Hand Of Pod

The hundred-and-twenty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is also the last of 2013, and Sam is joined by English Dan and Joel to look back over a Torneo Inicial that was settled in an entirely predictable manner; with all four of the title hopefuls failing to win, meaning San Lorenzo took the trophy by default with the lowest points total of the three-points-for-a-win era. Lanús have the consolation of the Copa Sudamericana, only the third major trophy in their history (and the second in the last six years), whilst River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing and the rest of the pre-season supposed title hopefuls could only look on enviously. We consider Colón's woeful last few months, look at how Independiente are going at the halfway point of their campaign in the B, and Joel gives us the lowdown on Rodolfo D'Onofrio, who as of Tuesday is the new president of River Plate, having won Sunday's elections by a resounding margin. It only remains for us to say thanks for listening during 2013, merry Christmas if you're celebrating it, and we look forward to entertaining (or at least bothering) you all again in 2014.

The hundred-and-twenty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded two days before the start of the final round of league fixtures, and we still have no idea who out of San Lorenzo, Lanús, Newell's Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield are going to be champions - Vélez host San Lorenzo and Newell's host Lanús in the last round, but those matches won't be played until Sunday the 15th. That's due to Lanús' participation in the Copa Sudamericana final (they drew the first leg 1-1 shortly after we recorded this episode). We also look at Racing's continuing improvement, San Lorenzo bottling the job against Estudiantes, a five goal thriller between Gimnasia and Quilmes, and give updates on the situations at Colón (who could be forcibly relegated) and Independiente (going well in the B). The next episode of Hand Of Pod won't be until after the league season is finally over, the week starting the 16th December.

In the hundred-and-twenty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and guest Ilan are invited round to English Dan's swish new pad. We discuss the fallout of last weekend's clásico, which saw Racing beat River Plate 1-0, and look at how and why the title frontrunners dropped points yet again (to be fair to them, in four cases it's because they were playing each other). We also bring the latest from the situation in Santa Fe, where Colón are in danger of being de-affiliated from the AFA, ask whether Ramón Díaz and Carlos Bianchi are really the best managers for River and Boca Juniors, and basically teach ourselves during the recording who All Boys' new manager Ricardo Rodríguez - who started with a 2-0 win in La Bombonera - is. Oh, and there's news of the first Swiss person ever to score a competitive goal in the Argentine league. Since this episode was recorded, Lanús have advanced to the final of the Copa Sudamericana, where they'll play Ponte Preta.

In the hundred-and-twenty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Santi are joined by Rob Brown, an Englishman who's in Buenos Aires for a few months almost entirely in order to watch Juan Román Riquelme play. We discuss another weekend of surprising results and exciting matches - not least a five goal thriller in Sarandí, where Santi and Rob watched Arsenal beat Boca Juniors 3-2 - and look at crisis club Colón, whose players refused to turn up for their match against Atlético de Rafaela on Monday. Some of Colón's players are owed wages going back as far as a year, and the affair has cost club president (and Julio Grondona associate) Germán Lerche his position; he resigned after the fracas on Monday. We also ask how much worse River Plate can get, before considering a thrilling six-way title run-in (San Lorenzo, Newell's Old Boys, Arsenal, Boca Juniors, Lanús and even Rafaela all have a decent shot at the trophy) and looking back on Argentina's international friendlies in the USA, among other topics.

The 125th episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded on our third birthday, and Andrés and Sam raise a glass to that fact before getting stuck in to last weekend's action, which saw Boca Juniors make up some ground on the top two, Newell's Old Boys and San Lorenzo, after they'd drawn against each other. The biggest winners of the last few weeks, though, have been Copa Sudamericana semi-finalists Lanús, who might just have a tilt at the title. We check out the run-ins that each of the top five have with four matches of the season remaining, and ask whether Atlético de Rafaela could possibly be candidates as well (answer: no). There's another chance to moan about how crap River Plate are, and a celebration of the fact that Vélez Sarsfield's elimination from the Copa Sudamericana last week means South American football's not bent after all. What better birthday present could we ask for?

The hundred-and-twenty-forth episode of Hand Of Pod is one of our shortest ever episodes, but hopefully we've still got enough to be going on with. Racing, having won twice in a row, are officially no longer rubbish, and English Dan celebrates by returning to the pod. He and Sam run the rule over Racing's sudden improvement, and contrast it with River Plate's absolutely awful form, which plumbed new depths on Wednesday night as they lost 3-1 at home to Lanús to go out of the Copa Sudamericana. We ask why David Trezeguet didn't start for Newell's Old Boys last weekend - he came off the bench to score twice, helping them claim a 2-2 draw away to Colón - and look forward to this weekend's big top of the table clash between Newell's and San Lorenzo. All this and much more. Next week, Hand Of Pod turns three years old, so please share this episode with your friends and join us next week for the celebration!

The hundred-and-twenty-third episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded on Diego Maradona's 53rd birthday, and after giving that fact the amount of coverage it deserves, we move on to a review of the last two rounds of Torneo Inicial action. Central shocked Newell's in the clásico rosarino, River Plate still can't score and Manu Gigliotti's in fine form for Boca Juniors. Oh, and RACING HAVE WON A MATCH! Former Arsenal (de Woolwich) player, and now former Quilmes manager, Nelson Vivas clocked a fan and has been replaced by big-balled 'Argentine Ferguson' Blas Giunta, and a lot of other people have been getting very aggressive indeed in Argentine stadia. For once, it's mostly players, not barras. There's also time to consider whether River Plate goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero really deserves an Argentina call-up, and the amount of attention Mauricio Pochettino's English managerial exploits are getting in Argentina (short answer: zero).

The hundred-and-twenty-second episode of Hand Of Pod gave us a lot to talk about, and it was quite an achievement to have got the final thing down to an hour and a half. Santi hosts in his new home for the first time, and Sam is also joined by German/Chinese/Relevant Dan and HOP debutant Jonathan Gilbert, author of a recent New York Times piece previewing this weekend's clásico rosarino. We discuss Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign and what they need to improve between now and Brazil 2014, before looking back over a weekend of surprises in the league and asking whether Newell's Old Boys already have the title sewn up. As already mentioned, Newell's play their bitter enemies Rosario Central this weekend, and we also preview the return to the Primera of perhaps the country's most passionate derby.

The hundred-and-twenty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés welcome Sam and Mariano to his living room for the first time, as we look back on Boca Juniors' 1-0 win away to River Plate in Sunday's superclásico. That was far from the only talking point of the weekend; we had wrongly-given red cards for diving, two managers left their jobs, another two seem to be on the brink, and Racing, of course, are as awful as ever. We consider what value an injury-ravaged Argentina side can take from their final two World Cup qualifiers, given that their place in Brazil next year is already secure, and discuss Mauro Icardi's impending debut for the national side among other things.

The hundred-and-twentieth episode of Hand Of Pod is the first appearance of Fede González, and it's timed perfectly - he works on one of the most popular unofficial Boca Juniors Twitter accounts around, and has arrived just in time for our big superclásico preview episode. We discuss bad times at Racing and second division giants Huracán and consider another impressive performance from leaders Newell's Old Boys before turning our eye on the weekend's biggest attraction: the super. Both River Plate and Boca Juniors won last time out, so come into this one in rude health and both in the title race for the first time in what seems like a long while. Before closing, we also consider Mauro Icardi's first call-up for Argentina for next week's World Cup qualifiers, in Lionel Messi's absence. Since this episode was recorded, Vélez Sarsfield have advanced in the Copa Sudamericana and Arsenal beat All Boys on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Copa Argentina semi-final.