Second Captains

Brendan Rodgers' Leicester City spent 92% of the last two seasons in the top 4, yet twice missed out on Champions League football. Is Rodgers officially a nearly man or can he talk his way out of this one? Ken has a look at the cold hard facts.Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson join us to talk about the end of the Premier League season. Are Liverpool right to let the injury-proof Gini Wijnaldum leave? Could Harry Kane bring City the love they crave? And who do they see as Manager of the Year?Plus there's Pep's tears, limbs in Bale's face and cold Manchester rain.

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Variety, they say, is the spice of life and there's been plenty of it on the World Service this week: from Ken on whether Harry Kane will get the Spurs exit he's wrangling for, to US Murph on the LeBron - Steph Curry showdown we were gifted, to our conversation with World Rugby chief medical officer Dr Éanna Falvey about the complex relationship between rugby and concussion, which we'll be releasing tomorrow. The show that a lot of members felt was one of the best we've ever put out, though, was the latest edition of the Player's Chair, where Meath legend Liam Hayes joined Richie Sadlier and spoke really honestly and movingly about the death of his brother by suicide, his own mortality and his relationship with his playing past. It's all available when you sign up to the World Service for just €5 + VAT a month at secondcaptains.com/join

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Gaelic football arrived back into our lives this weekend, and with it came the return of the phenom that is David Clifford. Although his beloved Galway were the team unfortunate enough to find themselves on the end of Clifford's incredible performance, Murph can't help but be in complete awe of the 22-year-old Kerryman. There was plenty of hurling too, hurling which prompted Limerick manager John Kiely to decide that the game as we know it is GONE.

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Ep 2041: Alisson Scores, Fergie Remembers, Brendan Does The Business - 17/05/21 by Second Captains

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It's been a massive week on the World Service so far, and that's before we've even gotten around to this Friday's post-Liverpool-United Football Show. We spoke to Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan about the merits or otherwise of the council's white-water rafting proposals, to the excellent Aidan Regan on the role of international institutional investors in the housing crisis on Ken's Politics Podcast and to an under-the-radar Irish sporting great in three-time World Indoor 1500m champion, Marcus O'Sullivan on The Game That Changed My Life. Sign up now for just €5 + VAT a month at secondcaptains.com/join.

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Rory McIlroy ended an 18 month dry spell to land the Wells Fargo Championship last night, but not without all the usual Rory tropes - a nervy finish, confusing golf rules, help from his caddy, and of course some brilliant golf.A record indoor crowd for a boxing event in the US (73,126) turned up to watch Canelo Alvarez defeat Billy Joe Saunders in their super middleweight world title unification bout in Texas. We discuss Canelo working the crowd and the commentators' reactions to Saunders not coming out for the 9th round.

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Manchester City still can't quite seal the deal, and now a listener is on claiming that Kevin de Bruyne is actually overrated. We don't usually read out all the stuff that comes in from scum around the country but...We also discuss Leicester's chances of making the top four, before James Horncastle joins us to talk about what has happened at Juventus. A 3-0 defeat to Milan leaves them outside the Champions League spots with three games to go - one of which is against the champions, Inter. We ask: what happened? who's taking the fall for this? and will Juventus ever give up their Super League dream?

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**NOTE: This was initially a Second Captains World Service members-only show broadcast first on 22nd of April 2021. If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a member at secondcaptains.com. Your support allows us to continue to do work like this, broadcast our daily shows and undertake long-term projects like 'Where Is George Gibney?'. We hope you enjoy the show.**For months now, we’ve wanted to talk to Oisin McConville and Andrew Trimble, two of our favourite regular contributors, about a shared future in Northern Ireland, their very different upbringings, and what role sport can play in bridging the gap between two communities.We talk about why at various stages they felt like ‘bottlers’, how close Andrew came to learning the words to Amhrán na bhFiann, and why Oisin feels uncomfortable saying the words ‘Northern Ireland’.

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"We don't want to see fans storming stadiums Gary? Do we?"It depends...Mark Critchley was there at the Lowry Hotel and Old Trafford, and Jonathan Wilson also joins us to talk about what happened on an unprecedented day, and what might happen next.Plus there's sympathy for Dave Jones, throwing soup and being a good Yank.And we ask the question - are you a mudlark, or a quitter? https://twitter.com/SecondCaptains/status/1387805290209361921?s=20

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On this week's dip in the World Service paddle pool we look back at Katie's London Olympics and Ken's life choices and look ahead to the tough challenge awaiting Leinster in the Champions Cup semi final.Join for a fiver a month. There's no contracts and no hidden fees and you can quit at any time. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, like our recent international series ‘Where Is George Gibney?’.

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