The Second Captains Podcast

Empires: large, unwieldy structures. We’ve seen them crumble, topple and collapse. But have we ever seen one just… evaporate?The latest phase of Manchester City’s shocking dematerialisation was another night of glory for Ruben Amorim, whose brave decisions paid off as Amad seized the day. We also talk about the departures, for now, of Russell Martin and Gary O’Neil from the Premier League stage.Then we’re joined by Mark Critchley and Jamie Hamilton for the What’s The Matter With City section. Are we seeing the weaknesses of a totalising systemic approach in which individual inspiration is discouraged to the point of being forgotten?

This week on the Second Captains World Service, Ken brings us up to speed on FIFAs decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia and the frankly bizarre ceremony that went with it.Meanwhile, Murph caught up with US Murph to chat about Juan Soto's new contract with the New York Mets - the largest in professional sports history. Plus, we look back on our chat with GAA heavyweights Rian O'Neill, Oisín McConville and Brian Fenton from Liberty Hall. 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.

Leinster were in a knife fight in Bristol, then took out their rocket launchers, RG and Jordie. Is it fair that a team already this good gets to sign two of the best players in the world?We talk to Ruaidhri O'Connor of the Irish Independent about the launch of Leinster's Galacticos era, JVDF's beatific smile, the eternal Peter O'Mahony, Stade's insanity, and the status of the Champions Cup in 2024.Plus there's Brian Fenton on retirement and culture vulture Ciarán "Murph" Murphy.

Manchester United's exciting defeat to Nottingham Forest was followed the next morning by the news that star sporting director Dan Ashworth had walked the plank after five months in the job. We reminisce about a spectacular weekend for Sir Big Jim, who got the ball rolling with a "let them eat cake" interview with United We Stand. Who's the Dumb Money now? Barney Ronay and Miguel Delaney join us to talk about the weekend's football. Can Chelsea win the title? Has Ange run out of road at Spurs? Now that Arsenal have the corners sorted what else can they do to improve? And what have they made of the revolving executive door at United? 

It’s been a tough week on the Second Captains World Service if you're an Ireland football fan with the women losing out to Wales and Kelleher letting one sail over his head to allow Newcastle score a late equaliser. We ever so slightly deflate the Kelleher hype balloon, attempt to define what constitutes a Premier league legend and chat to Ireland player Chloe Mustaki about the link between physical and mental health.To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, The “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Book Club and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’ and Stakeknife.

The 48 enhancements that added up to the biggest change in the 140-year history of Gaelic football sailed through a Special Congress on Saturday, and will profoundly alter the game at club and county level for 2025 and beyond. FRC member Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Paul Flynn tell us why this had to happen, why there's still room left for tweaks, and what it tells us for the GAA's approach to tackling the biggest issues from here on out. We salute Coolera/Strandhill's achievement in winning the Connacht club championship (with particular congratulations for a Second Captains super-friend), and there's even an election-week appearance by the great Pat Kenny.  

We've seen teams and managers in crisis before, but not this team and not this manager. So nobody can tear their eyes away from the spectacle of Pep Guardiola having apparently no idea how to stop Manchester City's spiral, beyond spouting ancient wisdom-phrases even he does not appear to be actually paying any attention to.Meanwhile some of Guardiola's former charges were helping Chelsea make mincemeat of Aston Villa, while for Ruben Amorim's Manchester United, the tiny frenetic figure of Amad Diallo toppled the Easter Island heads at the heart of Sean Dyche's defence.Lars Sivertsen and Neil Atkinson join us to reflect on an extraordinary match at Anfield. Does Guardiola just not know how to take a compliment? How ? Is Salah's public approach to contract negotiation really "selfish"? And can anyone stop Liverpool now? 

After the "Where Is George Gibney?" podcast was released three years ago, people couldn't help asking Mark Horgan what was next.  What's next is "Stakeknife", his new BBC Sounds podcast series with Ciarán Cassidy, the first two episodes of which were released last week - and Mark is in studio with us today.In his role for the IRA, Freddie Scappaticci was a notorious enforcer for an internal security unit called the 'nutting squad', where torture and the summary executions of informers were commonplace.But he did all this while he himself was a British Army double agent, code name Stakeknife. And as Mark tells us, "the series is about far more than just one man; it's about the state structures that protected him, the eyes that turned away from his deeds and the families that he left behind."Man City, meanwhile, managed to blow a 3-0 lead at home to Feyenoord, with 15 minutes to go in the Champions League, and their manager appears to be feeling the pressure.  And Branno helpfully clarifies some issues arising from yesterday's live show announcement.