Hand Of Pod

The hundred and ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is a post-clásico-round edition, with Sam and Andrés looking back over a weekend which saw Boca Juniors beat River Plate in the Monumental to go top of the league after San Lorenzo had surprisingly lost their derby away to Huracán. Independiente turned in the only really impressive clásico performance, beating Racing 3-0, whilst a lot of the other derbies were rather damp squibs. There's discusssion of Newell's Old Boys' and Vélez Sarsfield's disappointing current situations, and a rather dampened down plan for the return of away fans to Argentine stadia this coming weekend, with only one Primera match to see visiting supporters after all.

The hundred and ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam, Andrés and Mariano discussing last weekend's results, including San Lorenzo's 1-0 win away to Boca Juniors which took them top of the league, and River Plate's return to winning ways in a 4-1 tonking-which-wasn't-really-a-tonking of Nueva Chicago. There are also two national team friendlies to discuss, and the main lesson everyone appears to have learned from Argentina's 7-0 thrashing of Bolivia and their chaotic 2-2 draw with Mexico is that Matías Kranevitter is the real deal, and a lot of other stuff is still up in the air. As well as this, we have a whole round of clásicos to preview, as the AFA's ridiculous league format reaches its apogee this weekend. It is, admittedly, going to be quite a lot of fun.

This week's Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés have as much off-pitch stuff to focus on as on-pitch. San Lorenzo drew and Boca Juniors won, to leave Boca two points clear at the top heading into this Sunday's clash of the top two, but the bigger news last weekend was in Mendoza, where Godoy Cruz v Racing was called off after 25 minutes with Racing leading 1-0, after Godoy Cruz barras started pelting the players with stones, apparently in protest at new manager Gabriel Heinze's refusal to give them money. There is also crisis at Crucero del Norte, whose players have started to publicly complain about how they have to travel to away matches. As well as all this, we look at the latest bizarre twists in the ongoing story of Marcelo Tinelli's campaign to get elected as president of the Argentine FA, look at two more points dropped by River Plate, and much more.

In the hundred and ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend which saw San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors extend their (joint-)leadership of the title race, as they both won and River Plate slumped to a second straight defeat. Even more amazingly, Nueva Chicago won for the second week running - though we suspect both they and the team they beat, Crucero del Norte, will still be the two sides ultimately doomed to relegation. Argentina manager Gerardo Martino had some choice words for the Argentine FA's schedulers, and River are entering the transfer market after Ramiro Funes Mori's sale to Everton leaves them with a slot to fill in the defence and the cash to do so.

The hundred and ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan discuss an eventful round of action in the Primera last weekend, with San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors both claiming 2-1 wins to remain joint top, and their closest pursuers River Plate surprisingly lose to San Martín de San Juan, to fall behind in the title race - had River won that game and the one they still have in hand, they'd have been joint top. We also run the rule over Everton's new signing, River defender Ramiro Funes Mori, and consider a promising performance from Racing and more political discussions at the Argentine FA. Enjoy.

The hundred and ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan to discuss what little football has been played since our last episode - namely, the last few games of the last 32 of the Copa Argentina. There were wins for Racing and Independiente, whilst Atlanta also advanced. As well as that, we also discuss another trophy for River Plate, albeit a rather less meaningful one than the one they picked up last week, and explain who Marcelo Tinelli is (at least within the context of football) and why so many people are currently getting so exercised at the prosect of his becoming president of the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino. All this and Mystic Sam's twentieth round predictions - we might be a day later than normal, but we couldn't leave those out...

The hundred and ninety-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés, Peter, Joel and special guest Richard Martin to talk about River Plate's 3-0 win over Tigres UANL on Wednesday night, and the third Copa Libertadores title it gave the club. The role of Marcelo Gallardo in using and adapting River's tradition and expectations, the key players in the win and where the squad might go next are all discussed, before we move on to talk about a goal-packed weekend in the Primera División which ended with Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo tied on points at the top (River, three points behind them, didn't play at the weekend and have a game in hand). There's no football this weekend in Argentina due to primary elections, but Mystic Joel instead tells you what to bet on in the political sphere (not really).

In the hundred and ninety-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and Remi to look back on a week which saw Boca Juniors strengthen their position at the top of the league with a backs-to-the-wall win away to Belgrano after San Lorenzo had dropped points against Godoy Cruz. River Plate's reserves beat Colón, but the main focus of River's week was Wednesday night's Copa Libertadores final first leg away to Tigres, from which they took a 0-0 draw. Other topics up for discussion are the relegation battle (which increasingly looks rather an easy one to predict the outcome of) and a large variety of listeners' questions, ranging from Nueva Chicago's politicised fanbase to Racing's chances of defending their title.

The hundred and ninety-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés in a good mood after River Plate's qualification for the final of the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 19 years. A 1-1 draw with Guaraní in Asunción, with Marcelo Gallardo signings Tabaré Viudez and Lucas Alario combining for the crucial goal, proved decisive and next week River will face Tigres of Mexico in the first leg (we didn't know this when we recorded). As well as River in the Copa, there's also a full weekend of Argentine league action to look back on, including River reserves' 5-1 tonking of Atlético de Rafaela, and wins for San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors (on Carlos Tevez's return to La Bombonera)which mean it's still Boca-San Lorenzo-River in a 1-2-3 at the top of the league table. Andrés also has a preview of this weekend's biggest league match, the clásico rosarino between Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central.

The hundred-and-nintieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés, Fede and long-time HOP listener but first-time HOP contributor Johnny to look back over an eventful week. Boca Juniors leapfrogged San Lorenzo into top spot in the league, getting a gritty 1-0 win away to Sarmiento after both San Lorenzo and River Plate had been held to draws earlier in the weekend. For River, at least, there was the consolation of a fine performance and 2-0 win on Tuesday night in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final against Guaraní of Paraguay - the second leg will be next Tuesday in Asunción. On Monday, as well as a Vélez Sarsfield v Tigre match which saw a dramatic finish, there was Carlos Tevez's unveiling at La Bombonera, to which around 40,000 people showed up - Boca fans Fede and Johnny give us their thoughts on Carlitos' return and what it means for the team. As well as all this, we have a look at a few managerial debutants, including Gabriel Heinze, who Sam believes is the first graduate of both the Ferguson and Bielsa schools of football management (i.e. he played under both of them).