Hand Of Pod

The sixty-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Dan joined by Joel Richards to discuss another action-packed week in Argentine football. Tigre, astonishingly, might finally manage to climb out of the relegation zone this coming weekend if they beat Atlético Rafaela; Boca Juniors' reserves dispatched Racing 2-0 on Sunday to go top of the league, whilst Tigre, Newell's Old Boys and Arsenal de Sarandí are all only a point behind, and All Boys are probably the most amusing of the potential champions, only two points off the lead. Questions include Boca Juniors' proposed plans for a new stadium, River Plate's likely squad changes if they gain promotion back to the Primera División and more.

The sixty-second episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded by candlelight, after an epic climb up many, many flights of stairs from Sam and English Dan. In it, along with Australian Dan, we discuss San Lorenzo manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's streetfight with the assistant of his predecessor, Newell's Old Boys new position alone at the top of the Primera División, River Plate's position in the second division title race, and Boca Juniors' and Vélez Sarsfield's chances in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday night, following their 0-0 draw with one another on Sunday evening. Listeners' questions this week include how much Sam weighs, and which club has the nicest looking female fans.

In the sixty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan are joined by the wonderful Joel Richards to discuss yet another weekend of controversy. There was controversy (though there shouldn't have been) in Rafaela at the end of an incredibly dramatic 2-2 draw between Rafaela and Boca Juniors, a youth player for Banfield shot dead by a policeman, and Independiente's president has declared war on the club's barra brava. We answer questions ranging from Fabián Monzón's chances at future call-ups for Argentina to Manchester City target and River Plate midfielder Ezequiel Cirigliano. Enjoy.

The sixtieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Dan discuss Boca Juniors' narrow lead in the Clausura, thanks to a spectacular Santiago Silva effort last weekend, and Racing's pitiful performance away to Lanús last weekend. We also give the Copa Argentina a once-over, now that all four quarter-finals are known, and discuss Argentina's sides in the Copa Libertadores, before moving on to listeners' questions which range from books on Argentine football and culture to Argentina's WAG culture. This was recorded on Wednesday but not uploaded until now because Sam, who does the production and uploading, hasn't been well. Sorry.

The fifty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam, Dan, Dan and special guest, Turkish TV presenter Asli Pelit, cover an increasingly tight title race; Only two points separate the top six teams, with Boca Juniors and Newell's Old Boys the sides in the driving seat - for now. San Martín de San Juan have changed managers, and former Fulham striker Facundo Sava is the man now in the hot seat for his first job in management. Also as we were talking, the AFA were voting on a league restructure. The relegation system described herein has since been confirmed, but the short championships will remain for next season. As usual, we answer your questions, and this week Mystic Dan is handing over the reins to Asli, and allowing her to predict what will happen this weekend. She gives us reasons and everything.

The fifty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper edition. Not only do we have both Seba and Joel Richards on the same pod for the first time since their short-lived Enganche podcast with Sam four years ago (which spawned the idea for Hand Of Pod when Sam moved to Buenos Aires), but Dan and Dan are both with us as well, and we've got plenty to discuss. Independiente thrashed Racing in the clásico on Saturday, after which Racing striker Teo Gutiérrez almost went postal, Boca Juniors players got into a fight with Tigre fans which left Santiago Silva with fractured fingers, San Martín v Vélez was called off with five minutes left, Racing and Godoy Cruz bade farewell to their managers, and River Plate fans courted controversy with some racist t-shirts. All this and more on the best Argentine football podcast around. Enjoy.

Episode 57 of Hand Of Pod is a long 'un, because Sam, English Dan and Seba have a derby to preivew. It doesn't help, then, that Seba has decided he's going to watch QPR instead of Racing on Saturday morning. We look at the roles of both managers going into Saturday's Avellaneda derby between Independiente and Racing, and also at Tigre's slump in form, the qualifications of Boca Juniors and Vélez Sarsfield in the Copa Libertadores and of Tigre and River Plate in the Copa Argentina, and answer your questions on everything from Pablo Mouche, Jorge Sampaoli, Gerardo Martino, Arsenal de Sarandí and Club Atlético Douglas Haig (yes, there really is such a club). Australian Dan will return next week.

The fifty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Dan discussing Independiente's win over Rafaela last weekend, Racing's defeat away to Newell's Old Boys, Boca Juniors once again topping the Clausura table and more, including the extraordinary start to David Trezeguet's spell at River Plate. San Lorenzo changed managers this week (we recorded just before Ricardo Caruso Lombardi was confirmed as the new man) and Aussie Dan has a bit of a rant about clubs' lack of imagination when appointing new bosses. Paulo Dybala gets a mention again, and there are more live questions, since that was so much fun to do last week. Mystic Dan isn't trying to predict exact scorelines again, sadly.

The fifty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan, Seba and Dan meet again to discuss yet more crisis in the business of Avellaneda's two giant clubs, Racing and Independiente, as well as how Newell's Old Boys and Estudiantes were the big winners of last weekend. We run the rule over another great performance for second division starlet Paulo Dybala, talk about the 'Law of The Ex', one of the Argentine football media's favourite curses, and when all appears to be heading towards a most disorganised conclusion, answer some listeners' questions tweeted DURING THE PODCAST. This is revolutionary stuff, right here. Also, Mystic Dan's being even dafter than usual this week, and has actually tried to predict exact scorelines for the eight round of the Clausura.

The fifty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod takes in quite a lot. We begin with Colón's highly controversial equaliser against San Lorenzo at the weekend, a goal which will see referee Diego Abal miss at least a couple of rounds of the Torneo Clausura. After getting some of the weekend Primera scores mixed up, we then take in the revival in the fortunes of both Avellaneda sides in the last two weeks, Tigre's climb out of the automatic relegation places for the first time this season, and discuss whether Estudiantes are finally back, and whether Racing at last have a high enough arsehole quotient in their squad. As well as all this we ask whether Atlético Rafaela and Godoy Cruz are losing it, run a fine-toothed comb over hot European transfer targets Paulo Dybala and Matías Suárez, and discuss why everyone suddenly seems to want Argentine second division players anyway. There's even time for Seba to insult us, when we were only trying to help him with his English.