Hand Of Pod

The two hundred and nineteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Fran to look back on Argentina's two recent World Cup qualifying victories, away to Chile and at home to Bolivia. The character shown by the team, the attacking play in both first halves and of course the six points were some of the positives (as was Lionel Messi's brilliance in both matches), but the displays weren't perfect by any means, and we run the rule over what could have been better. Listeners' questions range from new Argentina goalscoring hero Gabriel Mercado to Daniel Osvaldo's fitness and whether it's acceptable for a foreigner to support Arsenal de Sarandí (the answer to that last one is 'no').

In the two hundred and eighteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter and Andrés have a bumper discussion beginning with the number of goals in the latest round of Primera action (52 in 15 matches)and travelling through the Big Five's iffy form and Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's latest streetfight to arrive at a preview of Argentina's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, away to Chile on Thursday night and at home to Bolivia on Tuesday. Can the team keep up their good showing as Lionel Messi returns, or will the talisman's arrival mean the others revert to expecting him to do all the attacking work for them? All will be revealed...

Episode 217 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam welcome Andrés and English Dan to the studio to go over the last week in Argentine football with a fine-toothed comb. It's been a distinctly mixed seven days (and three matches) for River Plate, who were thrashed in the league but might have regained some confidence in the Libertadores on Wednesday night, and a good week for Boca Juniors, who claimed their first win of the Guillermo Barros Schelotto era on Monday. Estudiantes totally outplayed Gimnasia in the La Plata clásico on Sunday, and one of the consequences was the sacking of Gimnasia boss Pedro Troglio - though it might not have been a solely footballing decision. Lanús' and Rosario Central's unbeaten starts to the season have come undone, and there are some surprising competitors for the championship final positions, especially in Group 2.

The two hundred and sixteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Fede look back on a rather underwhelming superclásico which nonetheless gave us plenty to talk about - largely because we've now seen Guillermo Barros Schelotto in charge of Boca Juniors for a week (they play away to Bolívar in the altitude of La Paz in the Copa Libertadores tonight). If River v Boca was one of the lowlights of the weekend, though, there was plenty of entertainment elsewhere: previously winless Tigre hitting five past hitherto impressive Atlético Tucumán; nine goals in a crazy match in Santa Fe between Unión and Racing; Defensa y Justicia winning 5-1 away to Argentinos Juniors and many more goals besides. All this and more in just an hour and a quarter. Enjoy!

The two hundred and fifteenth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper one, as we've got a major talking point this week. Sam, Andrés and Boca Juniors fans Fede and Fran discuss Boca's decision on Monday to sack Rodolfo Arruabarrena and replace him on Tuesday with Guillermo Barros Schelotto as manager. Is this the change in direction the club needs? Can the new manager handle Carlos Tevez's influence on team affairs without upsetting anyone? And most importantly, with a Copa Libertadores game against Racing tonight (Thursday) and a visit to River Plate on Sunday, how quick an impact can GBS have? Aside from Boca, we also look back on a weekend which saw yet another great performance from Rosario Central, a second consecutive clean sheet for River and more impressive stuff from Atlético Tucumán.

Episode 214 of Hand Of Pod is short but sweet, as Sam and Andrés take you through the last week in Argentine football. There are some entertaining matches to discuss, with San Lorenzo's 3-2 win over Vélez Sarsfield and River Plate's 3-3 draw away to Rosario Central the highlights - though Boca Juniors' 4-1 win at home to Newell's Old Boys is also a topic of conversation, and Colón's unbeaten start to the campaign came spectacularly undone with a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Godoy Cruz in Mendoza. The clásico de Avellaneda was a desperately dull match until the last few minutes, so we don't waste too much time talking about it. The Copa Libertadores group stage has begun, but until we've seen another few matches it's a little early to comment on that yet.

Episode 213 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan look back on two rounds of fixtures during which Boca Juniors almost lost a manager but ultimately kept him, and found their first win of the new year thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez. As well as Boca, Newell's Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield also both look rather better now than they did a couple of weeks ago, which makes Boca v Newell's a particularly interesting fixture this weekend. Newell's revival came in the form of a 5-0 tonking of Racing days after being played off the pitch by Central in the clásico rosarino, and Central are one of four clubs who've recorded three wins out of three (Aldosivi have a chance to do the same, but haven't done yet because Huracán's last two matches were postponed). This episode is later in the week than normal, but join us again next week, when we'll be back to our normal schedule.

The two-hundred and twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Peter, Andrés and returning panel member Rob Brown to look back on the opening weekend of Primera División action; matches which saw River Plate tonk Quilmes 5-1, Boca Juniors held to a 0-0 draw away to Temperley and Racing suffer the indignity of defeat away to newly-promoted Atlético Tucumán, among other results. Rodolfo Arruabarrena's job as Boca manager is in serious jeopardy after a 4-0 defeat in the Supercopa Argentina (which happened after we recorded this episode), but he'll still be in charge this weekend - though for how much longer? We also give you the latest on Huracán's coach crash in Venezuela. Rumours of Patricio Toranzo having toes amputated are untrue.

Hand Of Pod is back for 2016, and Sam is joined by Andrés, Fede and Fran to preview another transitional championship, confusing format, stupid non-existent clásicos and all! We run the rule over which sides had good summers, which had indifferent ones and which had bad ones - where do some of the recent big hitters need to improve after disappointing last year, and who apart from Rosario Central are best placed to break the Big Five, who were resurgent in 2015? As well as this we've a change to the Mystical segment of HOP for this year - we want you to send in your predictions, and each week one lucky listener will get to try and beat the score set by Sam on this opening weekend. Can't be that hard, can it...?

The two hundred and tenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Gustavo meet for a post-Hannukah (and pre-Christmas) podcast roundup of the last month in Argentine football, starting with River Plate's runners-up spot in the Club World Cup - and some alternative ideas for a format which could produce a more equitable tournament - and then looking back at the Argentine FA's hilarious/disastrous attempt to elect a new president earlier this month. We then give an overview of the final playoff results for the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana qualification places, and have a quick look at Tuesday's Libertadores group stage draw. Merry Christmas to all our listeners, and you'll hear from us again in 2016!