The 42FM

Sinéad and Niall welcome The 42’s football correspondent David Sneyd to the show to reflect on arguably the biggest Irish transfer in years.With Parrott in line to make his Real Betis debut tonight, David charts the Dubliner’s path from Belvedere to Seville, and breaks down some of the key reasons why Betis won the race for the Irish star ahead of competition in England and beyond.Davd is also on hand to answer some of Sinéad and Niall’s most pressing questions.Where will the Irishman fit into former Manchester CIty and Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini’s plans? How will he adapt to the step-up in quality from the Eredivisie to La Liga? And perhaps most importantly, what would represent a successful debut season in Spain for the 24-year-old?There’s also time to zoom out and take a broader look at the future of the Irish national team, the importance of sports psychology and the implications of Brexit for young players looking to reach the highest level.

With less than three weeks to go until Katie Taylor’s sold-out Croke Park homecoming, negotiations regarding the TV broadcast rights are still ongoing. Subscription broadcaster Dazn holds the exclusive rights for fight night – but could RTÉ or Virgin Media strike a late deal to ensure that this momentous night of Irish sport is broadcast free-to-air on terrestrial TV?Sinéad O’Carroll brings Niall Kelly up to speed on the latest state of play in the broadcast negotiations, which look set to come to a head this week, before the pod discusses the existing free-to-air legislation which designates certain sporting events as “of major importance to society”.What events rightly belong on the list, and where should the line be drawn between government intervention and encroaching on a vital revenue stream for sport’s governing bodies and stakeholders?And how does free-to-air legislation survive in a broadcasting landscape that’s becoming increasingly fractured and commercialised? Is it more important than ever or on borrowed time?

Probably not, as Paul Fennessy tells Niall Kelly.But what is it about Premier League football clubs that make them so compelling to billionaires? Well, the eye-watering increase in value of Liverpool during the reign of FSG - where their 2010 investment of £300m is now worth around £4.5bn - is part of the appeal. As is the scope for further growth, where hyper-capitalist minds see much more financial potential in football than has already been realised.And do people come any more hyper-capitalist than Bezos? How does this mindset, and the treatment of Amazon workers, square in a city such as Liverpool, with their long tradition of trade unionism and standing up for workers’ rights?Is there likely to be resistance to the news that a consortium including Bezos will likely assume control of a third of the club, and probably more in future? Or will news like this will be met with little protest, once the results on the pitch remain positive?

On this week’s 42FM, Sinéad O’Carroll is joined by Ian Robertson, a neuroscientist and clinical psychologist, Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, and author of ‘The Winning Effect’.In a recent Irish Times article, Professor Robertson explained how Mayo’s approach to historical failures was in direct contrast to that of Thomas Tuchel’s England football team.But why were their responses to adversity so varied?How much could be gleaned from Kobe McDonald’s pre-game grin as he and his teammates paraded around the storied ground of Croke Park?And if the curse of Mayo wasn’t real, might it have had a placebo effect?

Sinead O’Carroll and Niall Kelly are in reflective form after a highly-anticipated sporting weekend fell flat.The pair were left questioning their life choices after the All-Ireland hurling final, Open Championship and World Cup final, replete with half-time show, failed to deliver.The expected buoyant mood which would carry through the week on foot of Super Sunday did not materialise. And if your mood is determined by the quality of sport on TV, do you need to reassess your priorities?Or are we in too deep; in thrall to live sport on TV every weekend, and a lot of nights during the week? Are we forever destined to plan our lives around our favorite teams and games to a degree that has become all pervasive in the era of seasons that don’t end and more matches and events than ever being broadcast?

‘The whole conversation is stupendously ridiculous’ says Sinead, who fears for football and hurling should video review be introduced.Sinead tells Niall that any embrace of technology beyond HawkEye and goal-line sensors would lead to decisions which are no less contentious, while making the overall player and fan experience ‘way less fun’.It’s a rocky road, says Sinead, and we need only look to soccer and rugby for clear evidence that the quest for the perfect decision is futile and counterproductive.Niall is not sure if this ‘stone age or nowhere’ policy is too vibes based, and wonders whether Sinead would be as ready to accept that sport and life are inherently unfair in the very moment when her favourite team has paid the ultimate price for a wrong call.It is, Sinead concedes, hard to recall such a situation given Kildare’s lack of brushes with success in recent seasons. But in the event of such glory she would give it up for greater principles: perfection should be strived for with greater training and support for referees, but ultimately we have to accept their best-intentioned human failings.

David Sneyd dials in from America to chat to Sinead O’Carroll and Niall Kelly about the US President’s intervention in the World Cup.Our reporter on the ground thought he might get through the rest of the World Cup talking about just football - until Donald Trump decided to call his fellow president, Gianni Infantino, the Fifa version, to see about a review to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card against Bosnia.This duly happened, allowing the striker to face Belgium on Monday. Fifa said the decision was not influenced by Trump, but the ensuing row dominated the final days of the US World Cup campaign.It also throws up questions still being considered after the US have been eliminated by Belgium.Is there shock at Trump’s act? Or was something like this grimly predictable?To what extent is it unprecedented, even in the chequered history of Fifa?Does it taint this World Cup’s integrity?What about Mauricio Pochettino? A respected coach at the elite level, where does this leave his standing in the game?What will be the trickle down effect of other teams looking to get cards overturned?Will there be consequences, lasting or otherwise, for Fifa or Infantino?

Still the biggest name in Irish athletics, Rhasidat Adeleke is set to make her long-awaited return to 400m action in America this Friday night – a major step on the road to August’s European Championships in Birmingham.Former world indoor champion, Olympian and analyst Derval O’Rourke joins Niall Kelly to chart a frustrating two years in Adeleke’s young career, which has seen the 23-year-old largely disappear from the public eye since her fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics.Why do we know so little about her progress and plans, and is her US coaching set-up under Edrick Floréal still bringing out the best in one of Ireland’s brightest talents?What can we expect to see on her return this week, and what will it tell us about her European medal prospects this summer?With Sharlene Mawdsley in the individual form of her career, could we see two Irish athletes fighting it out for European medals in the 400m? And what can we expect from Team Ireland more generally?

Sinead O’Carroll is joined by Niall Kelly to tackle the footballing and lingering moral questions around the American World CupPre-competition concerns about swathes of empty seats and mismatches have not come to pass. Instead the World Cup has been the same vibrant and life-affirming festival of football it has nearly always been.The big stars have shone, the minnows have shown their mettle, the fans have created a magical atmosphere and even the sometimes indifferent citizens of the USA have been swept along with it all.But will we all feel so positive about this World Cup in years to come? Or will it be tethered to some of the actions of the Trump administrations, such as the treatment of the Iran team and referee Omar Artan, and whatever is to come in the next month?Or has this World Cup shown the best side of the US, despite Trump? With the America people have flocked to for generations in full technicolour display these past two weeks?