Hand Of Pod

The hundred-and-forty-third episode of Hand Of Pod is upon us, and Sam, Peter and Andrés review another weekend of Torneo Final action as River Plate draw back level with Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata at the top - both have 31 points - with just two rounds of matches left. All Boys have been relegated following a 3-1 defeat to Boca Juniors, and there were tremendously entertaining matches between Arsenal and Newell's Old Boys, and River and Racing - both of which ended 3-2. Wasn't it just last week we were asking whether it was a dull league after very few goals had been scored? We ask why a barra brava group feel able to demand free World Cup tickets from the AFA, wonder who'll replace ‘Mostaza’ Merlo as Racing manager, and try to explain how the bloody hell Copa Sudamericana qualification works, among other subjects.

The hundred-and-forty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés begin with an in-depth consideration (much more in-depth, we'd be prepared to bet, than the AFA gave it) of the Argentine Football Association's decision this week to expand the top flight to thirty teams and change the entire league structure as from next February. What it means for the top flight, what the second half of 2014 in Argentine football will look like, why it's been done and how many people are happy about it (just the one, and you can guess his name), among other subjects. We then get on to the football from last weekend, in which Argentinos Juniors were relegated, Gimnasia La Plata took a two point lead at the top of the Torneo Final, Boca Juniors looked impressive and there were some fine goals scored. Oh, and down in the second division, Independiente won a match!

There's a lot to get through on Hand Of Pod 141, but Sam, Peter and birthday boy Andrés manage to whistle through in under an hour and a half, for once. First on the agenda is the news that on Wednesday, Javier Cantero finally stood down as Independiente president. How the club's barra brava forced him out and why, in spite of being against the barra, many ordinary fans will be happy to see him go as well is the first topic of the day that we tackle. We then consider the Primera División title race - River Plate and Gimnasia La Plata now sit joint top of the Torneo Final - and ask whether River are the favourites, given the run-in they have. Also up for discussion is the relegation battle, in which although most teams (bar Argentinos Juniors) are quite close together, it looks like the three drop spots are all but settled already. Questions include our thoughts on Lanús' full back Alejandro Silva and our all-time favourite Argentine club kits.

Episode 140 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Peter welcome not one but two special guests - Jonathan Wilson returns to HOP and Rupert Fryer finally makes his long-awaited debut. We discuss Ramón Díaz and Ricardo Caruso Lombardi embarrassing themselves to varying degrees, two managerial changes, as Newell's Old Boys and more surprisingly, Arsenal de Sarandí both changed bosses, consider the title race and the relegation battle and ask how Argentine sides will do in the Copa Libertadores - four of Argentina's five representatives are in the knockout stage, with only Newell's failing to get out of their group. We also look at whether Fernando Gago's injury is really bad news for either Boca Juniors or Argentina and have a bit of a laugh at Racing, who've been rubbish again lately.

Hand Of Pod episode 139 is a bumper edition, featuring Sam, Santi, Andrés and Peter. They discuss not one but two rounds of Torneo Final action, including a 3-3 thriller between Racing and Estudiantes which no-one saw coming, and a 2-1 away win for Rosario Central in Sunday's Rosario clásico against Newell's Old Boys. Three sides lead the Torneo Final on 21 points, with two more just behind them on 20, and the top nine are separated by just three points. We also look at Argentine hopes in the Copa Libertadores - at the time of recording, Lanús, Vélez Sarsfield and Arsenal had all confirmed their places in the knockout stage. A couple of hours after recording ended, San Lorenzo joined them, but just as this episode was uploaded on Thursday night, Newell's Old Boys crashed out. Santi's not been on for a while and has grown jealous of HOP new boy Gustavo hugging the lower league limelight, so we also let him give a roundup of Ascenso action, and look at the frankly slightly silly notion that Boca Juniors might be in relegation trouble next season. Since we recorded, and following Newell's Copa exit, their manager Alfredo Berti has resigned.

The hundred-and-thirty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded at lunchtime on Tuesday, over mate, in order for us to get it to you ahead of (most of) the eleventh round of Torneo Final action. It features Sam, English Dan and a brief guest appearance from Sam's brother, Will, who tells us what it was like watching - or rather, trying to watch - Boca Juniors v River Plate from a cafe on the Bolivian border with a small child who was more interested in cartoons. We dissect River's 2-1 away win in the superclásico as no other English-language Argentine football podcast can, as well as considering the other results from the weekend and how they affect the title and relegation races. We also take a look at how Argentine sides are doing with one match each of the Copa Libertadores group stages left, give a mention to some very good news for San Lorenzo fans, and much more. Enjoy.

The hundred-and-thirty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés joined by German Dan to discuss an interesting weekend of matches, at the end of which Colón were still top of the Torneo Final pile, and looking increasingly likely to avoid relegation, points deduction or no points deduction. There were surprising results on Saturday and more predictable ones on Sunday, which concluded with a dire goalless draw between Quilmes and Boca Juniors. Boca's next match is of course at home to their arch rivals River Plate, so as ever we dedicate a chunk of this week's pod to previewing the superclásico; will River get their first win in La Bombonera in a decade? Can Boca lift their game? We also discuss Dan's side Argentinos Juniors, and what's gone wrong for them, and Peter tries to give us a quick lowdown of what mentalness is happening at Independiente this week. All this and more awaits...

In episode 136 of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter, Andrés and some bloke called Joel who wandered in wanting to record discuss last weekend's Torneo Final action. There are thirteen teams within six points of the top after half the championship has been played, and in spite of an unexpectedly thrilling defeat to All Boys, River Plate are one of them. Boca Juniors are also up there, also in spite of themselves, whilst the table is still lead, oddly, by Colón (who before this episode was uploaded, beat Tigre 1-0 to ensure they'll be joint top for another week on Friday night). Circumstances prevented this one being edited and uploaded before early Saturday morning, but it was recorded on Wednesday evening.

In the hundred-and-thirty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Peter look back over a weekend which saw two of the title frontrunners - league leaders Colón and their pursuers Estudiantes - drop points, allowing the race to become even more congested; even River Plate, who picked up seven points in three games last week, are only three points off the lead, despite now not having scored more than once in a league game for more than half a season. We run the rule over each of the Big Five, particularly Boca's distinctly un-crisis-like form, and ask how Argentina's sides are getting on (or were, as of Wednesday evening) in the Copa Libertadores. Listeners' questions range from how a 'local national team' would do at the World Cup to the future of Argentine full backs.

In the hundred-and-thirty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Peter, English Dan and Andrés, as well as Gustavo Malamud, an Atlanta fan. We discuss another double round of matches - we're a third of the way through the Torneo Final already - in which it was a decent week for Colón and Newell's Old Boys among others, a poor one for Racing (obviously) and Arsenal, and a more mixed one for other sides, including the two giants River Plate and Boca Juniors. We consider where the Argentine national side are in relation to where they'd like to be ahead of the World Cup, Gustavo gives us a primer on the Primera B - that's the THIRD division - and we reveal what this season's English Premier League relegation battle would look like if the Football Association decided to adopt the Argentine relegation system.