Hand Of Pod

Episode 93 sees English Dan appearing briefly by Skype, due to food poisoning - or maybe he was just too ashamed to show up in person after his side failed to turn up against Independiente in last weekend's clásico de Avellaneda, losing 2-0. Sam is joined by real-life Arsenal de Sarandí fan Santiago, who fortunately caught most of the weekend's action, and we discuss his team's away win over Argentinos Juniors, what Gabriel Schurrer's exit as manager could mean for Argentinos, and River Plate's amazing 3-2 thriller over Tigre, as well as a lot more besides. And if you've ever wondered why Arsenal have a tower on their club badge, here's the HOP episode where you find out. Enjoy.

In the ninety-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Mariano the San Lorenzo fan to discuss a Torneo Final second round with one outstanding result; ten-man Independiente's shock victory over champions Vélez Sarsfield. Away from Liniers, there were wins for both Lanús and River Plate, who go joint top of the nascent Final table, a win against Racing, inspired by Luciano Vietto, which sends both clubs into the clásico de Avellaneda this coming weekend in good spirits, and a draw for Mariano's San Lorenzo which we discuss, as well as asking him for his thoughts on Viggo Mortensen's charity flower seeds, and an update on the Return To Boedo (which is San Lorenzo's plan to buy back the land their old stadium stood on, not another Lord Of The Rings film).

In the ninety-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel look back on an opening weekend of Torneo Final action that Sam and Joel thoroughly enjoyed, and which English Dan missed almost all of. We discuss an unconvincing win for Vélez Sarsfield as they seek to defend their title, and rather more emphatic victories for Tigre and Lanús, among others. Joel attended a thriller in La Bombonera, as Juan Román Riquelme returned to the stands and Carlos Bianchi to the managerial bench and Boca came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, with one of several stunning long range goals this weekend. All this and much more - enjoy.

In the ninetieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Joel preview the 2013 Torneo Final, which kicks off with Unión hosting Arsenal de Sarandí on Friday evening. We discuss Fernando Gago's move to Vélez Sarsfield - easily the most spectacular signing of the summer - and what Vélez's chances are of retaining their title, as well as talking about Racing's transfer window departures, River Plate's relative success and most of the other ins and outs, before moving on - we couldn't very well avoid him - to the interminable saga of Juan Román Riquelme's ever changing mood. Will he play for Boca? Will he play for Tigre? Should we really care any more? After that, we answer listeners' questions on Argentine sides in the 2013 Copa Libertadores and more.

Hand Of Pod is back, and Sam, Joel and English Dan welcome 2013 with a nice laid-back chat about nothing in particular. There's just the news that one of the most powerful men in world football will leave his charge of the AFA in 2015, a bunch of (admittedly often tiresome) transfer gossip from the summer and various other issues to mop up, including the ongoing saga of where (or whether) Juan Román Riquelme will be playing his football this year; could it be Tigre, now that they're in the group stages of the Copa Libertadores for the first time? We discuss River Plate's and Boca Juniors' pre-seasons, as well as those of the other big boys, confusing goings-on surrounding Ricky Centurión's transfer from Racing to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, Argentina's latest Under-20 failure, and a lot more. It's good to be back.

The eighty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is the last one of 2012, and sees Sam, Dan and Joel analysing Vélez Sarsfield's 2012 Torneo Inicial title win, which was confirmed on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Unión de Santa Fe whilst nearest challengers Lanús lost 1-0 away to River Plate. The roles of manager Ricardo Gareca and forward Facundo Ferreyra are discussed, as well as some of Vélez's other crucial players during the campaign. We also talk about Ramón Díaz's welcome back to River, whether any current Primera managers are future contenders for the national team job, and look back at San Lorenzo's 2-1 win over Independiente in the weekend's big relegation clash.

One subject looms large over this week's (belated) episode of Hand Of Pod, the eighty-seventh since we started. Sam, English Dan and Joel discuss Ramón Díaz's emotional return to the club he loves and which loves him, River Plate, after Matías Almeyda was fired in the extremely early hours of Wednesday morning/late hours of Tuesday night. What Díaz's return means for River, whether Almeyda really deserved the sack and more. We also discuss Vélez Sarsfield, who could win the title on Sunday afternoon, and whether their boss Ricardo Gareca is really the Argentine Sir Alex Ferguson, as some in the Argentine media would have us believe. There's an appreciation of Tigre - who hours after recording reached the Copa Sudamericana final, the first continental final in their history - and listeners' questions ranging from Sam's ideal River starting XI to who Julio César Falcioni's replacement as Boca Juniors manager might be. Enjoy.

This week's Hand Of Pod is the eighty-sixth episode, and as Seba rightly points out early on, eighty-six is an important number for Argentine football, not least for being the year which saw the event from which we take our name. Sam, Joel and Seba discuss an ever-tightening title race, a thrilling showing from Racing's young forward trio, more crowd trouble at Independiente and at the Santa Fe derby over the weekend, before explaining why San Lorenzo's move back to their historic home of Boedo has repercussions far beyond football in Argentine society. As if all this wasn't thrilling enough, we have a bit of a chat about River Plate's latest financial results. It's gripping stuff.

The eighty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees us turn two years old, and to celebrate the fact that we're still here we recorded in Seba's very plush office. We discuss the likelihood of Juan Román Riquelme returning to action for Boca Juniors in the new year, and some of the local league action - but not much, since we were recording part way through the midweek round of matches - and the Argentine national team's drab performance away to Saudi Arabia hours before we recorded. During our listeners' Q&A session, crowd trouble caused Independiente v Belgrano to be abandoned, and we have some 'as live' coverage of that. Thrilling stuff as ever. Thanks for listening for the last two years, and here's to two more...

In the eighty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined again by that doyen of football journalism, Jonathan Wilson to look back on an eventful weekend in the Torneo Inicial title race which saw Newell's Old Boys' lead at the top cut to just one point ahead of Vélez Sarsfield, and two ahead of major surprise package Belgrano de Córdoba. We look at impressive performances from youngsters Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors) and Facundo 'Chucky' Ferreyra (Vélez), and answer listeners' questions ranging from how many languages Mr Wilson speaks to Julio César Falcioni's greatest achievement as Boca Juniors manager. And we completely ignore the Supercopa Argentina, which was being played as we recorded (Arsenal de Sarandí beat Boca Juniors on penalties after a 0-0 draw, in case you care).