The Second Captains Podcast

Welcome to your weekly sample of what’s on offer on the Second Captains World Service. Mikel Arteta is the boss now, and so his methods are under even greater scrutiny than before. Ken gets out the magnifying glass.

Every time you write off Man United as a hopeless case, they reel you back in again, before returning to being a hopeless case again. We get some Roma takeaways.

This week we also covered limp Liverpool, Lake Goalmo, Troy's troubles, Ronaldo’s Retirement, Irish rugby's hopes and dreams and we have a special episode tomorrow as Ken Early meets the one and only Vincent Browne.

Click on the image at the top the page to play the show. To listen to all 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, and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’

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Ciara Mageean was a phenomenally talented and successful athlete and a very special human being who had a positive impact on anyone lucky enough to have met her, watched her or heard her speak.

After her cancer diagnosis in July 2025 Ciara continued to live a full life and recently got married to her long-term partner Thomas Moran.

Michael Darragh MacAuley was at that wedding, having made friends with Ciara on the RTE TV show "Uncharted", aired in May of this year, which documented their gruelling 250km trek across Costa Rica.

Michael Darragh joins us in studio today for an emotional conversation about Ciara’s kindness, her toughness, her wisdom and the bond they formed in the last year of her life.

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Are we ready for an Arsenal v Brighton title race? Because after this weekend it looks like that’s what we’re gonna get.

Murph and Ken talk through some of the events at the Etihad and Anfield before Rory Smith and Rich Jolly join us to reflect on the meaning of it all.

Are Arsenal in a league of their own? Why can’t supposedly ultra-attacking Liverpool make any chances? What might it take for Michael Carrick to actually lose his temper? And is there a link between the struggles of Florian Wirtz and the long-term failure of Manchester United during the Bruno Fernandes era?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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