Hand Of Pod

The hundred-and-seventeenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Joel and Andrés discussing Argentina's confirmation of their place in the Brazil 2014 World Cup, courtesy of an historic 5-2 away win over Paraguay on Tuesday night. After that, we move on to review a surprise-filled weekend of Torneo Inicial action which saw Mystic Sam get only one prediction correct. River Plate's attack finally clicke...

The hundred-and-sixteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam welcome German/Swiss/Chinese Dan (who is actually English) to his living room, as well as Andrés Bruckner, who makes his HOP debut. Also appearing is Sam's brother William, who's in town for a couple of months. Topics up for discussion are Racing and Independiente's new managers - both have been announced since we last recorded - Argentinos...

It was an historic weekend in Argentina; for the first time ever, all of the Big Five - River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing, Independiente and San Lorenzo - lost in the same round of matches. So inevitably, this week's Hand Of Pod, which features Sam and English Dan, focusses on the grandes and their varying states of disarray, with both Avellaneda clubs having fired their managers (since our record...

We're only three rounds into the season, but all the same it's a little bizarre to be looking at a league table and seeing Argentinos Juniors on top of it. In the hundred and fourteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Santiago sings the praises of their manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi, Sam continues to get exasperated by River Plate's eternal struggles to get Teo Gutiérrez registered to play, and Joel is...

Episode 113 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel review the first two rounds of the 2013 Torneo Inicial, in which we've learned that River Plate still have a lot of improving to do, Boca Juniors' defence might be as bad as it was during the first half of the year, and San Lorenzo could well be the team to beat this term. There have been mixed showings from Godoy Cruz and Rosario Central a...

The hundred-and-twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Santiago reviewing the couple of weeks of transfer activity that have followed episode 111, and previewing the 2013 Torneo Inicial. First, we answer the question on everyone's lips: 'What is a Gerardo Martino, and why has it been chosen to manage FC Barcelona?' after which we get into the important stuff. You know - the domestic stuff. Wh...

The hundred-and-eleventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Santi meet for a mid-winter fernet and to discuss Newell's Old Boys' exit from the Copa Libertadores, the AFA's bizarre decisions regarding the validity of championships won both this year and back in 1936, violence at Independiente, where the club president was attacked by the barra brava a couple of weeks ago, and various...

The hundred-and-tenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel meet to look back on a memorable Torneo Final - what seemed like an emphatic championship win for Newell's even though they only ended up three points clear of second placed River Plate, San Martín's last day relegation, Boca Juniors' hideous campaign, River's qualified success - and forward to the main talking points of t...

The hundred-and-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Santi return to discuss an eventful week in Argentine football. Independiente were relegated last Saturday courtesy of a 1-0 defeat at home to San Lorenzo; Newell's Old Boys won the championship on Wednesday without kicking a ball as Lanús - who'd thrashed River 5-1 on Sunday - failed to overturn a 2-0 half time deficit in comp...

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 hangin...

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 rel...

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 whe...

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 close...

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...

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 diff...

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 r...

The hundred-and-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan welcome Joel back from his holiday, and the three are joined by Santiago again. We're also reunited with Australian Dan, making a brief return to say hello and to resurrect Mystic Dan as a late marker of HOP's 100th edition last week. We talk about some major refereeing controversies in four different matches at the weekend, the...

Hand Of Pod is one hundred episodes old. And we're celebrating in style; recording in an almost silent flat, with current and former regulars and guests. Sam, English Dan, Seba, Asli and Mariano are joined on Skype by Ed Malyon (Aussie Dan and Joel sadly couldn't make it this week) for a podcasting landmark, and we've got plenty to discuss. Independiente unveiled a new manager, and the day after h...

In the ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Santiago, the Arsenal de Sarandí fan, to discuss the big moves up and down the table(s) after last weekend's results in the Torneo Final. Biggest of all was Independiente's defeat to All Boys, which leaves them seriously compromised in the relegation table, needing some improbable point totals to now stay in the Primera....

In the ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are introduced by World Cup final referee Horacio Elizondo, and joined by guest star Archie Whitworth for a bumper edition - there's a lot to get through. We discuss the thrillers and fine goals scored during a weekend which left Lanús' lead atop the Torneo Final cut to just one point over Newell's Old Boys, question just how bad Ind...

In the ninety-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined (eventually) by Daniel Schweimler, another Englishman in Buenos Aires, who runs the Hand Of Dan blog looking at Argentine society through the prism of life on the terraces of Argentinos Juniors. We discuss Argentina's impressive World Cup qualifying results (a 3-0 win over Venezuela followed by a 1-1 draw away to Bo...

In the ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined by Henry May, founding president and former centre back of Huracan FC London, possibly the world's most famous London Sunday league side. We discuss All Boys' 100th anniversary (and their lovely, lovely commemorative shirts), Lanús' three point lead in the league, Independiente's ongoing woes and the chances of Unión...

In the ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel toast the world's first Latin American pontiff with a fernet (mate in Joel's case) even though none of us are Catholic, and discuss what his installment in the Vatican hot seat could mean for the immediate future of his favourite football team, San Lorenzo de Almagro (yes, really). Then we get a bit more serious and discuss Boca...

The ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel reunited after a few weeks, to discuss a goal-filled weekend which saw San Lorenzo beat River Plate in the clásico, Lanús claim a point away to Dan's Racing which took them top of the table, and Boca Juniors hilariously crash and burn at home to Unión on the day of Juan Román Riquelme's comeback. There were two 3-3 draws, a po...

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 Argen...