M...