Hand Of Pod

The two hundred and fifty-third episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam and Andrés, who are joined via Skype by Luke Smith, who's able to give us a Córdoba-dweller's perspective on the tragedy that struck Argentine football over the weekend when Belgrano fan Emanuel Balbo was murdered in the stands at half time of the Córdoba clásico on Saturday. What exactly happened, and what the punishment might end up being for Belgrano are among the topics discussed. We also look over a weekend of football which saw River Plate - in somewhat controversial circumstances - become the only member of the top five to win their match, and in so doing arguably join the title race, although they still have some distance to make up on Boca Juniors. As well as all this, there are listeners' questions on the second tier and on the most southerly clubs in Argentina's pyramid (which also happen to be the most southerly clubs in the world).

The two hundred and fifty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Peter meet to discuss the AFA's sacking on Tuesday of Edgardo Bauza as Argentina manager, and who might the next candidate be - with news filtering out shortly after we'd recorded that, as suspected, Jorge Sampaoli is the only serious candidate. Is he the right man for the job? Would he take it? And if he doesn't, who might the other options end up being? All these questions and more are debated. As well as this, we've got a look at a Primera weekend which was so action-packed, even Independiente found their shooting boots - and how!

The two hundred and fifty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss a weekend with a fair number of thrillers, including a 4-2 clásico win for Lanús over Banfield, a 3-2 win after being 2-0 and one man down for Racing away to Quilmes, and a controversial 4-3 victory for Tigre at home to San Lorenzo. That last result means Boca Juniors are now five points clear at the top of the league, and we also look at their 1-0 win over Defensa y Justicia (who are involved in continental football for the first time ever) and at River Plate's 2-1 away win over Godoy Cruz which seems to confirm that River are rediscovering their best form under Marcelo Gallardo. All this as well as the first machinations of Claudio Tapia as AFA president, in the form of him desperately hoping Edgardo Bauza resigns some time soon as national team manager.

This week's episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony joined by the man who literally wrote the book on Argentine football, because Jonathan Wilson's in town just for our two hundred and fiftieth episode (okay, not just for that). We have two awful performances from the Argentine national team to discuss - a win over Chile and a defeat away to Bolivia - as well as Lionel Messi's suspension for saying some naughty words to a linesman, Edgardo Bauza's future job security now the AFA (hours before we began recording) finally has a new president and board of directors, and a nearly full round of Primera División matches, since the summer delay meant the AFA is obliged to play through the international break in order to catch up the season a bit in terms of how far it ought to have progressed by now. Enjoy.

The two hundred and forty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss a week of domestic action which saw Boca Juniors lose for the first time since the opening weekend, San Lorenzo also defeated and an Ignacio Scocco hat trick for Newell's Old Boys (surprisingly, his first) put the top of the title race back to how it was two weeks ago. River Plate impressed away to Lanús on Tuesday, and there's plenty more to talk about besides. Not least, Argentina's World Cup qualifying clash at home to Chile on Thursday evening, which we preview, and whether Mauro Icardi should maybe be in the squad given he appears incapable of entering a pitch without scoring at least one goal these days.

The first weekend of Argentine football this year has finally been played, and in HOP248 Sam and Andrés are here to go over the main talking points, consider how many teams were affected by a long and hard-to-time-just-right pre-season (nearly all of them) and look at whether this factor also influenced performances in the Copa Libertadores (yes). Boca Juniors were the undoubted winners of the weekend, though San Lorenzo also took advantage. Listeners' questions include Copa Libertadores qualification rules this year and our opinion of Lautaro Martínez. A series of technical errors befell this recording, so you might notice the odd slight jump in sound or speech as bits had to be cut slightly, but enjoy!

What on Earth is going on in the world of Argentine football? The season was supposed to get underway on the second weekend of February and was only finally scheduled at all last week, and now we have some dates and kick off times it's still not been anything like clear whether this weekend's matches will even be played. Sam, English Dan and Andrés are back for the first HOP of 2017, and even by the standards set by Argentine football since we started recording in 2010, this one might get eye-wateringly confusing. Allow us to guide you through the summer break in Argentina, the vested interests, the arguments and the recriminations, as we attempt to explain to the layperson just what the bloody hell is happening (and, indeed, work that out ourselves). This episode is out of date before it's even online - there was no way we could avoid that - but the uncertainty over whether games will take place is still just as strong a mere 24 hours from the supposed start of action. The chaos is back.

The two hundred and forty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod is the last one of the year. Sam, Andrés and English Dan round up the last week of Primera action this year, which included two good results for River Plate (who claimed the Copa Argentina last week), another big win for Boca Juniors, who thus end the year at the top of the table, more dropped points for Estudiantes and plenty of other talking points, including a number of emotional farewells to players and various managers either resigning or being fired. As well as all this, there's also time to take a brief look at the current situation regarding TV rights for next year - which is currently up in the air. You'll be hearing from us again at the end of the summer break - if you're celebrating over the next week or two, enjoy!

The two hundred and forty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is the penultimate one of 2016, and Sam and Andrés meet to discuss Boca Juniors' 4-2 away win over River Plate in what - even as River sympathisers - we cant deny was a tremendously entertaining superclásico. Carlos Tevez was superb, and as well as praising his performance we also look at the reports he might be off to China soon. For River, there's a chance for some compensation in the form of the Copa Argentina final against Rosario Central, which is played on the evening this podcast goes live, and could see one - or both - of the managers, Marcelo Gallardo for River and Eduardo Coudet for Central, leave their club. All this, and there's still one more round of league action to preview, thanks to the one-week delay to the season kicking off back in August. As a result of that, we'll be back next week with an unusually festive edition.

The two hundred and forty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Peter meet to discuss Independiente's first win in a while, against River Plate's reserve side, and look into some of the struggles Gabriel Milito faces as manager. We have praise for Boca Juniors after an impressive win over Racing, ask whether Estudiantes' grip on first place is slipping, and look at Banfield's remarkable upturn in form, as a week after beating the league leaders they've now claimed a win over second placed Newell's Old Boys. All this, and some pre-superclásico thoughts too, as River Plate prepare to host Boca Juniors this Sunday. Enjoy!