Second Captains @ The Irish Times

Ken's absence last week has led some listeners to wonder whether an automated Ken-3000 replacement could be commissioned to cover future time off, remixing and replaying the vast library of past Jose Mourinho commentary. Ken adds some new clips to the algorithm's memory cache with a dramatic U-turn.Chelsea are now struggling to get back into the race for Champions League qualification. Has Antonio Conte forgotten that motivation is about more than simply telling your players what to do?Does Scott McTominay have the potential to be a fixture in the Manchester United team? Is there anything new to say about Arsenal? And how will the yellow ribbon stand-off between Pep Guardiola and the FA play out? Jonathan Wilson and John Brewin join us to analyse.Meanwhile Diego Torres' reports on the goings-on at PSG have assumed the same place in the culture as Dallas occupied in the 80s. We crank his latest despatch through Google Translate. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Richie Sadlier joins Eoin and Murph in studio to talk about how football management can be an emotional business. When Ipswich took the lead against local rivals Norwich on Saturday, Mick McCarthy couldn't resist having a go at his own fans.Is there ever a right time to shoot back at the same people who have been criticising you for months? On reflection, probably not... but it doesn't mean it doesn't feel really good while you're doing it. We also praise the job Chris Hughton is doing as he leads Brighton to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and analyse his potential to be the next Ireland manager.Plus Sid Lowe joins us to wax lyrical about Andres Iniesta before he returns to Stamford Bridge, the site of his favourite goal-not-scored-in-the-World-Cup-final goal. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Without the burden of knowledge or insight, and freed from the pressure of expectation of Irish medals, the 2018 Winter Olympics has been a non-stop fun-a-thon in Second Captains HQ.Sinead O'Carroll, news editor with The Journal, told us on the World Service ten days ago why she spurns sleep in order to follow the Games, and she's in studio today to talk over all the hurt, heartbreak and heroics.If your sole focus is winning the All-Ireland, is it okay to throw your hat at the league? That's the question we ask Michael Duignan, as Waterford lost their third game in a row on Sunday. Clare are a study in contrast, and he picks one county out as a team that could win the league, and use it as a springboard for success in the summer.Plus there's Murph's biased local commentary experience, and the spectacle of watching an athlete go through the entire span of human emotional experience on television. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ireland remain on track for the Grand Slam after their fully-expected 56-19 win over Italy, but what happened that we didn't expect? Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley give us their thoughts on week 2 of this year's Six Nations championship.Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw going down injured certainly wasn't in the play-book, and the expected stern Italian resistance for the first 60 minutes didn't materialise either.We also didn't see the impact of the Irish bench that we expected, but is that to be expected when the game is over after 20 minutes? We also salute Owen Farrell's almost perfect performance for England, rate the threat posed by doughty Wales, and discuss why the relationship between the IRFU and the Irish media appears to be at an all-time low.Plus - Eoin explains why he loves Keith Earls, Simon has an idea for livening up Ireland/Italy games, and we salute our skating-to-work Dutch listeners. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It was an amazing weekend for the King of the Golf but a bad one for Chris Smalling who finds himself serving as the Manchester United 'Pinata of the Week'.Jose Mourinho debuted a new magnanimous personality at St. James' Park but there is one person on whom the sunbeams of his warmth do not fall: his superstar midfielder Paul Pogba. Hooked twice in less than two weeks with United losing: is this war?Meanwhile Antonio Conte has explained that he is a victim of his own success at Chelsea: the club don't cooperate on transfers because he is too good at working with the players he already has.Jonathan Wilson joins us to discuss the North London derby, and the increasing hostility between football clubs and the journalists who the clubs have increasingly come to see as competitors. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is a special World Service episode that we feel everyone should hear so we've made it available to all.World Service members will be familiar with our recent coverage of the extraordinary events in a Michigan courtroom, where the victims of ex-USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar finally had the opportunity to stand up to their abuser in court.It’s the sort of justice that’s long been denied to the alleged victims of George Gibney, the ex-Ireland swimming coach.It’s almost 25 years since Gibney was charged with 27 counts of indecent assault and carnal knowledge of young swimmers. Those charges were later quashed, Gibney moved to America, and he’s remained there ever since, but new information has emerged that has resulted in a fresh push for justice.It’s a push being led by Maureen O’Sullivan TD who joined us on the show today, along with the Sunday Times journalist Justine McCarthy, author of Deep Deception: Ireland’s Swimming Scandals. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Yesterday, after Crystal Palace drew 1-1 with Newcastle, Roy Hodgson laid down some truth...With Roy's words in mind, we try to spend as little of today's show as possible discussing the penalty decisions at Anfield, as some other things happened besides. ('As little of today's show as possible' still equals a lot of time discussing those decisions).Rory Smith of the New York Times joins us to talk about touchline misconduct, and whether Liverpool currently have much to offer beyond the sensational goalscoring form of their top man Mohamed Salah. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eoin and Ken give you a rundown on what you missed on the world service this week with some help from US Murph, Shane Horgan, Matt Williams, Millie and Gareth Edwards.Join now at secondcaptains.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The National Leagues are back, and first-day drama came mostly from Killarney, where Kerry pulled out a dramatic last-minute win against Donegal with a team full of fresh-faced young guns. Micheal Quirke and Oisin McConville are back in tandem to talk us through the major issues, including teams that are jaded in January, footballers who have over-dosed on the weights this winter, and the Dubs getting back in the swing. Roger Federer won the Australian Open on Sunday so we talk to the AMAZING Luke Jensen of ESPN about why he still holds the whip hand over tennis' bright young things.Plus there's Michael Lyster, Ken's theory as to why all our best current sportspeople are the best sportspeople there will EVER be, and we debut an exciting and mean-spirited new slot called "Shame The Spongers". See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A growing number of Manchester United fans are peeved that Pep is getting a pass from the lamestream media despite his increasingly histrionic touchline behaviour. Does the City boss deserve condemnation for his latest display at Cardiff over the weekend?A terrific game at Anfield was overshadowed by controversy over VAR. We try to unpick the problems with a system that puts all the responsibility for calling in video replays on the referees themselves.Raphael Honigstein joins us to analyse Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's move to Arsenal. Is Dortmund's buy-young sell-young business model compatible with a successful club culture? And what can we learn from the German experience with VAR?Plus there’s FA Cup tropes, Roy’s ticket, Germany’s appeal and being Neil Warnock. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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Marco Silva, recently the most in-demand coach in the Premier League, finds himself suddenly out of a job. He showed no loyalty. But given that loyalty is not part of Watford's short-termist managerial model, do they have any right to demand it? Meanwhile, the struggle for control of Newcastle United is being played out in the media. How convincing a case is Amanda Staveley making that now is the time for Mike Ashley to hand over the keys to the club?Jonathan Wilson joins us to analyse the Sanchez-Mkhitaryan swap and how this looks like one of those happy deals where everybody comes out of it feeling like a winner.And we talk to Stephane Uersfeld about Arsenal's next potential signing, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. His relationship with Dortmund has broken down and some reports in Germany are suggesting he is dressing-room poison - but his performances on the pitch over the last few years suggest he could be the sort of signing who could transform Arsenal's prospects. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-o

Ken remains in the midst of a cigarette crisis. To calm him, we asked someone to rob his bike and invited Eamon Dunphy into studio to debate him. Then, we asked him to jump in a fake shower with Murph to record a promo for the Dunphy v Ken extravaganza. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Munster might be kicking themselves after losing narrowly in Paris to Racing 92, but going into the last weekend of the European Rugby Champions Cup pool stages our 3 provinces all lead their pools. Gordon D'Arcy and Shane Horgan look back over another positive weekend of results, and talk about what we can learn from the Gerbrandt Grobler controversy, as the South African lock previously banned for 2 years for PED use made his Munster 'A' debut.And as Meath emerge victorious in the GAA's first free-kick shoot-out in the O'Byrne Cup semi-final yesterday, we get the reaction of Longford superstar Michael Quinn to the latest in-game innovation, and we all ask the same question - why not penalties? Ken has his own answer to that, plus we evaluate the free-taking ability of Chris Rock, Dean Rock and Kid Rock. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A seven-goal thriller full of fantastic football and moments of sublime skill executed at blistering speed. And no mind-games, insults or bad feeling - just mutual respect and appreciation. Has Liverpool v Manchester City emerged as the Clasico of the Premier League? Jurgen Klopp's team aren't contenders to win the Premier League but they showed the rest of the league that when it comes to playing City, who dares might just win.Meanwhile Paul Lambert has taken over at Stoke City, meaning that Martin O'Neill is set to carry on with Ireland a while longer.We discuss Der Spiegel's latest eye-watering report on Lionel Messi's financial affairs.Dion Fanning joins us to analyse what's happening with O'Neill and look back on that classic at Anfield.And Sid Lowe explains what is going wrong at Real Madrid. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jump in with Eoin, Murph and Roy Keane for some of the week's highlights on the Second Captains World Service. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Philippe Coutinho has joined Barcelona, as expected, but why did the Spanish club make it happen now instead of waiting until the summer? Meanwhile today is a historic day for English football, which is introducing Video Assistant Refereeing for the first time in tonight's FA Cup match, but the way they are doing it looks all wrong to Ken. Gabriele Marcotti joins us to talk about why Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte seem to loathe each other so much.And Dermot Corrigan tells us how excited, or otherwise, Barcelona are to have signed Philippe Coutinho. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Jordan Larmour hype train has officially left the station and is picking up speed, and heading towards the 6 Nations. After his wonder-try against Munster at Thomond Park, Leinster's latest superstar-in-waiting scored twice against Ulster to finish off this round of interpro's in style.Eoin Reddan and Gerry Thornley try and come up with one good reason why Larmour shouldn't feature for Ireland this spring, what sort of Joe Schmidt game plan he would fit into, and why Munster have their toughest test of the season coming up in Paris this weekend.There's also old man Bob Henshaw, how La Rochelle have changed the game, the doomed Simon Hick-Tom Brady partnership, and our scumbag of the week poses an important philosophical question. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Happy New Year everybody! And to ring in 2018, it’s time for one last look at one of the highlights of 2017. Recorded live at Langton’s Ballroom in Kilkenny City for the Kilkenny Cat Laughs comedy festival, here’s our chat with two of Ireland’s greatest comedians Dara Ó Briain and David O’Doherty. Previously only for fully subscribed members, we present it here to the general public, as an indication of the sort of crazy nonsense that goes on behind that beautiful World Service curtain. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Manchester City have been making all the other Premier League teams look very ordinary, but how should we feel about the corporate empire that underpins their glorious football? Can we consider the football separately from what lies beneath?We discuss Ferran Soriano’s global vision as detailed to the Guardian’s Giles Tremlett. Is it a vision the rest of us can feel comfortable with?Human rights researcher Nick McGeehan joins us on the line to talk more about the power behind Guardiola’s throne.We also talk about a stunning racial gaffe by Antoine Griezmann, Ederson’s passing ability, and Mark Hughes’ blue. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.