The Second Captains Podcast

City are sinking, Spurs are surging, Salah is scoring and unsigned, Man Utd have their saviour and Liverpool are now 8 points clear at the top, but first we have McDevitt's "Five Takeaways From My Premier League Weekend". The biggest game boiled down to a debate over whether Kyle Walker is finished? We look at the evidence for and against.We also discuss Southampton's samurai-like dedication to their self-destructive principles, and why Ruben Amorim has a better chance of taking Manchester United fans with him, on what might yet be a long road of suffering, than his predecessor did.Mark Critchley and Jack Pitt-Brooke join us to discuss this City crisis and if it’s really all about Rodri? Who is Jack's surprise choice as Best Player in the Premier League This Season? How are optimism levels at Old Trafford after the debut of the Amorim system? And just how crazy would it be for Liverpool not to offer Mo Salah a new contract?

Brian Fenton broke the (GAA) internet this week by announcing his retirement. We spoke to Fenton’s former Dublin teammate Paul Flynn, who thinks the Leinster Football Championship is now up for grabs.Gavan Casey and Andy Lee joined us to discuss Hawk Tuah, Rosie Perez and Taylor V Serrano. Miguel Delaney chatted with Ken about his new book States of Play, and we give a sneak peek of our Shane O’Donnell interview live from The Olympia Theatre. Join the party for just a fiver a month—no contracts, no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no hidden charges, and no ads. Head to secondcaptains.com/join for more details.

Ireland were ahead 22-9 at half time, at home, with three tries banked and the fans fully behind them - but instead of a comfortable win, they survived a last minute Argentinian onslaught to scrape home by 3 points. It was a win, against a good team, but the coaches didn't look too happy afterwards.We chat to Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley about the 13 penalties conceded, Ireland's issues with phase play and kick chase, the good form of both 10s, and the big decisions Farrell will have to make for the Fiji game.Plus there's French rugby theatre, the rise of the south, and biased boxing commentators. 

Richie Sadlier joins us to talk about Ireland's... memorable trip to Wembley. We talk about the first half and how we all felt at half-time. We talk about the unpleasant turn things took in the second half and how by the end we felt nothing at all. It's humiliating to talk about positives but maybe we can compare degrees of negativity. For example, it's officially 

Are You Sick Of Winning Yet? Sure, Finland could have scored several goals and were desperately unfortunate to lose by a goal to nil - but as the Scoreboard Captains podcast has always insisted, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. We talk about how high the standard of expectation needs to be set for Evan Ferguson and gush about how Ireland are enchanting a new generation of young fans. Damien Delaney joins us to analyse the game: what was the system anyway? why did we look defensively unstable? What could be done to change that? Does Caoimhin Kelleher have a chance of being Liverpool's number one? And are there any grounds for hope for a result against England at Wembley? 

A brand new trailer for a brand new BBC Sounds series from the production team who brought you Where Is George Gibney?, Ken chatting to Daniel Wiffen, Ken chatting about David Coote, and a conversation with Gavan Casey, who's on the ground in Dallas ahead of Taylor-Serrano II and Mike Tyson-Jake Paul this Friday. It's been a helluva week on the World Service so far, and we're bringing you a taste of it today. If you like what you hear and you want more independent, member-led broadcasting, you can sign up at secondcaptains.com/join.

Branno was among the 38000 at the Aviva to see Drogheda win the FAI Cup final against Derry City - but the 2024 season isn't quite over yet. We talk about the violence in Amsterdam around last Thursday's match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, which drew the attention of world leaders in a manner unlike any Europa League game before. Dion Fanning and Gavin Cooney join us in studio to talk about the weekend's Premier League. Why have Manchester City lost four in a row and what are the chances of them reverting to normal? Why can't Arsenal build any momentum to chase them? Is Ange Postecoglou going to make it to Christmas? Are Liverpool really going to win this thing at a canter? And with international week now OPEN we debate Heimir Hallgrimsson's scouting policy and whether Wyscout is any substitute for the high carbon-burn human touch.

Ireland made 21 handling errors and conceded 13 penalties in an error-strewn 10-point loss to NZ on Friday night. But was it all James Lowe's fault for geeing up the crowd while celebrating a kick!!?We chat to Gerry Thornley and Shane Horgan about this performance in isolation, and in the context of this Ireland team's form over the last few years, about Farrell's spiky post-match press conference, about what happened the attack, if both outhalves are damaged by what happened, what changes are coming in what is now a huge game against Argentina, and Australia's magical last-second win in Twickenham. And we have big news about a Second Captains investigative series launching this week on BBC Sounds, from the production team behind “Where Is George Gibney?”. If you subscribed to the "Where Is George Gibney?" podcast feed, that feed is now called COVER, and that’s where you’ll be able to hear this new series. If not simply search “Cover - BBC Sounds” in your podcast app; the journey starts tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th November.