The J-Talk Podcast

Episode 222 - J1 Matchday 5

J1 returned from the international break with plenty of talking points both on and off the pitch, and Alan Gibson and Neil Debnam returned to the pod to discuss another action-packed weekend.

In Part 1 Alan and I begin with Urawa's decision to sack manager Takafumi Hori just over four months after he steered Reds to the ACL title, before moving on to focus on the differing fortunes of the three Kansai clubs in J1 through five games, finishing with a brief review of the Matchday 5 slate (to 35:40).

Then in Part 2 Neil chats about the horrendous officiating blunder that cost Kawasaki a point in their top-of-the-table clash with Hiroshima, and the slightly underwhelming start Frontale have made to life as defending top flight champions.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Alan - @JSoccerMagazine

Neil - @frontalerabbit

Episode 221 - J2 Special March 2018

With no J1 played over the international break it was the perfect time to get the band back together as Jon Steele and Stuart Smith run the rule over J2 six games into the new season.

We begin with each guest picking a surprising and disappointing team for them in the early going and check in on the three teams relegated from J1 last season, before assessing the upside-down nature of the table and the fast starts that each of the current top six have made.

Stay til the end, when I completely flummox Jon and Stuart with a quiz question for the ages.

Follow my guests on twitter:

Jon @J2KantoBites

Stuart @sushi_football

And check out Stuart's We Are Gifu blog

Episode 220 - The Dawn of Ange & J1 Matchday 4

This week we go in depth of the early days of Ange Postecoglou's reign at Yokohama F Marinos with first time guest Sean Galbraith.

We begin with a detailed look at Yokohama's first win of the season, 1-0 at Urawa on Sunday, before looking bigger picture at the impact of the new gaffer's tactics and how well the squad are responding (to 36:45).

Then Sean assesses Yokohama's opponents so far, starting with Reds, and including Cerezo Osaka, Kashiwa and Tosu (to 49:35). From there we run through the other results from J1 Matchday 4, including friend of the pod Jay Bothroyd's big day out at the Sapporo Dome on Sunday, and Sean offers his thoughts on Manabu Saito's controversial cross-prefecture move to Kawasaki.

Follow Sean on twitter @1amSage

Episode 219 - Jay Bothroyd

In a J-Talk first, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo striker Jay Bothroyd is the guest on this week's podcast.

A completely open book, Jay talks at length on a wide variety of topics, from adjusting to life under a new manager, to his Veganism, the best stadiums in Japan and so much more from Perugia to Iwata, Cardiff to Sapporo Dome's floating pitch.

Thanks to all who posted questions for Jay on twitter - we didn't get to them all, but almost all were addressed at least in passing in conversation.

#AUDIO ISSUE# There was a brief problem with the Skype connection at the 1:00:29 mark of the podcast. I begin asking Jay about Koji Miyoshi, it cuts out, and you hear almost all of Jay's answer.

Episode 218 - J1 Matchday 2 & J3 Preview

Cesare Polenghi and Richy Palmer guest on this week's podcast.

In Part 1 (to 51:40) Cesare and I review J1 Matchday 2, and touch on several early-season talking points including:

• Hiroshima's return to relevance;
• Another gaffe from referee Yuichi Nishimura and Gamba Osaka's early struggles;
• Tosu under Massimo Ficcadenti;
• Mihael Mikic at Shonan;
• And the impact Thai players are having in J1 and what it means about the overall level of the league.

Then in Part 2 Richy previews the new J3 season (to 1:16:55) before we finish the episode with a check on the key results from J2 Matchday 2.

Follow my guests on twitter:

• Cesare @CesarePolenghi
• Richy @GifuRichy

And follow us @JTalkPod for a big announcement regarding next week's pod!

Episode 217 - J1 & J2 Matchday 1

After the 2018 J.League season got going over the weekend, Neil Debnam, Sam Robson, Alan Gibson and Stuart Smith guested to round it all up.

In Part 1 Neil (in a storming J-Talk debut) discusses what it was like to be there when Kawasaki sealed the J1 title last season, reviews their opening day win at Iwata, and looks ahead at Frontale's prospects for this season (to 31:25).

Then Alan and Sam (together at last!) recap the rest of the games from J1 Matchday 1 (to 1:12:50).

Finally Stuart returns with the pick of the games from the first round of J2.

 

Follow my guests on twitter:

Neil @frontalerabbit

Sam @FRSoccerSam

Alan @JSoccerMagazine

Stuart @sushi_football

 

#Request#

Once again, the audio sounded fine to me volume-wise throughout editing (after significant amplification), but if these issues remain for you please let me know in the comments or on twitter @JTalkPod

Episode 216 - 2018 J1 Season Preview

With the new J1 season getting underway on Friday night, Sean Carroll and Scott McIntyre guest to preview the new campaign.

We begin with deserved plaudits for Kawasaki and Cerezo Osaka on their first-ever top flight trophies, and celebrate (well, at least two of us do) Urawa for their ACL triumph in a wrap-up of 2017 (to 22:30), before moving on to look ahead at the prospects of all 18 J1 clubs this season. Scott springs a surprise when he unveils his predicted top four, and as we work our way down his predicted table major offseason acquisitions (both on the pitch and in the dugout) are discussed, while in amongst a chat about J.League boyfriends Sean reveals he's just in the friend zone with a certain Kashima midfielder.

#Request# Volume levels sounded better to me throughout the editing process (& in finished mp3) this week, but as with the J2 Preview pod please let me know in the comments or on twitter @JTalkPod if you have any issues with volume level/quality in this episode.

Episode 215 - 2018 J2 Season Preview

In our first full episode of 2018, Jon Steele and Steve Barme preview the new J2 season.

In Part 1 Jon and I recap the 2017 season (to 21:00), then Steve joins me to discuss Omiya and fellow relegated clubs Kofu and Niigata (to 44:40) before Jon returns to look ahead at the promotion/playoff prospects for last season's top half, and if there are any slivers of hope for teams who finished in the bottom half in the last campaign. We finish by sticking our necks out predicting the end of season top six.

#Apology to Tokyo Verdy supporters# Unfortunately a segment where Jon discussed Verdy's superb rise to fifth last season fell on the cutting room floor, but trust me, he was effusive in his praise.

#Request# I wasn't entirely happy with the audio quality during the editing process, if you found sections of the pod difficult to listen to quality-wise please let me know in the comments, or on twitter @JTalkPod.

Episode 214 - We're Back!

A brief teaser to mark the return of the podcast for 2018.

Episode 213 - 2016 J.League Finale

Re-posting our final episode from 2016 to christen the new iTunes feed.