Hand Of Pod

Hand Of Pod is one hundred episodes old. And we're celebrating in style; recording in an almost silent flat, with current and former regulars and guests. Sam, English Dan, Seba, Asli and Mariano are joined on Skype by Ed Malyon (Aussie Dan and Joel sadly couldn't make it this week) for a podcasting landmark, and we've got plenty to discuss. Independiente unveiled a new manager, and the day after he was appointed he was held up at gunpoint and robbed... whilst conducting a radio interview on his mobile phone! Boca Juniors fell to one of the worst defeats in their history on Saturday, Lanús lead the league by two points ahead of Newell's Old Boys, and there's a lot, lot, lot more besides. We hope you enjoy this bumper edition, and we'd all like to thank our listeners very much for your support. Not too many independent, non-English-league-focussed podcasts get to be 100 episodes old. So, here's to the next hundred!

In the ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Santiago, the Arsenal de Sarandí fan, to discuss the big moves up and down the table(s) after last weekend's results in the Torneo Final. Biggest of all was Independiente's defeat to All Boys, which leaves them seriously compromised in the relegation table, needing some improbable point totals to now stay in the Primera. River Plate finally won a clásico - their first competitive win in one since returning to the Primera - 2-0 away to Racing, and we discuss that, and Manu Lanzini's fine showing, among a lot more. We talk about the structure of Argentina's lower divisions, the promotion races in the second and third tiers, and answer a lot of listeners' questions.

In the ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are introduced by World Cup final referee Horacio Elizondo, and joined by guest star Archie Whitworth for a bumper edition - there's a lot to get through. We discuss the thrillers and fine goals scored during a weekend which left Lanús' lead atop the Torneo Final cut to just one point over Newell's Old Boys, question just how bad Independiente striker Juan Caicedo can get, and spend a good length of time talking about San Lorenzo goalkeeper Pablo Migliore, who was arrested after his side's defeat to Newell's on Sunday for his part in harbouring a friend suspected of murder. We answer listeners' questions and talk about River Plate's injury problems in defence and how they've affected the team's building forward, and much more. Enjoy.

In the ninety-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined (eventually) by Daniel Schweimler, another Englishman in Buenos Aires, who runs the Hand Of Dan blog looking at Argentine society through the prism of life on the terraces of Argentinos Juniors. We discuss Argentina's impressive World Cup qualifying results (a 3-0 win over Venezuela followed by a 1-1 draw away to Bolivia) in reverse order, before briefly previewing a weekend packed full of clásicos - not least Guest Dan's Argentinos v All Boys. Listener's questions range from Argentinos Juniors to, um, Argentina's senior national team. What variety.

In the ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined by Henry May, founding president and former centre back of Huracan FC London, possibly the world's most famous London Sunday league side. We discuss All Boys' 100th anniversary (and their lovely, lovely commemorative shirts), Lanús' three point lead in the league, Independiente's ongoing woes and the chances of Unión actually surviving - surely not...? We also discuss some bizarre refereeing decisions, and preview Argentina's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, at home to Venezuela on Friday night and away to Bolivia next Tuesday afternoon. And all four us have a go at predicting how those matches will go. (Note: since recording it's become apparent Oswaldo Vizcarrondo has been upgraded from 'out for three weeks' to... perfectly fit to play this Friday. Hmm.)

In the ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel toast the world's first Latin American pontiff with a fernet (mate in Joel's case) even though none of us are Catholic, and discuss what his installment in the Vatican hot seat could mean for the immediate future of his favourite football team, San Lorenzo de Almagro (yes, really). Then we get a bit more serious and discuss Boca Juniors' continuing travails, Lanús' and Godoy Cruz's good start to 2013, River Plate's recovery from their loss to San Lorenzo in round 4 by beating Colón this last weekend, and plenty more, including lots of lovely listeners' questions. Enjoy.

The ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel reunited after a few weeks, to discuss a goal-filled weekend which saw San Lorenzo beat River Plate in the clásico, Lanús claim a point away to Dan's Racing which took them top of the table, and Boca Juniors hilariously crash and burn at home to Unión on the day of Juan Román Riquelme's comeback. There were two 3-3 draws, a policeman hitting a player in the face with a baton (and then reporting the player for assault!), and the announcement that Gerardo Martino won't be staying on as Newell's Old Boys boss at the end of the season - will Marcelo Bielsa be returning to replace him? The very thought has got us all excited...

Episode 93 sees English Dan appearing briefly by Skype, due to food poisoning - or maybe he was just too ashamed to show up in person after his side failed to turn up against Independiente in last weekend's clásico de Avellaneda, losing 2-0. Sam is joined by real-life Arsenal de Sarandí fan Santiago, who fortunately caught most of the weekend's action, and we discuss his team's away win over Argentinos Juniors, what Gabriel Schurrer's exit as manager could mean for Argentinos, and River Plate's amazing 3-2 thriller over Tigre, as well as a lot more besides. And if you've ever wondered why Arsenal have a tower on their club badge, here's the HOP episode where you find out. Enjoy.

In the ninety-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Mariano the San Lorenzo fan to discuss a Torneo Final second round with one outstanding result; ten-man Independiente's shock victory over champions Vélez Sarsfield. Away from Liniers, there were wins for both Lanús and River Plate, who go joint top of the nascent Final table, a win against Racing, inspired by Luciano Vietto, which sends both clubs into the clásico de Avellaneda this coming weekend in good spirits, and a draw for Mariano's San Lorenzo which we discuss, as well as asking him for his thoughts on Viggo Mortensen's charity flower seeds, and an update on the Return To Boedo (which is San Lorenzo's plan to buy back the land their old stadium stood on, not another Lord Of The Rings film).

In the ninety-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel look back on an opening weekend of Torneo Final action that Sam and Joel thoroughly enjoyed, and which English Dan missed almost all of. We discuss an unconvincing win for Vélez Sarsfield as they seek to defend their title, and rather more emphatic victories for Tigre and Lanús, among others. Joel attended a thriller in La Bombonera, as Juan Román Riquelme returned to the stands and Carlos Bianchi to the managerial bench and Boca came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, with one of several stunning long range goals this weekend. All this and much more - enjoy.

In the ninetieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Joel preview the 2013 Torneo Final, which kicks off with Unión hosting Arsenal de Sarandí on Friday evening. We discuss Fernando Gago's move to Vélez Sarsfield - easily the most spectacular signing of the summer - and what Vélez's chances are of retaining their title, as well as talking about Racing's transfer window departures, River Plate's relative success and most of the other ins and outs, before moving on - we couldn't very well avoid him - to the interminable saga of Juan Román Riquelme's ever changing mood. Will he play for Boca? Will he play for Tigre? Should we really care any more? After that, we answer listeners' questions on Argentine sides in the 2013 Copa Libertadores and more.

Hand Of Pod is back, and Sam, Joel and English Dan welcome 2013 with a nice laid-back chat about nothing in particular. There's just the news that one of the most powerful men in world football will leave his charge of the AFA in 2015, a bunch of (admittedly often tiresome) transfer gossip from the summer and various other issues to mop up, including the ongoing saga of where (or whether) Juan Román Riquelme will be playing his football this year; could it be Tigre, now that they're in the group stages of the Copa Libertadores for the first time? We discuss River Plate's and Boca Juniors' pre-seasons, as well as those of the other big boys, confusing goings-on surrounding Ricky Centurión's transfer from Racing to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, Argentina's latest Under-20 failure, and a lot more. It's good to be back.

The eighty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is the last one of 2012, and sees Sam, Dan and Joel analysing Vélez Sarsfield's 2012 Torneo Inicial title win, which was confirmed on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Unión de Santa Fe whilst nearest challengers Lanús lost 1-0 away to River Plate. The roles of manager Ricardo Gareca and forward Facundo Ferreyra are discussed, as well as some of Vélez's other crucial players during the campaign. We also talk about Ramón Díaz's welcome back to River, whether any current Primera managers are future contenders for the national team job, and look back at San Lorenzo's 2-1 win over Independiente in the weekend's big relegation clash.

One subject looms large over this week's (belated) episode of Hand Of Pod, the eighty-seventh since we started. Sam, English Dan and Joel discuss Ramón Díaz's emotional return to the club he loves and which loves him, River Plate, after Matías Almeyda was fired in the extremely early hours of Wednesday morning/late hours of Tuesday night. What Díaz's return means for River, whether Almeyda really deserved the sack and more. We also discuss Vélez Sarsfield, who could win the title on Sunday afternoon, and whether their boss Ricardo Gareca is really the Argentine Sir Alex Ferguson, as some in the Argentine media would have us believe. There's an appreciation of Tigre - who hours after recording reached the Copa Sudamericana final, the first continental final in their history - and listeners' questions ranging from Sam's ideal River starting XI to who Julio César Falcioni's replacement as Boca Juniors manager might be. Enjoy.

This week's Hand Of Pod is the eighty-sixth episode, and as Seba rightly points out early on, eighty-six is an important number for Argentine football, not least for being the year which saw the event from which we take our name. Sam, Joel and Seba discuss an ever-tightening title race, a thrilling showing from Racing's young forward trio, more crowd trouble at Independiente and at the Santa Fe derby over the weekend, before explaining why San Lorenzo's move back to their historic home of Boedo has repercussions far beyond football in Argentine society. As if all this wasn't thrilling enough, we have a bit of a chat about River Plate's latest financial results. It's gripping stuff.

The eighty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees us turn two years old, and to celebrate the fact that we're still here we recorded in Seba's very plush office. We discuss the likelihood of Juan Román Riquelme returning to action for Boca Juniors in the new year, and some of the local league action - but not much, since we were recording part way through the midweek round of matches - and the Argentine national team's drab performance away to Saudi Arabia hours before we recorded. During our listeners' Q&A session, crowd trouble caused Independiente v Belgrano to be abandoned, and we have some 'as live' coverage of that. Thrilling stuff as ever. Thanks for listening for the last two years, and here's to two more...

In the eighty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined again by that doyen of football journalism, Jonathan Wilson to look back on an eventful weekend in the Torneo Inicial title race which saw Newell's Old Boys' lead at the top cut to just one point ahead of Vélez Sarsfield, and two ahead of major surprise package Belgrano de Córdoba. We look at impressive performances from youngsters Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors) and Facundo 'Chucky' Ferreyra (Vélez), and answer listeners' questions ranging from how many languages Mr Wilson speaks to Julio César Falcioni's greatest achievement as Boca Juniors manager. And we completely ignore the Supercopa Argentina, which was being played as we recorded (Arsenal de Sarandí beat Boca Juniors on penalties after a 0-0 draw, in case you care).

In the eighty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined by Jonathan Wilson, who helps us review Sunday's superclásico, which ended in a 2-2 draw between River Plate and Boca Juniors thanks to a late equaliser from Julio César Falcioni's teacher's pet Walter Erviti. We also look at Newell's Old Boys' win over champions Arsenal de Sarandí, and at Racing's away loss to Vélez Sarsfield, who are now second, three points behind Newell's. All this, and listeners' questions ranging from the national team to why you should keep watching Argentine football in spite of some horrendous crowd trouble in the Boca end on Sunday.

In the eighty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Joel and Ed run their critical eyes over the biggest clash of last weekend, Racing v Newell's (2nd v 1st), and explain why we enjoyed it even though many who weren't there thought it wasn't such a great game on TV. We discuss the continued development of an interesting title race, before moving on to the biggest match of the year in Argentina: the return of the superclásico after River Plate's year in the second division. We preview River v Boca Juniors - which will be played on Sunday afternoon - and talk about the history and some of the reasons it's become the biggest fixture in the country. Enjoy.

The eighty-first episode of Hand Of Pod is another bumper one, with a look back on Argentina's 3-0 dispatching of Uruguay last Friday and Tuesday's hard-fought 2-1 win away to Chile, as well as the main World Cup qualifying results in the rest of the CONMEBOL region, including an impressive Radamel Falcao García- and James Rodríguez-inspired win over Paraguay for Colombia. We then move on to the domestic scene, where the main story is Juan Antonio Pizzi's confirmation as San Lorenzo manager, before answering a veritable barrage of listeners' questions. Next week: the superclásico preview. Enjoy!