Episode 108: World Cup qualifiers, police shooting fans, tense title/relegation run-ins and more

The hundred-and-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper one, during which Sam, English Dan and Joel look back on Argentina’s two World Cup qualifying draws to start with, before getting into the serious stuff in the domestic league; two called-off matches and one fan shot dead by police, a restaurant looted by Independiente fans after defeat to River Plate left their side’s survival hopes hanging by the slimmest of threads, the possibility that Newell’s Old Boys could win the league on Sunday, the question of whether anyone at all involved in Argentine football pays their taxes, and much, much more besides. Enjoy.

Don’t forget, you can subscribe to us on iTunes – just click here.

Episode 107: Looking back at a big domestic weekend & forward to a pivotal World Cup qualifying one

In the 107th episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Santi are joined by prodigal son Joel Richards to look back on a weekend of domestic action and look forward to a weekend of both domestic and international matches. Argentinos Juniors’ 2-0 win over River Plate had ramifications for both the relegation table and the title race, and means Independiente could (though it’d be a stretch) be relegated this coming weekend. Newell’s Old Boys missed the chance to pull five points clear, whilst Racing and San Lorenzo are both close to securing Copa Sudamericana places. We also look forward to Argentina’s World Cup qualifying double-header; they’ll play Colombia at home on Friday, and Ecuador away on Tuesday. It’s longer than the last few, but we hope you like it.

As usual, you’ll find Mystic Sam’s predictions below the line. Don’t forget you can subscribe to us on iTunes, and follow us on Twitter.

Episode 106: reviewing the Newell’s v Boca mini-series & more

The 106th episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Santi convene to discuss what we were previewing in episode 105 – the three matches (two in the Copa Libertadores, one in the league) which Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors have played since then. Newell’s were the happier side, with a 4-0 league win and a penalty shootout win in the Libertadores after two dull 0-0 draws. We also ask whether River Plate can challenge for the league title, whether Independiente can catch Argentinos Juniors in the relegation battle, and whether Quilmes v Racing (which was played a few hours before this episode was uploaded, and ended 1-0 to Quilmes) was likely to be fixed, among much more. Oh, and we tell you our favourite ratios for mixing a fernet and Coke.

Mystic Sam’s predictions are below – you can subscribe to us on iTunes right here, and can also follow the HOP Twitter account.

Episode 105: Meltdown at Argentinos Juniors, no-one wants the title, & previewing Boca v Newell’s

Sam and English Dan are joined by Santiago for this week’s Hand Of Pod, in which we begin with a discussion of an astonishing couple of days at Argentinos Juniors, including manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi losing his rag on live TV (hardly for the first time, it’s true) and much more. We also talk about the top three all failing to win in the Torneo Final at the weekend, Independiente edging closer to an unlikely survival, and promotions for Rosario Central (back to the Primera) and Talleres de Córdoba (back to B Nacional), before previewing the mini-series of games that Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors will play in the next few days. Listeners’ questions include European transfer targets and Buenos Aires’ most dangerous stadia.

As usual, Mystic Sam’s predictions are below the line, and you can subscribe to us on iTunes by clicking here.

Episode 104: Argentina’s Libertadores involvement, Migliore’s release & the relegation scramble

In episode 104 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Mariano in a later-than-usual recording, which enables us to look back at (most of) Argentina’s Copa Libertadores involvement during this week – Boca Juniors eliminating Corinthians in controversial circumstances, and Newell’s Old Boys sending Vélez Sarsfield out on away goals (in the remaining fixture, which ended an hour and a bit after we stopped recording, Tigre were eliminated by Olimpia). We discuss the relegation battle, which could see Unión relegated next weekend, and an ever-intriguing title race, as well as the news that Pablo Migliore, now released on bail, has had his contract rescinded at San Lorenzo. Listeners’ questions include the signings of the championship so far, and Argentine footballers’ wages.

Don’t forget you can click here to subscribe to us on iTunes.

Episode 103: Reviewing Boca v River, Lanús top the table again & more

In the hundred-and-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel get together to discuss the main talking points from last week’s superclásico, which, being a superclásico, weren’t so much on the pitch (although there was a record-breaking goal scored) as off it, particularly thanks to Boca’s barra brava and River’s manager, who both made fools of themselves on, admittedly, slightly different scales. Sam was at Argentinos Juniors to watch Lanús retake leadership of the Torneo Final, helped a couple of days after their own match by two fine goals from Arsenal’s Darío Benedetto which downed Newell’s Old Boys. Independiente might be going down, but they’re going down kicking and screaming at least, and we’ve got some awful puns for you. Enjoy.

As usual, you’ll find Mystic Sam’s predictions for the next round below the line. And as usual, you can subscribe to us on iTunes, if you so desire, by clicking here.

Episode 102: Trying and failing to keep it short, & previewing the superclásico

In the hundred-and-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel have a running order for once, in an effort to get the show’s length down below an hour and a half. They succeed by a matter of seconds; don’t worry folks, we’ll get better at this, we promise. We discuss Independiente and Estudiantes finally winning matches, Boca Juniors equalling their worst ever domestic run (since we recorded, they’ve beaten Corinthians in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores tie), Newell’s Old Boys going out on their own at the top of the league and much more, including a preview of this weekend’s superclásico between Boca and River Plate in La Bombonera. Enjoy.

If you’d like to read about the superclásico, its history, its traditions and much more besides, Joel has a short (10,000 word-ish) ebook about it, published tomorrow by BackPage Press. It’s only £2.99 (GBP), so go on – treat yourself. (UPDATE: Now it’s past midnight in Argentina, I can see the Amazon UK page to download, so for our UK listeners, go here to buy the ebook. If you’re in most of the rest of the world, you’ll need to buy from Amazon.com; just do a search in their Kindle store for ‘Joel Richards Superclásico’, and you’ll find it.)

Mystic Sam’s predictions are below the line, and as ever if you want to sign up on iTunes you can do; here’s our page.