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Goodbye Ruben. We are sorry to see you go. You were good to us. We wish you well.
We discuss why so many fanbases currently seem to hate their manager/coach - with happy exceptions like Arsenal, and Brentford, whose four goals against Everton amounted to a symphony of the head coach's craft.
Mark Critchley and Lars Sivertsen join us to talk about how United reached this point, why they decided to sack him now just as things were arguably getting better, the increasing difficulty of being a head coach when so many people still think of you as a manager, and whether Darren Fletcher has got what it takes to do an Ole.
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Charlie O’Leary, a former Republic Of Ireland kit-man under big Jack and all round Irish football legend, was our Second Captains Hero of 2025; he was even in the Gaiety to take a victory lap in front of 1300 people in October.
But before then, Ken, Eoin and Branno were in his house on Dublin’s northside to talk to him about his incredible 101 years (and counting), a life nearly as old as the state itself. It was one of the most uplifting chats we’ve ever had, back in Feb of this year, and we release it for everyone today.
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An annual Second Captains tradition continues today under new branding (RIP Scrooge Cast), as Jonathan Wilson joins Ken to discuss the post-Christmas football.
Also touched on today: energy flows, Wilson's inability to take a day off work, the possible impact of AI on the game, Protestantism, whether 'reading' might in fact have been the problem all along, and whether Aston Villa, now led by someone Ken only recently realised is one of the best-looking men in the world, are going to go all the way.
Click the player at the top of the page to play the show. 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, 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?’ and Stakeknife.
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Inside us all are two wolves. Unfortunately for Wolves the football team (despite Matt Doherty's reverse Churchill) it's the wolf that is currently the worst at football in all of Europe. Meanwhile, the Romulus and Remus of Serie A get their teeth into Evan.
To talk about Ruben's back four, Villa's rise, Rogers V Bellingham and happy Pep we chat to Mark Critchley.
Ken also breaks-down the cash grab in Miami as the guy from YouTube gets chinned.
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It was “Super-Friends Of The Show” week this week, between Killian Sundermann coming in for the Second Captains FAT quiz of the year, a chat with US Murph, our first ever festive edition of KENCALL and Oluwashina Okeleji on Salah's AFCON 2025 and Nigeria's legal route to the 2026 FIFA World Cup .
We’ve had an amazing year on the podcast this year, so we’d love to have you aboard. You can also gift a subscription to the Second Captains on our patreon page,
We’ll be back on Monday with a live football show.
Click the player at the top of the page to play the show. 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, 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?’ and Stakeknife.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Munster and Leinster both won their Champions Cup games over the weekend, both came through sticky situations against English opposition, but overall satisfaction levels are low.
We chat to Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble about Clayton McMillan's realistic outlook on the Munster project, Leinster's pre-Chistmas form, and they react to former Leinster and Ireland out half Ross Byrne's suggestion that, given the volume of box kicks and spiral bombs being launched these days, coaches should start picking second rows on the wings.
Charlie Smyth, formerly a Gaelic footballer from Co Down, nailed a 47-yard field goal for the New Orleans Saints to beat the Carolina Panthers this weekend. Plus there's frontier football gibberish, dead-ball Beggan, the Dublin based media and the huge medal haul for Irish athletics in 2025.
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It looks like Celtic arrived at a good time for Evan Ferguson, while Robbie Keane seems to be having so much fun in Europe the question is how he will ever be tempted back to the league where he made his name.
Morgan Rogers' Stan Collymore-like winner for Villa at West Ham reminds us that it's been a while since Ken read out some npG minus xG stats, so let's get into a bit of that.
Jonathan Wilson and Dion Fanning join us to talk about the weekend's football. Why does Jonathan refuse to accept that Sunderland might actually be good now - and why is Granit Xhaka the best player he's ever seen play for the club? How many teams are involved in this title race? And how should we interpret the apparent cessation of hostilities at Anfield?
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We’d another barn-storming week this week, with the main story being Mo Salah’s rapidly-deteriorating relationship with Liverpool Football Club, which we covered in depth.
We had a brilliant chat with Danny Rensch, the co-founder of chess.com, which went from being a successful start-up to a billion dollar company during the pandemic, thanks largely to people being stuck at home.As a kid, Danny was a prodigy, a national champion in the US, who ultimately became disillusioned with the sport. But his story is far more complicated than that, given he grew up in a cult called the Church of Immortal Consciousness.
We also spoke to Armagh All Ireland winner Rory Grugan about the new rules and his time in France spreading the GAA gospel and Beñat Gutiérrez joined us from Spain to look at the factors deciding Xabi Alonso’s future.
Click the player at the top of the page to play the show. 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, 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?’ and Stakeknife.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Permutations Man had a rough week last week and he is back on air today to explain what happened.
Ken asks if Rio Ferdinand was the worst possible choice for a complex World Cup tv draw?
The Champions Cup is back, and Munster got a reality check inside the first 20 minutes against Bath on Saturday evening. Munster legend Dave Kilcoyne and Gerry Thornley lament Tadhg Beirne's early yellow card, sift through Leinster's leaky display against Harlequins in the Aviva and examine where Rieko Ioane will fit in during his short stint in Dublin.
We also discuss Dingle's incredible last-minute win over St Finbarr's in the Munster club football final yesterday and raise a glass to the death of Bazball.
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The memory of Friday's FIFA draw continues to linger like the smell of a dead rat under the floorboards. As he whines about middle-of-the-night kick offs, people are accusing Ken of being 'eurocentric' - but surely somebody has to be?
Meanwhile Mo Salah seems to have torched his future at Liverpool by accusing the manager and club of throwing him under the bus, trying to get him to take all the blame, wanting him out of the club, etc. How is this sad situation likely to play out?
Due to overwhelming popular demand and indeed anger, Ben Fisher joins us to talk about Aston Villa: the Title Charge only Villa fans Saw Coming. How did Villa get Arsenal on the ropes more than any other side they've faced this season? Is Morgan Rogers actually better than Bellingham? And - yes - are Villa going to win the league?
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