SMILE THOUGH YOUR HEART IS ACHING (TED LASSO, SEASON TWO)

During the second season of 'Ted Lasso,' there's one big question for fans of the beautiful game.

Can AFC Richmond gain promotion to the Premier League or will they remain stuck in the Championship?

For those only interested in the comedy and drama, there are two questions.

How will the characters navigate the ups and downs of their lives?

Will 'Ted Lasso' continue to make us laugh?

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During season one, Jason Sudeikis' character came across like a modern day twist on a Jimmy Stewart character.

Amiable and relentlessly optimistic even when things were not going his team's way, the US college football coach turned Premier League soccer manager was hard not to love.

Season two, though, demands more than amiable comedy and so Sudeikis and the other principal actors dig much deeper into their characters.

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

At the end of season one, Ted was left nursing a broken heart as his marriage buckled under the strain of a long distance relationship.

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Hannah Waddingham's AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton ditched her plan to destroy her sly ex-husband's beloved football club and fully signed up to Ted's project.

Juno Temple's model turned PR professional Keeley Jones captured the heart of Brett Goldstein's hardman midfielder Roy Kent whose playing career came to an end.

Nick Mohammed's mild mannered kitman Nathan Shelley's ability to tactically read games saw him promoted to coach to work alongside Brendan Hunt's Coach Beard.

However Phil Dunster's egotistical striker Jamie Tartt scored the goal for Manchester City which consigned AFC Richmond, the club he had a loan spell at, to relegation.

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Season two finds AFC Richmond struggling to notch up a victory in the second tier of English football, grinding out a series of draws.

In the opening scene, the club's upbeat Mexican striker, Cristo Fernandez's Dani Rojas actually has a chance to secure victory at home from the penalty spot.

However as he takes the penalty, the club's greyhound mascot Earl spots a bird, escapes his owner's grasp to chase it and ends up being killed after he is struck by the ball thumped by Dani.

The Mexican is understandably distraught by the tragedy which saps him of his trademark joy.

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Roy is also struggling to find a career now that his playing days are over but is reluctantly talked by Keeley into accepting offers from Sky Sports to become a football pundit.

Finding himself in a TV studio opposite Jeff Sterling, Chris Kamara and Richmond's former manager, Bill Fellowes' George Cartrick, his propensity for swearing causes embarrassment live on air.

However it also turns him into a social media sensation.

While supporting Ted's efforts to regain promotion back into the Premier League, Rebecca is starting to move on from her obnoxious ex-husband Anthony Head's Rupert Mannion.

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Rupert, who is about to become a dad with new girlfriend Keeley Hazell's Bex, can't let go and is determined to get under her skin.

However encouraged by Keeley, Rebecca goes on a dating app and ends up having flirty online chats with a mystery man.

Meanwhile Jamie is struggling again at Manchester City and this sees him wondering if his future lies at the Etihad.

The situation is not helped by frequent clashes with his arsehole of a dad, played by Kieran O'Brien.

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Determined to be a better person, he is keen to engineer a move back to AFC Richmond but realises he needs to be humbler.

Toheeb Jimoh's amiable Nigerian right back Sam Obisanya is getting noticed as a player and is wooed by an African businessman who wants to build a world beating club side on his own continent. 

Meanwhile Coach Beard is in the throes of a hot and cold, on-off relationship with Phoebe Walsh's Jane Payne.

But despite romantic troubles, he helps Ted steer Richmond to a cup run that could take them to Wembley.

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Nathan's promotion to a coaching role, unfortunately, is getting to his head.

Not only is he rude to Charlie Hisock's kitman Will Kitman but he also increasingly begins to resent Ted getting the credit for his tactical nous.

Ted, however, is struggling with the breakdown of his marriage and only being able to communicate with his son over the Atlantic by video.

While smiling and keeping his side's spirits up in public, he cuts a sadder, lonelier figure at home.

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All this comes to a head with the arrival at AFC Richmond of Sarah Niles' sports psychologist Dr Sharon Fieldstone who takes over the office of Jeremy Swift's good hearted Director of Football Leslie Higgins.

In a bid to improve team morale, she holds therapy sessions with various members of the team and helps address their personal issues.

As his team's performances improve on the field, Ted is wary of Dr Fieldstone.

But will he eventually turn to her to help him sort out the mess in his own personal life?

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Once again, Sudeikis, Hunt, Goldstein and their fellow writers Leean Bowen, Ashley Nicole Black, Joe Kelly, Bill Wrubel, Phoebe Walsh, Jamie Lee and Jane Becker deliver a highly likeable sitcom that raises a lot of wry smiles and the odd belly laugh.

Like all decent sitcoms, there's a real effort to develop each character.

The mutation of Mohammed's character Nate from a modest, nervous man into an arrogant, insecure egotist is especially effective.

Waddingham also enjoys a nice subplot about her dating app romance.

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Sudeikis gets to inject a bit more melancholy into a largely chirpy role and is well up for the task.

Temple amuses as Keeley but it is arguably Goldstein who enjoys the biggest laughs as his character channels the spirits of former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland soccer legend Roy Keane and 'Eastenders' Phil Mitchell.

It is good to see Jimoh being given more to do as the likeable Sam.

Directors Declan Lowney, Ezra Edelman, Erica Dunton, Matt Lipsey, Sam Jones and MJ Delaney keep the show sharp and pacy.

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And there are some delightfully quirky episodes too, including a Christmas themed one involving dental work and an 'After Hours' style episode in which Coach Beard takes a walk on London's wild side.

Packed full of cameos from the likes of TV celebrities or footballers like Stelling, Kamara, Arlo White, Chris Powell, Gary Lineker, Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Seema Jazwal, Holly Willoughby, Philip Scofield and referee Mike Dean, there are knowing winks to those who love their football.

The team of writers are also savvy enough to leave some interesting narrative threads for the cast to explore in Season Three, with Nate and Rupert teaming up like Kylo Ren and Emperor Palpatine in the last 'Star Wars' trilogy.

With Rupert buying West Ham United, that unfortunately means fans of the London club like me would appear to be on the side of 'Ted Lasso's' equivalent of the Evil Empire.

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Although given the way the football season is going at the moment, that oddly isn't the worst thing to happen to West Ham right now.

I'll tell you what, though. I'll settle for a decent third season for 'Lasso' and some dark Jedi arts if it keeps West Ham in the Premier League this year.

The next two months will tell if either or both materialises.

(Season two of 'Ted Lasso' was made available for streaming on Apple TV+ from July 23-October 8, 2021)