Second Captains

There's more than one way to make your name in the Premier League. Until now Nathan Collins has been trying the quiet excellence way, but on Saturday against Man City he hopped on the fast track to building his profile internationally.

We also discuss a disgraceful episode in Spain, and the sad scenes at Munich's Oktoberfest, where Bayern's top brass tried and failed to look like they're having a good time despite dropping nine of the last 12 points.

James Horncastle joins us to talk about how Juventus lost their stranglehold on Italian football. What and who is to blame for their fall? And who will win the culture war between the traditional values of Italian football and an ambitious new generation of internationally-influenced coaches?

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Why are English football people so down on Todd the mouthy American interloper? What is a long snapper? And would it surprise you to hear the New England Patriots were involved in one of the oldest cheating scandals in NFL history? 

That means US Murph, Champions League and fun times on the World Service this week. Join us for ad-free, member-led broadcasting for just €5 + VAT a month at secondcaptains.com/join.

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After a series of terrible VAR decisions in the Premier League last week we heard many VAR advocates claim "it's only in England they don't know how to use it, VAR is working perfectly everywhere else." Right on cue, Juventus-Salernitana generates the Exxon Valdez of VAR decisions.

We also talk about whether Pep Lijnders' recent book is as dangerous a signal for Liverpool as Didi Hamann fears, and relay the views of our favourite Argentine football writer on the signing of Darwin Nuñez.

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Shane Lowry is back in the winner's circle for the first time since his Open victory at Royal Portrush in 2019, courtesy of a faultless Sunday performance at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth yesterday.  

He was pushed all the way by Rory McIlroy, who fell literally an inch short of forcing a playoff - we talk to Malachy Clerkin about Shane's lovely habit of winning big tournaments, why Shane described this as one for "the good guys", and why human rights have disappeared from the PGA/LIV war of words.  

We try and find out, as Malachy wrote a few weeks ago, if Rory is the most underrated person in Irish sport. There's also Terry Kennedy, Georgie Best, and why is Garth so big in Monaghan.

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The Champions League is back, Thomas Tuchel has been shown the door and friend of the show, Rory Smith of the New York Times has a new book out on the data revolution in football... That means lots of football on the World Service this week, and lots of good reasons to sign up now. 

Join us for ad-free, member-led broadcasting for just €5 + VAT a month at secondcaptains.com/join. 

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Shane Walsh made his debut for Kilmacud Crokes in the Dublin senior football championship, and his new club sent a message to every other club in the country with a powerful display. If they were a county, would they win Division 3? But it was salt of the earth Dublin GAA man Eoin McDevitt making impassioned calls for one young footballer to put his life on hold to give back to his community today - as retired Dub Paul Mannion put on a clinic.

Nick Kyrgios has the star power to keep the celebrities coming to Flushing Meadows after Serena departed the scene over the weekend, and Ciara Mageean finally gets the better of Laura Muir.

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VAR will be good, they said. It will reduce the amount of time people waste pointlessly arguing over wrong decisions, they said.

Ever mindful of the wants and needs of our listeners we tried not to do too much VAR talk today but after a weekend like that it's not easy.

Mark Critchley was at Old Trafford to see Erik ten Hag's clinical Manchester United end Arsenal's 100% start.

And after Celtic's 4-0 win against Rangers, Kieran Canning talks to us about their fantastic form heading into tomorrow night's Champions League match against Real Madrid.

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Rory McIlroy became the first 3-time winner of the FedEx Cup last night, chasing down the world number 1 Scottie Scheffler who held a 6-shot lead going into the final round. 

But what’s the difference between the 18.5 million dollars Rory won last night and the Saudi money on offer in LIVgolf? 

There’s also Damien Delaney’s dad’s hurling exploits for Cork, Paul Galvin in Leap last week, and why watching a brilliant sportsperson mentally implode is so enjoyable.

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Spurs suffering, Arsenal allegedly overcelebrating, Richarlison’s swift justice, Steven Gerrard’s brow scrunching up ever more tightly – season 22-23 is boiling up nicely. Thankfully we can still say: nobody beats Mark Travers ten times in one game.

We also dissect the Sunday Times’ inside story of the Cristiano Ronaldo-Man United stand off.

Lars Sivertsen and John Brewin join us to talk about the weekend action. Is Haaland showing up the Premier League? Why are Aston Villa fans so angry with Steven Gerrard? And will Antony prove cheap at the price?

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