The Second Captains Podcast

Carrick staggers on at United, Bruno is back in, Arsenal get beaten by Fleetwood, an "Englishman" wins the Ballon d'Or... and there was penalty shootout madness all week in the Caraboa. Football, bloody hell. We've had a great week covering all this lunacy, plus we had a chat with James McClean about everything from mental health to drugs in football, Ken caught up with Jon Mackenzie about Jon's new book The Spectre of Pep: How Guardiola Haunts Modern Football Tactics.Next week we have another idea from the brains that brought you gooning, Hector Bellerin, Panenka and Fiesta Friday. We also have Champions League coverage and Ireland's November internationals start with a game against Argentina on Friday week.

This Monday morning, Bruno Fernandes seems to see himself as a sad giant made of rocks deciding he's fed up with protecting an ungrateful city from being crushed by an even bigger rock. Of course, the name Carrick comes from the Irish word for "rock", so make of that what you will. Eoin and Ken talk about Mourinho beating Barcelona with the old formula and a new Hemingway beard, how the qualities Barcelona have decided are not so important are shining in other settings, and many other things besides - in todays' bank holiday football show.

Man United took a beating on the shores of Lago di Como yesterday evening so Ken Early in turn took a step back, zoomed out and asked, just what exactly has Sir Jim Ratcliffe done to this fine club? Plus things seem to be going in the opposite direction for Liverpool under Andoni Iraola according to Alexis Mac Callister, and we fret about the free directions to Australia the AFL are handing out to our best GAA players.

It's been quite a few seasons since Connacht have been in the Champions Cup and an opening game against three-time winners Saracens wasn't exactly a gimme. But after trailing early doors, they pulled it back in an amazing 80-point game at the Dexcom Stadium. Munster got the win in another big-score game against Racing 92 on an emotional night in Cork, ten years on from the death of Anthony Foley. Shane Horgan and Jack Carty are with us to chat through both wins, as well as Leinster's away victory against Clermont just a week out from meeting Munster at the Aviva. Plus there's bonus point confusion, bringing back the banana kick, and a bumper Monday night of sport.

Welcome back to the podcast where you can receive your news from inside the mind of Howard Webb three to four weeks before Howard Webb himself announces it. Arsenal have announced job cuts, with £20m-a-year Mikel Arteta explaining that the redundancy programme is all part of the club's relentless drive towards excellence. Coventry maybe better not follow suit, what with the fuss their manager's wristwear is causing. A despondent David Sneyd joins us in studio to deny there really is a League of Ireland title race. Luckily, not everybody agrees.

Your World Service taster menu features, this week, a platter of football for your gorging pleasure. Man Utd and Martinez, Man City, Haaland's moral core, and Alan Reynolds' right of reply at Bohs. If you like what you hear, you can sign up to the World Service with no obligations and no ads at secondcaptains.com/join for just €5 a month + VAT.

George Gibney was yesterday sentenced to 15-and-a-half years in jail for the sexual abuse of four girls in the 1970s and 1980s, bringing to an end a decades-long fight for justice. Two of the survivors from the 1990's case against Gibney join us in studio today, and they are very familiar to listeners of our “Where Is George Gibney?” podcast. Ber Carley and Tric Kearney stood behind Orla Poole, one of the complainants in the current case, as she waived her anonymity and delivered a powerful statement to the assembled media on the steps of the Central Criminal Court yesterday. When Orla ended her historic speech, she turned and embraced Ber and Tric.They talk to us today about their feelings in the aftermath of the sentencing, what this process has taken from them and what it has given them, and, along with Mark, we reflect on how a journey that began as an attempt to document this monster’s crimes became the catalyst for yesterday’s final judgement and headline news.

Leinster are back at the RDS, and notwithstanding some teething problems (no scoreboard, floodlights blinding their out-half, 40 minutes without scoring), they cruised to a win over Cardiff in front of a capacity crowd.Munster and Ulster played out a thrilling draw of questionable quality on Saturday night, but both teams will have regrets about not getting the win. Erstwhile RDS kingpin Shane Horgan and former Connacht schemer-in-chief Jack Carty are with us to pick apart where the Irish provinces are ahead of the start of the European Rugby Champions Cup this weekend.Plus there's Sam Prendergast's guns, telescopic tees, wing craft and searching for that 5th star.

A crushing win for Manchester City at Anfield, who went a man up in the second half then tore Andoni Iraola's scufflers to pieces. A beaming Enzo Maresca hailed his players and supporters for creating a big noise of their own to counteract all the noise the hater media has been making since City were found guilty of the biggest cheating scandal in the history of English football. City fans certainly looked like they were enjoying it - though according to the Manchester press, the situation is more complicated than it perhaps appears. Neil Atkinson and Jonathan Wilson join us to talk about Liverpool v City, what it means for the league to be stuck in limbo, the Eliott Andersons vs the Florian Wirtzes, and whether Iraolaball is going anywhere.