Subscribe for free to watch all our podcasts

It's a bonus podcast day as Kevin Bannon joins us to discuss the Michael Carrick revival, Harry Kane's Ballon D'Or and the Three Bs - Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth - as Arsenal look the team to beat once again in the Premier League.

It takes a special player to light up an FAI Cup final, it takes a special player to heighten the expectations and the excitement levels leading up to an FAI Cup final. Sometimes it takes a really special player to win the FAI Cup final.

Thankfully we have three contenders in the frame, at the very least, to be that special player when the 2026 Club Orange FAI Cup final welcomes Derry City and Waterford FC to the Aviva Stadium.

This is a Cup final for the people - the people outside Dublin that is. Like the 2024 decider, when Drogheda beat Derry, and the 2018 final, when Dundalk overcame Cork City, this is a capital club free zone on Sunday.

article continues below

Subscribe now

Taxi for…

Read more

The word jeopardy has become trendy of late, one of those words that is now commonly used in sport to add emphasis to the repercussions of the result of a football match for instance.

It’s a relatively new term this side of the Atlantic as far as my limited knowledge of such matters goes although Google tells me that the world has long been a regular one in the States thanks to the hit TV show of the same name.

It’s certainly a word that can be associated with Drogeda United on the second anniversary of their stunning FAI Cup final win against Derry City when the Aviva Stadium was painted claret and blue by the celebrating Drogs.

article continues below

Subscribe now

Through rain or shine…

Read more

Jamie McGrath was one of the men to put the Sunshine on Leith at Hampden Park on Sunday, a man from Athboy who has put his hometown on the map at a time when football in his village needs a boost like never before.

As one of those who can actually say he played football against Athboy Celtic back in the 1980s - badly as it happened - let me explain further why you should know about this story.

We will start with Jamie. He’s as Athboy as Athboy comes. His mother Brenda and his dad Kevin are stalwarts of sport and soccer in the town where hurling enjoyed a stranglehold long before the formation of the Mid-Meath League and the football boom in the 80s.

article continues below

Subscribe now

Ground for regeneration

Read more

The giddy season is all but upon us in the League of Ireland and already the rumours are flying up and down the wonderful world of social media depending on what platform your own information train arrives at.

Some keyboard warriors are predicting that not one but two Dublin managers could end up working together at Derry City after the FAI Cup final is sorted on Sunday week.

There’s speculation that Tommy Lonergan will be back in England as soon as the curtain draws on that Cup decider against Derry at the Aviva.

article continues below

Subscribe now

Young guns going for it

Read more

So what do Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard, Regis le Bris, Oliver Glasner, Alvaro Arbeola and Pierre Sage have in common? What’s the one thing that they should all do that has probably never even crossed their minds? Call Seamus Coleman, that’s what they should do.

Usually when an inspirational Ireland captain and a footballer of the pedigree of Seamus announces his retirement, the news is met with a fanfare.

Tabloid newspaper pullouts, front page photographs, adoring columns from the journalists who watched him play 81 times for his country, 374 times for Everton, 56 times for Sligo Rovers and nine times for Blackpool.

article continues below

Subscribe now

Up, up and over the bar

Read more

The story of the season began with a little shuffle on Friday night, a glance of the eyes, a handshake and a high five. It gained momentum as the whispers went around the main stand, came to a crescendo as the referee made his move and the board went up.

No, it wasn’t the news reaching Tallaght Stadium that local boy Mipo had scored the goal for Shelbourne on the night of the fading lights at Dalymount, the night Bohs gave up on their own championship ambitions.

Nor was it the third and fourth and decisive goals from Aaron Greene and Dylan Watts inside three second-half minutes that ensured the SSE Airtricity trophy was on its way back to South Dublin for the sixth time in seven years, a run only halted by the dazzler that was Damen Duff at Shels.

article continues below

Subscribe now

Support through the dark…

Read more

A week out from the self imposed Bohemians media ban, Alan Reynolds came out with one of the quotes of the season and where else did he deliver it other than in a media conference ahead of their penultimate game of the season, at home to Shelbourne tonight.

It’s a derby game that will go a long way to deciding if Bohs or Shamrock Rovers take the league crown, a game that the Gypsies must win under the dying Dalymount Park floodlights to stop their great rivals securing a sixth title in seven seasons this evening.

That in itself, the chance to prolong what has been a frustrating season for the stop-start Hoops, is incentive enough to keep the Bohs players and their demanding fans on their toes tonight.

article continues below

Subscribe now

When the party’s over…

Read more

Forget everything you have read or heard about James McClean, Daniel McDonnell and Paul Kimmage this week - there are only six words you need to know about James McClean and they came from his wife Erin.

The world and his mother are getting their knickers in a twist about comments contained in the book promotion interview between the former Ireland player and the Sunday Independent last weekend and the reply from Derry City on Monday.

The quote from James in relation to the merits - or not - of grown men seeking help with mental health issues has ensured his soon to be released story remains in the headlines and his publishers will doubtless be happy with all the publicity.

article continues below

Subscribe now

Up, up and away…

Subscribe now

Read more

It's Premier League Wednesday and Kevin Bannon joins editor Cathal Dervan to discuss Brighton's amazing start to the season, Manchester United and Sunderland's prevails and there's another chat about the cash kings of Manchester City...

His passing was almost lost in the midst of the last international window, his passing is so, so lamentable. Jacko McDonagh was a League of Ireland legend with a genius touch that was way ahead of his time.

The 64-year-old Dubliner left this world a month or so ago and he left it all the better for those of us who were lucky enough to see him start out as a young kid with Bohemians, graduate to international honours via Shamrock Rovers and prosper in the professional leagues of France and Belgium.

That football didn’t reward him - or his family - with the fame and fortune that his talents deserved is just one of those things so typical of a game that can be a cruel master.

article continues below

Will to win…

Read more

There’s a football man from Waterford called Matt who’s very excited right now as he looks forward to the Club Orange FAI Cup final next month and the meeting of his beloved Blues and Derry City at the Aviva Stadium.

He’s a man well versed in all things League of Ireland, a man who knows what it takes to win league titles and FAI Cups and what is needed to survive relegation battles as his club are attempting right now.

He’s also a man who regularly signs off his social media posts with a simple and very relevant statement - you can’t beat live football. And he’s right as events proved at Tallaght Stadium on Monday night when Shamrock Rovers re-installed themselves into pole position for this season’s title.

article continues below

Back of the net…

That was as good a live sporting event as you will see in Ireland this year, full of drama on and off the pitch and even after the final whistle.

In fact, the drama has continued all week. In his post-match press conference, Hoops boss Stephen Bradley had a pop at more than Bohs and the manner in which some coaching staff members from various clubs conduct themselves.

The Bohs, currently engaging in a self-imposed media ban, then broke that ban to allow their manager Alan Reynolds vent his frustrations with a few verbal offerings of his own aimed firmly in the direction of Tallaght.

Just as we were digesting that release came further rumblings from the St Pats’ boss Stephen Kenny about the fact that his team have had to wait 27 days between their win over Sligo on September 19th and tonight’s enticing Dublin derby at home to Shels.

That delay was of course due to the international break and the FAI Cup semi-finals which the Saints failed to qualify for but Kenny has a very good point - they will now put their own title hopes on the lines against Shels tonight in Inchicore and Derry City at the Brandywell on Monday evening in a re-arranged fixture.

By Tuesday they could be confirmed as the only side left with Rovers in the title race as Bohs could well stumble against the aforementioned Waterford at Dalymount tonight when Rovers face a difficult journey to Galway United.

Thanks to Messrs Bradley, Reynolds and Kenny, the off-field action has nearly been as enticing and as interesting as the potential for drama offered by tonight’s fixture list. Nearly.

Those three managers have had their say and will, no doubt, have plenty more to say tonight at Eamonn Deacy Park, Richmond Park and Dalymount Park.

And their words will garner even more attention as the business end of the League of Ireland season reaches boiling point.

But there’s one other certainty around all of this - what really matters in the title race is who does their talking on the pitch, who puts their manager’s beliefs into action rather than their words.

Rovers have the ascendancy and Bradley is currently top of the pops. Pats must ignore the injustice of a 27 day wait to sample live football, twice in the space of four days now as it happens.

And Bohs, for all their media releases amidst a media ban, have to hope that their players can drag themselves off the floor tonight following their recent cup disappointment against Waterford and the derby defeat on Monday.

All that really counts at any time in football is the action on the pitch, the live football that can’t be beaten as my friend in Waterford says.

That live football tonight promises to be juicier than ever in Dublin and Galway and it will tell us so much about where the SSE Airtricity LOI trophy will be going for presentation purposes over the next three weeks.

So do yourself a favour tonight - get to a game. And enjoy it. If the past week is anything to go by, you won’t be disappointed.

It's another pivotal weekend in the race for the League of Ireland Premier Division title. particularly so for St Patrick's Athletic who must beat Shelbourne today and Derry on Monday to keep Shamrock Rovers in sight. Our LOI regular pundit Darryl Geraghty and editor Cathal Dervan look back to the Tallaght derby and ahead to all the big matches between now and Monday.

The full episode is available on site now and you can watch all the previous Let’s Talk Football episodes now on TheSportsHacks.com

or you can listen to all of our podcasts on our Spotify channel

Check our socials (X here or insta here or tiktok here) for all the latest or just to see the World Cup giraffes again!

No noise, just the news & views that matters. The Sports Hacks is a reader supported publication - if you like what you read, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber and sharing our work.

Share