Ireland should have been playing Poland in the Euros today. Instead it's Project Restart Matchday One Minus 2. Rory Smith and Miguel Delaney join us to talk about the return of the Premier League - and also the very patriotic Football Lads performance in London on Saturday afternoon. To what extent are these Lads really Football Lads? And as they argue over whether it should be All Lives Matter or White Lives Matter, how significant is it that the Premier League has openly taken the opposite stance? Is the inevitable destiny of English football to go the way of American sports, sucked into the vortex of a sundowning former power's culture war? And with a promise of rapid redemptions for any team that can win 5 games in a row, do Arsenal really have a chance of making the Champions League? And will there even be a Champions League next year? Plus there's Gatland & Son, Eoin's tiny table, Trump snubbing soccer, and why this football season is as real as any other. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 1790: Premier League Returns, 2020 Season Is Real, Football Lads Face New Climate - 15/06/20

Listen to the award winning Second Captains free to air podcasts featuring The Second Captains Podcast and Second Captains Football. Join The Second Captains World Service and get access to our daily shows and much more. Become a Second Captains member at secondcaptains.com. - iTunes Podcast of the Year - iTunes Essentials Top 10 Podcasts of All-Time - The Guardian's 50 Podcasts You Need To Hear - Ireland's Most-Downloaded Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sports

It was a classic weekend of GAA action, but maybe the surprising result of all came in Celtic Park, as Donegal travelled to Derry and knocked off the league champions with a four-goal, five-star performance. 
Michael Murphy was working for BBC TV, was in attendance, and was designated driver for a car full of Donegal legends on Saturday night, and he joins us today to talk about Derry's lethargy, Jim McGuinness' impact, and the future of Odhran Lynch's upfield excursions. 
Ken brings us the news that Jose Mourinho is finally paying attention to Kieran McGeeney's tactical innovations, and we discuss Leinster's incredible popularity as they sell out Croke Park - with some public service announcements for their ticket- (and pint-) hungry fans.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 2922: Donegal Dump Out Derry, QB Keepers, Leinster Sell Out Croker - 23/04/24

Coventry City almost pulled off the greatest FA Cup comeback of all time, but thankfully VAR was there to save us all from that happening by spotting one of the most fractional offsides of all time. Blessed are we who live under its eye.
We also discuss Marc Canham's video communiqué from last Friday, what he seemed to be trying to say and what he might have said instead.
Miguel Delaney joins us to talk about his experience at the Cup semi-final, and also the reverberations of Nottingham Forest's inflammatory comments about Stuart Attwell.
Does a club accusing a referee of bias represent some kind of radical break with the norms and traditions of football? How else are clubs supposed to respond to the nonsense foisted on them by refs? Are corruption accusations inseparable from the use of VAR? And is there anything referees can practically do to extricate themselves from the conspiracy vortex that is engulfing them? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 2921: Forest Fire, Canham Communications, Man United Escape From Coventry - 22/04/24

Welcome to our world service best of show which this week features reaction to Man City's dramatic loss to Madrid, a backlash to the relationism backlash, a meaty hurling preview and Oisin McConville explains why he is so open with the media.
Monday’s shows are free to all. 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?’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Madrid Dump Man City Out Of Europe, Nerd Backlash, Fillet Of Hurling, McConville's Garden Path

It's (maybe) set to be a big week for the Irish Football Family with a new Men's Senior manager imminent but GO TOBANN just as Ken goes to grab the mic news breaks that FAI CEO Jonathan Hill will be stepping aside. Events, they just keep occurring.
Outside of the FAI internal re-structuring The Great Debate of our epoch revolves around the conflict between Relationism and Positionism. On today's show Ken goes deep with tactics guru Jamie Hamilton.
We also discuss the small matter of Liverpool and Arsenal handing the title to Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen triumphing in Deutschland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 2916: The Great Relationism v Positionism Debate, Never fight (up) Hill, Me Boys, Man City Do It Again

Leinster went for a 6/2 bench, a Will Connors horse for the La Rochelle course, and defended with manic speed and aggression to beat ROG's team for the second time this season. They won with 27 points to spare, and the Nienaber factor was there for all to see.
We chat to Shane Horgan and Ruaidhri O'Connor about slaying the dragon, the mental strength and skill required to score the Ryan Baird try after halftime, Ross Byrne's best-ever performance, peak Furlong, Leo Cullen's role in the side's evolution, how dangerous Toulouse look, Aviva boos, selling out Croke Park for a bank holiday weekend and how the Irish women's team ended their long 6N losing streak by winning in style against Wales.
Plus there's Larmour's comeback, ROG's rebuild, Scheffler's dominance and a McTepid Masters prediction.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 1790: Premier League Returns, 2020 Season Is Real, Football Lads Face New Climate - 15/06/20

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