The J-Talk Podcast

Episode 441 - Sanga Survive, J1 Team of the Season

Kyoto got the result they needed in Sunday's playoff final, and Sanga correspondent Nick Bolton guests in Part 1 to relive the drama of the draw with Kumamoto, and to reflect on an eventful first season back in the top flight (to 16:35).

Then Jonny Nicol hops for an epic Part 2, in which we go over the past week's poll results, and piece together the J-Talk J1 Team of the Season (to 1:26:40), before we finish the episode with a fitness update on some key Samurai Blue personnel, and look ahead to the World Cup opener vs Germany. 

JTET - J2 Play-Offs (Round 2) / J3 Round 32 Review

The JTET are back at it again, bringing you up to date on all of the latest J2 and J3 news!

For the J2 segment of the pod, Jon Steele was joined again by Garry Irwin (@GarryIrwin on Twitter) to look back on another tense and exciting J2 Play-Off match, with Garry's beloved Kumamoto just about making it through to the Final after their 2-2 draw with Yamagata.

Garry also helped Jon to preview the Final, where Kumamoto will take on J1's 16th-placed side Kyoto Sanga (that game is coming up on Sunday 13th November).

After that, Mike 'The Magic' Innes is on deck for 'J-Talk: Short Corner', rounding up another eyebrow-raising weekend of J3 results (including Iwaki sealing promotion to J2 as champions, and mixed results for most of the other teams at the top).

Hope everyone enjoys the show!

Episode 440 - Title Glory for Muscat’s F.Marinos

It was truly an amazing final day of the J1 season, and when the dust settled, Yokohama F.Marinos were crowned top flight champions, and Stuart Woodward guests in Part 1 to revel in the triumph, sealed with a 3-1 away win over Kobe (to 36:25).

Then in Part 2 your regular co-hosts chat about Kawasaki, who finished two points behind the champions, before moving on to talk about Shimizu's relegation after the barnburner up at the Sapporo Dome, and look ahead to Sunday's playoff final, where incumbents Kyoto will battle upstarts Kumamoto for a spot in the top flight in 2023.

We round up all of the other games, and then move on to the Japan squad for the World Cup (with news breaking on Tuesday afternoon that Shuto Machino has been called up to replace Yuta Nakayama), and hand out our final four club Player of the Season awards.

JTET - J2 Play-Offs (Round 1) / J3 Round 31 Review

After a thrilling opening to the J2 Play-Offs, and another big weekend at the top of J3, the well-oiled (alright, oiled) JTET machine swings back into action.

In the first part of the show, Jon Steele (@JTalkETJon on Twitter) was joined by Jonny Nicol (@BlogGamba on Twitter) to look back over both of the J2 Play-Off games from last Sunday, and to preview the Round 2 match coming up this weekend.

After that, Mike 'the Magic' Innes (@GoGoOmiyaArdija on Twitter) is on hand to cover all of the latest J3 news in 'J-Talk: Short Corner', including a shock defeat for imperious leaders Iwaki.

Hope everyone enjoys the episode!

Episode 439 - Reds Remove Rodriguez, J1 Matchday 33

Sean Carroll made a very welcome return to the podcast this week, guesting to chat about Urawa's decision to axe manager Ricardo Rodriguez after two seasons in charge (to 12:10), before we move on to chat about the J1 title race going to the final matchday after both Yokohama F.Marinos and Kawasaki won their home finales on Saturday (to 34:00).

Then we get down and dirty in the #RelegationDogfight, where there was joy for Gamba Osaka, Shonan and Fukuoka after huge home wins, but more agony for Shimizu supporters, who now face a must-win final day trip to Sapporo (to 1:14:50).

After we bid Sean adieu, Sam and Ben wrap up the final two games from Matchday 33, and hand out four more Player of the Season awards.

JTET - J2 Round 42 / J3 Round 30 Review

The JTET crew return to cover the final day of the regular J2 season, as well as all of the latest J3 news as the 3rd-tier season nears an intriguing climax.

In Part 1, Jon Steele (@JTalkETJon on Twitter) rounds up all of the big talking points from the final day of the J2 season, as Yamagata pip Tokushima and Sendai to grab a Play-Off place, and Oita slipped up at Ryukyu to hand Kumamoto 4th place (and a home tie in Round 1 of the post-season tournament).

After that, Jon was joined by official JTET Kumamoto reporter Garry Irwin (@GarryIrwin on Twitter) to review Kumamoto's home game against Yokohama FC in depth, and to look ahead to both of this weekend's Play-Off matches.

To round things off, Mike 'The Orlando Magic' Innes (@GoGoOmiyaArdija on Twitter) brings you up to date with J3 in 'J-Talk: Short Corner'.

Thank you for all of the support for JTET so far in 2022 - enjoy the show! 

Episode 438 - Ninth Time Lucky for Sanfrecce

More late drama in Japanese cup finals, as Dan Orlowitz guests to chat about Hiroshima finally breaking their cup decider duck. Having previously lost six Emperor's Cup and two Levain Cup finals, Sanfrecce stunned 10-man Cerezo Osaka in Saturday's Levain Cup decider with two goals in second half stoppage time from Pieros Sotiriou giving them a 2-1 win. Dan also talks about Iwata's transfer ban, and gives his thoughts on FC Tokyo's Player of the Season (to 40:00).

Then in Part 2 we discuss more late drama, this time in Saturday evening's Shizuoka derby (to 51:45), preview this Saturday's Matchday 33 (to 1:06:10), and hand out more Player of the Season silverware.

Rest in Peace, Masato Kudo. Our thoughts go out to all of Kudo's former colleagues and his family and friends at this very difficult time.

JTET - EC / J2 Round 41 / J3 Round 29 Review

This week on JTET, Jon and James collaborated on a full review of all of the  big J2 news from the last seven days.

They began with a chat about Kofu's incredible penalty shoot-out win over Hiroshima in the Emperor's Cup Final, then segued into discussing Okayama's home defeat against Akita that clinched the J2 title for Niigata, and promotion for Yokohama FC.

The boys then review Yokohama FC's thrilling home defeat against Kanazawa, before turning their eyes to Gunma's 5-1 drubbing of Iwate (a result that sealed Gunma's J2 survival, and confirmed relegation for Iwate and Ryukyu).

Jon then reviews the rest of the J2 action solo, before getting help from James to preview all of the games coming up on the final day of the regular season this Sunday.

After that, Mike 'The Magic' Innes is in position to cover all of the latest J3 events in 'J-Talk: Short Corner'.

This episode was recorded before the horrible news of Miyazaki striker Masato Kudo's untimely passing at just 32 years old, so apologies if the tone of the episode seems 'off' this time. 

We will do our best to give Kudo-san a full and proper tribute next week. 

Rest In Peace, Masato. Thank you for all the memories.

Episode 437 - Emperor’s Cup Glory for Kofu

One of the most remarkable stories in recent J.League history concluded on Sunday with Kofu finishing the job, beating Hiroshima on penalties to win the Emperor's Cup, the first major trophy in their history. James Taylor from J-Talk Extra Time returns to share his thoughts on Ventforet's terrific performance on the afternoon, and how they might go about tackling the ACL next year (to 31:35).

Then we look back briefly on last Wednesday's J1 results, when Iwata blew the title race wide open and gave themselves a fighting chance of staying up, and then look ahead to Saturday's Levain Cup final and Shizuoka derby, before handing out the first five J-Talk Player of the Season Awards.

J-Talk: Extra Time J2 MD40 & J3 MD28

The end of the J2 season is fast approaching, and there's still plenty to play for. James Taylor and Jon Steele join forces to analyse 4 games from J2 matchday 40 with implications for automatic promotion, playoffs, and relegation. There’s a roundup of the rest of the weekend’s games and a preview of the penultimate round of the regular season, plus a question from Alan Gibson and news of an interesting fixture coming up in Kanazawa. After that, Mike Innes keeps you up to date with everything J3-related in J-Talk: Short Corner.

 

00:00-09:55 Nagasaki v Tokushima

09:56-17:54 Kumamoto v Gunma

17:55-26:27 Kofu v Okayama

26:28-41:34 Yokohama FC v Oita

41:35-49:36 roundup of J2 MD40

49:37-1:10:10 J2 MD41 preview

1:10:11 to end Short Corner