Second Captains @ The Irish Times

... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This year's All-Ireland football final will be between Dublin and Tyrone, after Tyrone pipped Monaghan by a point, and the Dubs eased past Galway in the semis. The question is starting to be asked though - are even the Dublin fans bored by Dublin's dominance at this stage? Ken launches a stirring defence of his boys with a passionate charm offensive, before Mike Quirke and Oisin McConville join us to discuss if Dublin will be forced to break sweat at all this year. We talk about Brooks Koepka's consistent efforts to look for slights real or imagined, even as a three-time major champion.We also discuss Rhys McClenaghan's brilliance in winning gold for Ireland on the pommel horse, and the incredible Ingebrigtsens. Plus there's misunderstood Murph, natural born Dubs, and what do Mayo have that the rest don't? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to a very special edition of the Second Captains Football Podcast, a live broadcast from the wonderful Liberty Hall Theatre in Dublin. Warning: contains *beefOur guest star is one of the best TV analysts in any sport, not just football, who spent an entire career racking up trophies at Manchester United…. We welcomed GARY NEVILLE to the stage.We talked to Gary about mistakes he has made and how he has learned from them, how he lost and regained his confidence, and how his time as manager at Valencia impacted him personally and how he deals with managers now throwing his managerial career back at him.The Premier League has returned and Manchester United haven’t set the transfer market ablaze with big money signings. Ken asks Gary why, if they’re so brilliant at making money off the field, why United aren’t the biggest spending club in the world, and if they have their priorities all wrong? *Things get heated between Ken and Gary, Eoin gets dragged into it, the crowd get involved, strong opinions get ai

The hardest working man in showbiz, Ken Early, has been working right through the Bank Holiday weekend. He soaked up the goodwill towards Alisson Becker in the Aviva stadium, pored over the latest transfer news, and admires Steven Gerrard's Rangers mindset.Monaghan mastermind Malachy O'Rourke has guided the county to their first senior All Ireland football semi final in 30 years, and the locals are starting to believe. Meanwhile things have gone sour very quickly in Kerry, culminating in the resignation of Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice.We talk to Oisin McConville and Mike Quirke about Kerry's fan fracture, measured Monaghan, phase 1 of Galway's All Ireland masterplan and the amazing return of Bernard Brogan from ACL surgery.Plus there's Courtois to Madrid, Bielsa's life lessons, and Eoin's cocktail class. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hurling is no longer a sport, more a sneak preview of what the heavenly after-life will be like. Murph is apparently still walking in a daze around Croke Park, so we get Ken's thoughts on the sport of the Gods.Is this a freakish year, or has the sport got better? Can Clare win the replay? Is there anything Limerick can't do? And what's on John Mullane's Spotify playlist?Clare’s All-Ireland winning captain from 2013 Patrick Donnellan and Malachy Clerkin of The Irish Times talk to us about a magical weekend of action.Plus there's weeping journos, Shane Dowling's plea to fans, mystery audio and human VAR. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Premier League season starts on Friday week with Manchester United against Leicester, which is an interesting match-up because Jose Mourinho and Claude Puel are currently the first and second favourite managers to leave their jobs. Mourinho has spent much of pre-season complaining about the quality of the squad at his disposal and for once Ken has some sympathy with his position.If Manchester United aren't prepared to pay big money for the experienced players Jose wants, do they have to reconsider whether he is the right man for the job? Miguel Delaney joins us to analyse what is happening behind the scenes at United. Plus there's Neymar's boy inside, Wayne Rooney finds happiness and does positivity have any impact on outcome? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So it turns out those people writing off the Super 8s as a bad idea after one weekend might have been a little premature. It was a brilliant weekend of football, with pride of place going to David Clifford's injury time heroics to save Kerry from a second consecutive defeat. Oisin McConville and Micheal Quirke discuss Clifford's luminous display, Rory Beggan's kick-outs, and Eoin breathlessly reports from his excursion to Omagh for his beloved Dubs' 3-point win over Tyrone. We chat to Lawrence Donegan about Francesco Molinari's first major title for Italy yesterday at the British Open, and just how close we came to seeing Tiger write a story for the ages. Plus there's Dave Alred's pressure principle, so much for Free Derry, Galway's easy side of the draw, Tiger's kids, and Omagh forgetting to bring the Galatasaray. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mesut Özil has quit the German national team and issued a four-page statement that concludes "I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect."The fact that arguably Germany's highest-profile sportsman no longer feels comfortable representing the national team makes this one of the biggest stories in Germany's sports history - a super-Saipan that dramatises the conflicts in Germany's increasingly fractious debate on immigration and cultural integration.After analysing Özil's lengthy statement, we are joined by Raphael Honigstein to discuss the resulting fall-out.Plus there's Jose in Cali and Karius' plea to humanity. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The opening weekend of the All-Ireland Quarter-Final Group Stages, otherwise known as the Super 8s, was supposed to be, well... super. But that's not quite how it panned out. Can we blame Murph?It was overshadowed entirely by a six-goal World Cup final, and by Limerick's thrilling 2 point win over Kilkenny in the All-Ireland hurling quarter-final. Michael Duignan pays tribute to Limerick's new-look team, and to Kilkenny, who lost nothing in defeat but are now reduced to being a significant staging post in other teams' development. Oisin McConville and Mike Quirke join us to talk about wins for Tyrone, Dublin, Monaghan and Galway, and why we should probably withhold judgement until at least week 2 of this grand experiment. Plus there's Ken's latest travel woes, Dublin's two-finger salute, Oisin's travel-guide to the full Ulster GAA experience, and why we need more Lothar Matthaus in our lives. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here ends a bizarre, uplifting, brilliant, outrageous World Cup - France are champions after a 4-2 win against Croatia, in a game where bafflingly they managed to play poorly for large stretches, and still win comfortably. Ken was there to witness Pogba, politicians and a penalty decision that shaped the game. For this latest VAR controversy, Ken peaks into the mind of the ref during the World Cup final.We speak to Philippe Auclair about this French team, their cautious, under appreciated, ridiculously-garlanded manager Didier Deschamps, and a beautiful 20 years of success. We talk to Dario Brentin in Zagreb about Croatian pride in defeat, Modric's perjury charges, and how politics has always been a murky force in their football, and will continue to be despite this magnificent month. Plus there's reaction on the streets of Dublin to the World Cup final, Vladimir Klitschko, Putin's poodle Conor McGregor, umbrellas, and Ken's team of the tournament. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It was a brilliant weekend for the Irish girls at the European u-18 championships with four medals from three athletes, and some championship records and PB's to boot. Sarah Healy was the star of the show, winning a 1500/3000m double, but there was also gold in the 200m for Rhasidat Adeleke, and a silver for Sophie O'Sullivan, daughter of Sonia, in the 800m. Derval O'Rourke is in Finland at the World Under 20's and she tells us why we should both be excited and patient with this extraordinary new crop of potential stars. We ask where all this success has come from and what the path from underage to senior is like in athletics. Oisin McConville and Michael Foley join us to talk about the last round of qualifiers, and the annual post mortem on the Cork footballers - this year's looks particularly gruelling. Plus there's sprinter's choice, the Leinster hurling final replay, Sarah Healy asks Europe to inspect the damage, and Sonia the supportive, stressed-out mum. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out

It was, for a change, quite routine on Saturday afternoon (by England tournament knockout game standards) as a 2-0 win over Sweden saw them qualify for only their third ever World Cup semi-final, and their first since 1990. Ken is a journalist, and so is unmoved by those who would suggest that he's not exactly embracing this England team... even if news that he was watching "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" on Saturday night leaked out online. Jonathan Liew of The Independent in London and Rory Smith of the New York Times talk us through England's impressive win, Pickford magic and look ahead to their match against an increasingly leggy-looking Croatia.And we discuss Waddle's lip wobble, self aware Ross Kemp, Harry Maguire's slab-head, Stuart Barnes on Neymar, Richard Clayderman, and Didier Deschamps' "that'll do" management which has gotten them all the way to the World Cup semi-final. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Another weekend, another barely believable series of storylines. We said goodbye to Messi AND Ronaldo on the same day, clearing the way for the supporting cast to take centre-stage. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are long-established in their own right, but Saturday felt like Kylian Mbappé's coming out party. We talk to Philippe Auclair about the French sensation who appeared in the football world apparently fully grown and self-assured. Ken was in the Luzhniki Stadium yesterday and spoke to Sid Lowe and Barney Ronay after Spain departed limply at the hands of the hosts. And today Ken speaks to us live from the cobblestones outside a boiling hot Samara Airport before heading to Brazil/Mexico, as he bemoans Mexican airplane etiquette, squashed sombreros, Cavani's cheekbone and Kasper Schmeichel's Zaire 1974 impersonation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mayo have illuminated the last decade of football, but they were dumped out of the championship last Saturday night when they lost a classic All-Ireland football qualifier to Kildare in Newbridge. Oisin McConville is in studio to talk about the structure that Mayo's players need in order to get them over the line, why they might not get that with this manager, and why they're still the GAA story of the decade. Michael Duignan is with us as well as we look back on the Munster and Leinster finals from yesterday, and the essential differences between hurling in the two provinces. Plus there's Cork's belief, Boris Becker's diplomatic immunity, and Kildare winning the battle and then winning the war. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're having a hell of a lot if fun on the Second Captains World Service. It's time to join at secondcaptains.com/join See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There may have been a few dissenting voices prior to this weekend, but be in no doubt now - this has been a brilliant World Cup. 27 goals in 6 games meant the tournament went turbo-charged in the last two days. Ken was on hand to see England's hammering of Panama Was he impressed? Raphael Honigstein tells us about the German reaction to Toni Kroos' impossible, magnificent last-minute goal to beat Sweden. And ahead of the last round of matches, we catch up with Oluwashina Okeleji as Nigeria's Super Eagles face Lionel Messi's Argentina. Plus there's Maurice Fitzgerald, sending referees to The Hague, and unflattering Second Captains player ratings. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ulster final day is always pretty special, and Oisin McConville has been there for a few of them over the years. Leader of the DUP Arlene Foster was in Clones yesterday for her first, and we ask Oisin about the special significance of her decision to attend. Oisin and Mike Quirke cast their eye over the action on the field, as Dublin, Kerry and Donegal all completed routine provincial title wins. Shane Horgan joins us to talk about Ireland's dream rugby season - rounded off on Saturday morning with a gutsy series win against one of the Big Three Southern Hemisphere teams. We ask what's been learnt about Ireland's gameplans, and Ireland's players, on this tour?Plus there's Ryan McHugh's fly in a jam-jar impersonation, the potato-eaters' win over Phil "Crocodile" Kearns' men down under, and Felipe is on his way to educate Leinster! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join the Second Captains World Service for daily shows throughout the World Cup www.secondcaptains.com/join. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.