Hand Of Pod

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).

In the eighty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined by Jonathan Wilson, who helps us review Sunday's superclásico, which ended in a 2-2 draw between River Plate and Boca Juniors thanks to a late equaliser from Julio César Falcioni's teacher's pet Walter Erviti. We also look at Newell's Old Boys' win over champions Arsenal de Sarandí, and at Racing's away loss to Vélez Sarsfield, who are now second, three points behind Newell's. All this, and listeners' questions ranging from the national team to why you should keep watching Argentine football in spite of some horrendous crowd trouble in the Boca end on Sunday.

In the eighty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Joel and Ed run their critical eyes over the biggest clash of last weekend, Racing v Newell's (2nd v 1st), and explain why we enjoyed it even though many who weren't there thought it wasn't such a great game on TV. We discuss the continued development of an interesting title race, before moving on to the biggest match of the year in Argentina: the return of the superclásico after River Plate's year in the second division. We preview River v Boca Juniors - which will be played on Sunday afternoon - and talk about the history and some of the reasons it's become the biggest fixture in the country. Enjoy.

The eighty-first episode of Hand Of Pod is another bumper one, with a look back on Argentina's 3-0 dispatching of Uruguay last Friday and Tuesday's hard-fought 2-1 win away to Chile, as well as the main World Cup qualifying results in the rest of the CONMEBOL region, including an impressive Radamel Falcao García- and James Rodríguez-inspired win over Paraguay for Colombia. We then move on to the domestic scene, where the main story is Juan Antonio Pizzi's confirmation as San Lorenzo manager, before answering a veritable barrage of listeners' questions. Next week: the superclásico preview. Enjoy!

Episode 80 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel welcome guest Ed Malyon to Buenos Aires, and in a bumper episode we go through last weekend's Torneo Inicial action - which included a woeful loss for Boca Juniors, a very impressive win for leaders Newell's Old Boys and a thumping 5-0 victory for River Plate against Godoy Cruz. We also answer listeners' questions on the sons of ex players coming through club youth ranks and more, and cast our eyes over Argentina's upcoming World Cup Qualifiers - at home to Uruguay on Friday and away to Chile on Tuesday. Enjoy.