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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