Episode 1523: “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Second Captains Book Club Episode 4 – Conor O’Shea On The Miracle Of Castel Di Sangro

It’s Episode 4 of our “I’ll Tell You Who Wrote It” Second Captains Book Club, and we have former Ireland rugby star, and current Italian national team head coach Conor O’Shea on hand to review Joe McGinniss’ mid-90s classic “The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro”.

©INPHO/Tom Honan

The parallels are obvious – like McGinniss, O’Shea has had a crash course in Italian life: how they approach sport, the labyrinthine cultural differences, the food, football as religion, and the appreciation of power that runs through all of the country.

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

©INPHO/Matteo Ciampelli

The book itself is a year in the life of the smallest club ever to make it all the way to Serie B – a division described in the book as a place where “the most cynical, gruelling, stressful, tasteless, destructive, gloomy, dull, calculating, close-minded, foul and tragicomic interpretations of football reign supreme”.

Within its pages are international drug rings, orgies, organised crime and fake footballers. It’s an outrageous, hugely entertaining read, and we’re delighted Conor O’Shea took the time to review it for us.

Click the image 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. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Richie Sadlier’s Player’s Chair, The Politics Podcast, and lots of added extras.

We talk to Michael Cox @Zonal_Marking about his book Zonal Marking: The Making Of Modern European Football

?? Why Italian football culture doesn’t rhyme with the rest of their culture
?? When Jose was great
?? The Klopp n Pep years
?? Dutch arrogancehttps://t.co/e358SPpklW… pic.twitter.com/aLTSsLpkiE

— Second Captains (@SecondCaptains) July 11, 2019

World Cup wins and Olympic medals give smaller sports a quick profile boost, but its not the way to go about building it long term

We chat to @jonathanliew about English cricket’s status in England, Eoin Morgan’s PR turnaround and multicultural winnershttps://t.co/6nF7eOnHhZ pic.twitter.com/xFlzCGHLDD

— Second Captains (@SecondCaptains) July 16, 2019

The ever-popular and ever-so-stylish Second Captains ’88 T-Shirts are back in stock! They’re not for everyone; just those that want to give off the same timeless and effortless elegance displayed by Sharon Horgan in Catastrophe below.

Get yours now at https://t.co/OwdtD9WNRn pic.twitter.com/DDqvppfpTO

— Second Captains (@SecondCaptains) July 18, 2019