The J-Talk Podcast

The big J3 kick-off is just a few days away, so Mike Innes joins Jon Steele again for the second half of the JTET Season Preview.

In this episode, Mike & Jon take a look at all of the teams who finished in the bottom half of the third tier in 2020, as well as extending a warm welcome to J3 debutants Tegevajaro Miyazaki.

Mike also shares his views on how some of the smaller sides in the division might be able to boost their paltry attendances, and media profiles, in the future.

Happy listening!

Jon on Twitter: @JTalkETJon

Mike on Twitter: @GoGoOmiyaArdija

After another bumper weekend of top flight action, Sean Carroll guested to round up J1 Matchday 2.

We begin all the way back at Todoroki last Wednesday night, where Cerezo Osaka gave champions Kawasaki their first stern test of the new season, then begin our weekend wrap with the same two teams - Frontale swatting aside Sendai, and Cerezo again losing the lead twice and coming away with nothing after their trip to FC Tokyo (to 23:46).

Next we cover the two teams closest to Kawasaki in the table - Nagoya and Tosu - after their second straight wins, over Sapporo and Urawa respectively (to 54:10), and from there we move on to first wins of the season for Kashiwa (over Shonan) and Oita (away at Yokohama FC), before we finish with the matchday's three draws.

In this special J3 preview episode, Mike Innes joins Jon Steele to run the rule over the teams that finished between 3rd and 10th in last season's third tier (from Nagano down to Fujieda MYFC).

We discuss key transfers, some general observations about the clubs in question, and make some (pretty vague) predictions about who we think will be involved in the promotion race in 2021!

Hope everyone enjoys the show - Part 2, covering the rest of the J3 clubs, is coming next week.

Mike on Twitter: @GoGoOmiyaArdija

Jon on Twitter: @JTalkETJon

To round up all of the action from the opening weekend in the second tier, Sean Carroll joined Jon Steele on JTET this week. 

Topics covered in this episode (some serious, some less so) include...

- Nagasaki up & running

- Big wins for Niigata & Tokyo Verdy

- An opening day victory, & a clean sheet, for FC Ryukyu

- Some interesting kit clashes for Tochigi, Okayama, Sagamihara & Kyoto

- Montedio Yamagata's away socks

Hope everyone enjoys the show! 

Sean on Twitter: @seankyaroru

Jon on Twitter @JTalkETJon

J1 returned with a bang over the weekend, and Dan Orlowitz from The Japan Times joined guests for a full review of the action on the pitch (and the pitchside monitors).

We begin at Todoroki last Friday night, where champions Kawasaki brushed aside Yokohama F.Marinos, then we move on to Shimizu's superb away win at Kashima and Sapporo's home thumping of Yokohama FC.

Next, strap yourself in for some VAR chat in wins for Cerezo Osaka over Kashiwa and Tosu away at Shonan, before we cover Kobe's Kansai Derby win over Gamba Osaka and Nagoya's away win at Fukuoka, then wrap things up with the three Matchday 1 1-1 draws.

In the final part of our J2 season preview for 2021, Mike Innes & Jon Steele take a close look at last season's 17th - 22nd place finishers in the second tier, along with an in-depth check on newly-promoted Akita and Sagamihara.

It's another lengthy episode, at around 70 minutes, but we needed the extra time to go over all of the in and outs of the transfer window for these respective teams (as well as to make some pre-season predictions for the top and bottom of the table)!

Enjoy the show - J3 season previews are coming soon, and next week 'regular' pods will resume with a roundup of the opening round of J2 matches.

Mike on Twitter: @GoGoOmiyaArdija

Jon on Twitter: @JTalkETJon

*PS. As always, please let us know if there any audio issues - Jon is still learning how to edit, and (like a J2 defender) doesn't always get it right first time!

We've done it! With this episode, we've now previewed all 20 J1 clubs before the season kicks off on Friday night. Jonny Nicol guests for a look ahead at how Gamba Osaka, Nagoya, Cerezo Osaka, Kobe and Hiroshima might get on in 2021.

We begin with a look back at Saturday's Super Cup, which saw Kawasaki add another trophy to their burgeoning collection (to 12:20), then Gamba are the first club we preview (to 31:50), followed by Nagoya (to 53:40) - how will the ACL affect them both?

In Part 2 Cerezo are up first (to 1:09:30), then perennial disappointments Kobe (to 1:26:35), before we wrap up with Hiroshima (to 1:36:30).

Finally, we run through some teams who might surprise - for good or bad reasons - in the new season, and some players to watch.

In the second episode of our big J2 season preview, Jon Steele & Mike Innes run the rule over the teams that finished from 10th down to 16th in last season's J2 standings (from surprise packages Tochigi down to Ryukyu).

This installment is a long one, at around 70 minutes, but there was so much to discuss that hopefully it doesn't feel like it! We spend around 10 minutes on each team, with a lot of attention given to Niigata, Matsumoto and Omiya.

Enjoy the show - Part 3 (covering the rest of J2 sides, as well as newly-promoted Akita and Sagamihara) is coming soon!

Mike on Twitter: @GoGoOmiyaArdija

Jon on Twitter: @JTalkETJon

Our J1 Preview series rolls on, with Scott McIntyre guesting for the duration of our episode on a fascinating quintet of haves and have nots.

Centred on the four Kanagawa clubs, we begin with reigning champions Kawasaki (to 22:35) and 2019 league winners Yokohama F.Marinos (to 46:40).

Yokohama FC follow (to 57:05), then we finish in Kanagawa with Shonan (to 1:11:20).

Finally we skip west to Shizuoka and discuss Shimizu.

In this episode, Jon Steele & Mike Innes begin their miniseries of J2 preview shows by discussing the teams that finished from 3rd to 9th in the 2020 standings (from Nagasaki down to Mito).

We hope you enjoy the 60 minutes of lively discussion, especially the use of adjectives such as 'barrel-chested' and 'willowy' - Part 2 & Part 3 of the J2 preview shows will be along soon!

*Programming note: this was my (Jon's) first attempt at editing and posting a show (usually I force Stuart or Ben to do it for me). If you have any feedback to help me get better (audio levels, other issues that you notice), please let me know & I'll do my best to improve them for future shows! Thanks.

Mike on Twitter: @GoGoOmiya Ardija

Jon on Twitter: @JTalkETJon