Second Captains @ The Irish Times

Leinster and Munster bowed out of Europe this weekend, with plenty of what-ifs for both sides. Leinster will feel they had plenty of chances to beat Clermont in the south of France yesterday, and Munster similarly would love to have another crack at Saracens after they failed to raise a gallop in the Aviva on Saturday. Shane Horgan and Liam Toland acknowledge all the financial advantages of English and French clubs, but warn against the idea that we should be satisfied with losing semi-final appearances in this country. Are Galway favourites for the Liam McCarthy Cup this summer? Michael Duignan and Malachy Clerkin discuss their stunning 16-point defeat of Tipperary in the National Hurling League final yesterday. And after marking your card last week, Ilie Nastase confirmed his status as one of sport's biggest assholes this weekend. Plus there's the Rassie Erasmus news, Johnny Glynn's Grand Canyon and Eoin's safety. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eoin welcomes the return of title run-in mindgames. Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that Tottenham, unlike some of their rivals, are "not artificial". Antonio Conte has responded in an unexpected way, by claiming that Tottenham are the best team in the league. Judging by his own side's performance at Old Trafford, Conte might be right. Was United's victory a Chelsea collapse, or a Mourinho masterclass? Did it show that the United players are finally understanding the principles of the manager's football?We also talk about Everton's decision to ban The Sun after Kelvin MacKenzie's attack on Ross Barkley. Is banning newspapers ever justified? When you look at the details of this case, how much sympathy does The Sun deserve?Jonathan Wilson joins us to talk through the details of United's win. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eoin, Ken and Richie hit the showers to discuss Ken's hair treatment regime, the French elections and the latest from the World Service.Join us now at secondcaptains.com for access to all our shows. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eoin and Ken look back at a weekend in which Dele Alli backed up all the hype of last week's podcast. Ken asks is there anything he can't do, Eoin wonders if its time to start comparing him to the greats.David Moyes says the Sunderland job is incredibly difficult. He said the same thing about the Man United job, which must have been difficult in a different way. Might Sunderland be better advised looking for a manager who is slightly less eager to point out how incredible difficult everything is going to be? Meanwhile Luke Shaw has been let out of captivity for a few minutes on the field but can he really trust Jose Mourinho after everything that has happened? We also talk about the superb new documentary "Les Bleus: Une autre histoire de France"Dermot Corrigan tries to explain why Barcelona keep bottling it in La Liga and we explore Neymar's hunger and Messi's magical nutritionist.Raphael Honigstein examines the science behind Arjen Robben's signature move, and looks ahead to the German clubs' adventures in

Ken realises that he knows enough about golf to be a pundit on Sky's Masters coverage. All you do is draw sweeping generalisations from tiny details of body language, and keep that going for four days. Oisin McConville and Mike Quirke discuss Kerry’s evolution, poking the bear, Dublin’s slump in form and doing football a favour.Murph isn't here which means we can talk about Joe Brolly. What is the best way to take Brolly on when he is at full steam? Lawrence Donegan joins us to talk about Sergio Garcia's win, golfer beefs, and friendly rivalry nonsense. Plus there’s The Butler Cabin time warp, and McDevitt relives his fraught toilet encounter with Boris Becker. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Things were already bad enough for David Moyes before he got the silly idea of immolating himself in a sexism firestorm. Was his comment to the BBC's Vicky Sparks at the end of his interview with the BBC "unforgivable," as some influential voices are claiming? Ronald Koeman was another one struggling with interviews as Sky encouraged him to take on the many enemies and losers who have criticised him.Only Jose Mourinho seemed to feel at home in the interview environment this week, and that after a disappointing draw with West Brom that meant United currently have their worst home win ratio of the Premier League era. Perhaps the fact that he OWNED the BBC's Conor McNamara will be of some consolation to the United faithful. We are joined by Tony Barrett to talk Merseyside Derby, and David Preece gives his view on whether Moyes can carry on at Sunderland. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It was like the good old days on Saturday, as Munster and Leinster ruthlessly took apart Toulouse and Wasps to advance to the European Cup semi-finals on Saturday afternoon. Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley reflect on what a difference a year makes - 12 months ago we didn't even have 1 team in the last 8, and now we have two teams who have shown they're capable of winning the competition outright. Former Kerry player and Irish Examiner columnist Mike Quirke looks ahead to next Sunday's league final between Dublin and Kerry - and predicts that despite trepidation down south at another heavy beating in Croke Park, the future still looks bright for Kerry. Plus we have Danny Cipriani, Murph’s Belgian waffles, Simon’s strip, clutch Dublin and a stonking Wexford win in Kilkenny. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Katie Taylor grabbed her fourth win in four professional appearances last weekend, and the impression is that she is blazing a trail for her sport. But are her promoters doing a good job for women's boxing, or a good job just for Katie? Christina McMahon, the Irish pro boxer we spoke to last November, returns to the show to tell us how delighted she is for Katie, but why her promotion is not exactly lifting the sport. Michael Duignan has long been one of the best analysts on hurling, and he joins us in studio at the end of the group stages of the National Hurling League... and promptly calls Murph a football man. Plus there's Offaly's one-match winning streak, Con Houlihan's elbow on Eamon Dunphy, and the Donnacha Ryan madness. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Martin O'Neill gives a sombre press conference ahead of tomorrow's friendly with Iceland, Eoin, Ken and Ciaran discuss the fallout from the Wales game and Seamus Coleman's terrible injury. It's time for us to decide what kind of game we want to see. Do we want a sport in which skilful players are protected, or one in which you can get away with cheap shots?Also - Brazil are on a roll under new coach Tite. Tim Vickery joins us from Rio de Janeiro to talk about their footballing rebirth.Plus there's honeysuckle and serenity on the Royal Canal, goose and beef tea, and the end of Dutch football. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hit the showers with Eoin and Murph and hear what's happening on tomorrow's World Service.Join us here and get our shows instantly: www.secondcaptains.com/join See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So where are we after a tumultuous Six Nations campaign? We ended on an indisputable high, with victory over Grand slam and world record chasing England on Saturday. But there remains a world of regret over those defeats away to Scotland and Wales, and a championship that might have been there to win. Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley give us their verdicts on the last 7 weeks. We also catch up with Michael Conlan after his professional debut in Madison Square Garden on Saint Paddy's Day, which included an early stoppage, a capacity crowd... and Conor McGregor. Plus there's Murph's (GB & I) Lions test team, and we fall into the Stephen Jones black-hole of logic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pep Guardiola was extremely impressed this weekend by John Stones' stones. We look back on a fantastic game between his side and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester United won again at Middlesbrough, but Ken believes their victory at Middlesbrough betrayed some worrying signs about the direction they are taking relative to their rivals. Much of the internet disagrees. This week sees the return of international football, Ireland play Wales on Friday night and Emmet Malone reports on the latest from Abbottstown. And Philippe Auclair joins us to read Arsene Wenger's mind as reports emerge that the Arsenal manager has decided to sign a new contract. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's show day in London, and what better way to start it than breakfast with London's own Frank 'Lamps' Lampard (Sure, he was a few tables down from us, and never made eye contact, but it still made Ken's day).We're still reeling from Manchester City's exit from the Champions League last night - we ask Ken does he have any sympathy for Pep? On tonight's show we'll be chatting to Crystal Palace's Damien Delaney, we look ahead to the last game of the Six Nations with England-killer Shane Horgan and World Cup winner Neil Back, and it's the podcast Yalta as we break bread with Barry Glendenning and Gabriele Marcotti from rival podcasts The Game and Guardian Football Weekly. Recorded live from our base at the beautiful Kensington Hotel, part of the Doyle Collection of hotels in London, Dublin, Cork, Bristol and Washington DC. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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Martin O’Neill has chosen his extended squad for the Wales game, and with a whole island of footballers to choose from, we ask should all 5 million of us get included, before he does the fine tuning for match days?Dion Fanning of SportsJoe joins us in studio to discuss Aidan McGeady’s outrageous return to form, and how we are shaping up for the Wales game.Plus there’s Wayne Rooney getting Phil Jones’d, PSG’s documentary on pain, Emre Can’s Simone Biles move and Jose’s early excuses. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eoin, Ken and Ciaran discuss reports from Russia, where top politicians are devising a macho new sport. One the Russians might have a chance of winning something in. Today's show is dominated by talk of L'Affaire Sanchez. Does the Chilean embody the passion that Arsenal are missing, or is this the posturing of a prima donna who needs to learn the meaning of respect? Miguel Delaney joins us from London Colney to report on Arsene Wenger's post-Sanchez, pre-Bayern press conference, where it seems once again, the Arsenal manager did not see the incident.We also talk about the chaos at Old Trafford, where Zlatan Ibrahimovic escaped a red card, only to miss the penalty that condemned Jose Mourinho's team to another dismal draw. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dublin were trundling along rather unobtrusively until last Saturday, when they comprehensively demolished Mayo, handing out a 12 point beating to their closest rivals. Oisin McConville is in studio, and he wonders just why Mayo haven't focused more of their energies on getting a run together in this year's league. We also talk about how much farther Cork can descend after their shock loss to Clare in Division 2. David Haye, Tony Bellew, and the sport of boxing emerged from last weekend with little credit. Don McRae, author and journalist non pareil joins us to talk about how much damage they inflicted on the gaiety of the nation over the last couple of weeks. Jamie Carragher was happy enough nevertheless, and there's also Katie Taylor's third straight professional win, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wilt The Stilt, and Andre The Giant. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jonathan Wilson joins us to talk about Zlatan's dominant performance at Wembley and whether he's forcing us to reconsider what we thought we knew about the responsibilities of a striker in 2017.Meanwhile the fallout continues from Claudio Ranieri's sacking. Have Leicester committed a crime against football? Do players have too much power, as Martin O'Neill says, or is Jurgen Klopp correct that the real fault lies with directors? Is Ranieri even the person we should be feeling sorry for? Who really deserves the credit for Leicester's success?In Spain, Sergio Ramos has told his international central defensive partner Gerard Pique to take off the tinfoil hat.And a mysterious admirer has sent Ciaran a beautiful gift. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ireland were able to beat France by ten points with a misfiring attack - Shane Horgan reckons they need more invention closer to the try-line, Eoin Reddan isn't too sure we had any other choice. Both men join us to analyse the Six Nations, including how Italy nearly out-foxed England, and how Eddie Jones sometimes comes across as "a pain in the arse". The GAA Congress was always going to be feisty this weekend - but as all 3 of Paraic Duffy's motions relating to the football championship were passed, an edge came to proceedings. The glee with which Congress ignored the will of both the GPA and the CPA was plain to see - Malachy Clerkin of the Irish Times was there, and feels a little uneasy about how this will play out. And - after this show, would anyone ever invite Eoin McDevitt to a wedding again? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The FA Cup is where the pampered princelings of the Premier League come face to face with the hard men of the Real World. Joey Barton and Leicester FC have already become casualties. Now Arsenal must brave the horrors of Sutton's 1990s-vintage dressing room if they are to survive.Barney Ronay joins us to talk about how Millwall FC saved their ground from a dubious regeneration scheme.And Dermot Corrigan reports from Spain, where an unsmiling Barcelona were almost humiliated by Leganes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.