Second Captains @ The Irish Times

From Napoleon II to Evan I. A new star blazes in the sky of Rome. Did Evan Ferguson score? No - but that, initial reviews maintain, is a mere detail. Are we getting carried away after one game? There will be none of that talk aboard the Trenitalia hype train.From there we look forward to tonight’s hate-fest at St James’ Park, and apportion blame for how this whole sorry situation has arisen. We hear echoes of the voice of Arsenal from long ago, and the many voices of Nottingham Forest in August 2025.Lars Sivertsen and John Brewin join us to talk through the weekend’s football. How has Thomas Frank whipped Spurs into shape so quickly? Which current Spurs player is starting to remind some of their fans of Kylian Mbappe? Is Pep Guardiola having an identity crisis? What does Jack Grealish’s home debut for Everton mean for the outlook at both Everton and Manchester City?And obviously, the exploding-sun gravity of the dying red giant that is Manchester United draws us inevitably in for the latest assessment of wher