The J-Talk Podcast

Episode 319 - Its A Marathon And A Sprint

After Sam and Ben begin the episode with a smidgen of K League chat, and housekeeping following announcements last week from both the J.League and AFC (to 15:08), they welcome back frequent guest Alex Bishop - one half of the FC Tokyo Kai-Guys from twitter - for a chat on FC Tokyo winding up their Under 23 team before the start of the new J3 season (to 42:10). The guys then move on to discuss how Tokyo (and other teams) might handle such a gruelling set of upcoming fixtures - with The Gasmen potentially playing between 45 and 50 games in less than six months - ahead of the release of the J.League fixture list next Monday.

Money, money, money.....

...must be funny? Not really if you are JEF United or FC Gifu. But luckily there are some teams that know the difference between value and cost. 

Welcome to the deep dive on the financial state of J2 and the clubs contained in it. Stuart took the time over the weekend to assess the J.League financial report for 2019, and has translated/crunched some numbers to try and answers questions including:

• Who squeezes out the best value for money?
• Who punches above their financial weight?
• Who is in trouble financially?
• Who disappoints?
• Where does the money come from?
• What is "other"? 

Jon & Stuart go over these questions, and try to provide some insight into the numbers. If after listening you have any questions - please feel free to me or Jon a tweet. 

As always, we really appreciate all the support & feedback we get from you listeners. We hope you enjoy this episode! But don't gorge on it - the J3 financial podcast is on the horizon, and that is one hell of a document!

• Stuart - @sushi_football
• Jon - @J2KantoBites
• Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod

Episode 318 - The Final Countdown (We Hope)

This is it... surely. After a few false starts, the J.League announced return to play dates for J1 and J2, and a commencement date for J3, last Friday, and Sean Carroll joined Sam and Ben to chat all about it.

Thanks to Jonny, one of our supporters on Patreon, for his questions - if you've been listening regularly you know the guys have been greatly indebted to our patrons for topics and talking points during the COVID-19-enforced hiatus.

If you'd like to support the podcast on Patreon, for as little as $1 a month, please visit patreon.com/jtalkpod

 

J-Talk: Extra Time - (Re)Born on the 4th of July

Ahead of an official announcement on Friday May 29th, Jon Steele & Stuart Smith discuss the proposals regarding the restart (or the start, if we're talking J3....) of the J.League, and the challenges it faces. 

The gents also talk crowd noise, go over FC Ryukyu's financial results, wax lyrical about Zweigen Kanazawa's proposed new stadium, have a bit of gossip on an up & coming player who might be heading to Europe....all in under 40 minutes!! 

** Apologies for the audio quality on Stuart's side. For some reason the usual recording software didn't work and so we had to use the embedded recorder in Skype which didn't work as well as the other one. I hope it doesn't affect your listening enjoyment **

We really appreciate all the support & feedback we get from you listeners. We hope you enjoy this episode!

• Stuart - @sushi_football
• Jon - @J2KantoBites
• Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod 

 

Episode 317 - Japan International Ami Otaki

What a career, what a life in football. From Waseda University to a European Champions League Final, then trying to break in to a World Cup-winning squad. From retiring to having a kick-about with Park Ji-Sung, and then returning to the pitch.

Sam and Ben were thrilled to be joined by Ami Otaki, who was a brilliant guest - open and honest about all of her experiences along the way, and passionate about Nadecare, the NPO she started with Saki Kumagai and Yukari Kinga in 2019.

Get following @nadecare on Twitter! 

J-Talk: Extra Time - "Empty" Stadia Problems

Jon Steele & Stuart Smith return for short. sharp round up of the latest news from Japanese football including:

• Is the J.League gearing up for a return?
• Squirting soap on the changing room floor
• How to fill an empty stadium? 
• Handsome Mitch Langerak
• Good & bad J.League content

We appreciate all the support & feedback we get from you listeners. We hope you enjoy this episode!

• Stuart - @sushi_football
• Jon - @J2KantoBites
• Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod 

 

Episode 316 - You Down With NPB?

After a brief K-League and Bundesliga chat at the beginning of the episode, Sam and Ben welcome in Jason Coskrey, the hardball head honcho (chief baseball writer) at The Japan Times, for a chat on how the coronavirus has affected the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) schedule, how they might proceed once it is determined safe to begin play behind closed doors, and the collaboration between NPB and J.League during the pandemic, among other topics.

Thanks to our patrons for their terrific questions (and their ongoing support), and to Jason for taking the time to speak with us. Please follow Jason on twitter (and tell him J-Talk sent you!), and check out his Japan Times archive.

J-Talk: Extra Time - Good news....maybe?

Welcome to the "Hat & Roger" - pull up a chair and let's talk some Japanese football! (The reference will become clear...)

Are we edging closer to a return to the J.League? Jon Steele & Stuart Smith believe so, piecing together 'evidence' from various sources and they talk about the situation in Japan now, and whether they'd feel safe going to watch games in stadia come July. 

Also, happy 27th birthday to the J.League, a rethink for the Emperor's Cup and other stuff in this streamlined, yet full, 39 minutes. Enjoy!

• Stuart - @sushi_football
• Jon - @J2KantoBites
• Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod 

Episode 315 - Next Stop: J.League

It's another welcome return on this week's pod, as Richy Palmer guests to help us wrap up Sven's terrific Patreon message - the gift that has kept on giving for Sam and Ben in recent weeks!

First we look at J.League Associate Membership - the system by which lower league clubs apply to become J - then give a couple of scenarios if the league were to ever reach it's target of 100 clubs within 100 years.

From there its a check on the eight prefectures that are without a J.League club: Richy assesses them from just about ready to a fair way off - and which areas of the country without a professional club would benefit the most from one.

And we finish with a look at Chris Hough's superb new video - A football adventure across Japan - on his Lost in Football Japan YouTube channel.

Follow Richy on Twitter: @GifuRichy

J-Talk: Extra Time - The People Speak.....

It seemed a lot of you had things to get off your chest with regards to the J.League, and so Jon Steele & Stuart Smith listened and passed judgement. They disagreed a lot, and that means you won't be happy with some of our responses....but, hey - that's life! 

So, from monochrome kits, to Kazu, to reserved seating, here is the Room 101 response episode. Enjoy! And stay safe, wherever you may be listening.  

• Stuart - @sushi_football
• Jon - @J2KantoBites
• Patreon - https://patreon.com/jtalkpod