Hand Of Pod

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!

The two hundred and ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan, Andrés, Fran and guest Rob Crisp for a brief roundup of the qualification playoffs for the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, and a preview of the finals for same (including a Racing v Independiente double-header for the final Libertadores spot, which is going to be great fun for the neutral). On Thursday night, Huracán reached their first ever continental final, a 2-2 draw at home to Copa Sudamericana holders River Plate giving them a 3-2 aggregate win and meaning River's amazing run of continental success under Marcelo Gallardo has come to an end, a couple of weeks before they get underway at the Club World Cup. We look back on that tie, on what Huracán have got to shout about and how they might do in the final against Independiente Santa Fe, and at River's ongoing issues ahead of their trip to Japan.

The two hundred and eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a relatively short one (by our standards), in which Sam and English Dan meet to discuss the encouraging improvement in Argentina's performances in World Cup qualifying, which in the last week have seen them claim a (slightly unlucky) 1-1 draw at home to Brazil and a 1-0 win way to Colombia. Is Gerardo Martino's 'idea' any clearer, and how will it be affected when Lionel Messi returns to the team? We also look forward to the pre-Sudamericana and pre-Libertadores 'liguillas' (playoff tournaments) which are all that now remain of the Argentine Primera season for 2015, and have a rather inexpert go at working out which teams have been and might still be promoted from the second and third divisions.

Episode 207 of Hand Of Pod is a very special one, because on Friday we turn five years old. Sam is joined for the celebration by Andrés, English Dan, Peter and very special guest Tim Vickery, who's flown down from Rio de Janeiro specially for the occasion. Entirely coincidentally to Tim's visit (honest), on Thursday night Argentina host Brazil in World Cup qualifying, so after a review of last weekend's most important league action - which saw Nueva Chicago relegated in spite of an impressive win over Quilmes - and a discussion about our team of the championship, we move on to previewing Argentina v Brazil. There's plenty of chat throughout about the differences between football in the two countries, from the trends in management (Argentina good, Brazil bad) to player development, in which it seems both countries have something of an imbalance in very different ways.

The two hundred and sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Fede convene to talk about what might be Argentina's first proper domestic league-and-cup double (although given how young the Copa Argentina is, that's not quite as historic as it sounds). Carlos Tevez ended up making the difference for a Boca side who got cross the line in the title race on Sunday by beating Tigre, and who owed a large debt of gratitude to an eyecatchingly bad refereeing (and linesmanning) performance in Wednesday night's Copa Argentina final against Rosario Central. We discuss Boca's merits and what they need to strengthen ahead of next year's Copa Libertadores, and look forward to the upcoming final weekend of normal season league action, with a rundown of what's at stake in each of the matches Mystic Sam predicts.

The two hundred and fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan joined by Tony, a long-time listener and first-time caller. It's a bumper edition, as we stick our teeth into last Friday's Copa Argentina semi-finals, which leave Boca Juniors and Rosario Central - the top two in the league - going head to head in the final next Wednesday in Córdoba. San Lorenzo's Edgardo Bauza and Racing's Diego Cocca both announced they'll be leaving their managerial positions at the end of 2015 mere hours before we recorded, and Bauza in particular will surely have the pick of the continent's clubs. As well as this, we knew before recording that River Plate and Huracán were in the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals (Independiente played after we recorded, and went out), and there's an Argentina squad to consider as the team prepare to take on Brazil and Colombia without Lionel Messi in two weeks' time. All this and much more...

In the two hundred and fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan for a look at last weekend's Primera División action, which saw Boca Juniors fail to capitalise on a fine chance to claim the title after San Lorenzo had lost - Boca were well beaten by Racing, and will need a result at home to Tigre next weekend in order to avoid a nervy title-decider on the last weekend away to Rosario Central. Nueva Chicago got a spectacular 5-0 win at home to Newell's Old Boys on a goal-packed weekend, but then had to watch as Colón got a 3-1 win over Arsenal - Colón's first win in six matches - which means Chicago are five points adrift with two matches remaining. There was plenty more to discuss, from River Plate's apathy towards the league to whether Daniel Oldrá is a better manager than Gabriel Heinze for Godoy Cruz (okay, not really much of a discussion on that last point). There's no Argentine football this weekend apart from the Copa Argentina semi-finals on Friday night, and we preview those as well.