On this week’s show, The YP’s football writers Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall join host Mark Singleton to assess which Yorkshire teams came out best from the summer transfer window and which emerged with unfinished business.
Our panel then turns their attention to the match action, starting with Sheffield United’s Premier League basement clash with Everton before moving on to the Championship and the form so far of Leeds United and Hull City, plus first wins of the season for Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town.
They also consider the start to the season made by Barnsley In League One and Yorkshire’s League Two trio of Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers and Harrogate Town.
Our panel then turns their attention to the match action, starting with Sheffield United’s Premier League basement clash with Everton before moving on to the Championship and the form so far of Leeds United and Hull City, plus first wins of the season for Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town.
They also consider the start to the season made by Barnsley In League One and Yorkshire’s League Two trio of Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers and Harrogate Town.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:21 Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:25 we'll be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:28 of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by football writer for
00:32 the Yorkshire Post, Leon Wobbshaw, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our
00:36 local clubs. Don't forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across
00:40 Yorkshire and beyond by logging on to our website at yp.sport@nationalworld.com, as
00:45 well as checking out our various Twitter feeds, the main one being @ypsport. If you search
00:50 for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can
00:54 find us there as well. If you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using
00:58 those various Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter at
01:02 footballtalkpodcast@yp.sport@nationalworld.com.
01:06 YorkshirePost.co.uk
01:09 Right, so let's kick this week off by taking a look at the transfer window. Now that the
01:14 dust has settled on a world, or on a record-breaking transfer window, let's have a look at who
01:21 had the better transfer window. Who do you feel has conducted the best business during
01:27 this window, and who do you feel could or perhaps should have done better, Stuart?
01:33 Well, I think one that leaps out to me in terms of a good window is Hull City. They
01:40 left some of their business a bit late, which is far from ideal, but in fairness to them,
01:46 the way they started the season, they had that cushion that it wasn't desperation signing.
01:53 It just seems a bit more sensible, a bit more focused than last summer's scattergun approach.
02:00 They just feel like a club that's learnt a few lessons last year and just on stronger
02:07 lines now. So I feel like they've had a good window. I feel like Leeds made some good
02:15 signings in the end. I think everyone would acknowledge that they're short at left back,
02:22 but I think by and large they've brought in a lot of players who you think, yeah, he
02:26 could do a really good job for them in the Championship. I say they haven't had the
02:32 benefit of the same sort of start that Hull have had, so they've got a little bit of
02:36 catching up to do, but nothing desperate. So yeah, I think they've had a good one.
02:44 I think Rotherham have sort of, it feels much more like a Matt Taylor squad now, I
02:51 think, for what they've done. They've certainly invested a lot in terms of breaking the club
02:57 record a couple of times. It just remains to be seen. There's quite a few unknown quantities
03:03 in there. Just how good some of the business is, but certainly people like Ben Wiles, we
03:11 know well from his time at Rotherham, pretty confident he'll be a good signing. Fred Onye
03:17 Dinma has started well there, so that's pretty promising as well. Christ T, we saw him play
03:25 well for Wigan last season, so that's encouraging. And the fact that Taylor knows Sam Langeve
03:31 is good as well, although he's stepping up a level. So they've got some big boots to
03:37 fill with Ogbede in particular leaving. But I feel like hopefully they've had a good one.
03:50 Sheffield United have had two phases to the window. A phase where they seem to be adding
03:57 just what they could scrape around on a budget, and then a second phase in August where they
04:01 added real quality. I think those players have been really good, it's just a question
04:05 of whether they've been able to bring in enough of that quality on the budget they've got.
04:11 In terms of bad ones, I think at the start of the season, I was quite optimistic about
04:18 Don Castorova's and all the signings they've made, but obviously they've not started the
04:23 campaign too well. So perhaps that judgement might need reviewing down the line. And Huddersfield
04:30 Town, I just feel, haven't strengthened enough a squad that, let's be honest, only just scraped
04:37 up last season. And more worryingly, seem to have really knocked off their manager,
04:42 Neil Warnock, with the way they've gone about things. That doesn't fill you with hope for
04:50 the rest of the season. So I'd be worried about that one. And Sheffield Wednesday felt
04:56 as though they brought in too few players who were ready for the Championship. They
05:00 kind of addressed it to a degree with Jeff Hendrick and John Buckley on deadline day.
05:06 But again, you worry if they're a bit short when they're stepping up a level.
05:11 Yes, I'd be... Obviously the big thing about Huddersfield was the goals, wasn't it? I think
05:18 they brought a top scorer in the league last season. It was 5-6, wasn't it? And he came
05:26 back to fitness in January and he was the joint top scorer by the end of the season.
05:33 That just shows the extent of the issues there. I mean, the goal scorers, whether it's the
05:40 large loan fees, outright purchases, they cost the dollars, don't they? And I did, knowing
05:47 the way that Neil Warnock works, you're sort of half expecting to pull a couple of rabbits
05:53 out of the hat right at the end of the window in terms of bringing another striker in. But
05:57 it wasn't to be. Yes, they do look like in terms of goals, Huddersfield. Obviously, Jordan
06:06 Rhodes was going to be a fair bit on the shoulders of Bergzorder who's coming from German football,
06:15 the Dutch forward, encouraging Lee got a goal at West Brom just before the first international
06:24 break. So that'll do his confidence good. But yes, they do look a little bit like...
06:28 Yes, I think in terms of the others, I actually think at the outset that Stuart mentioned
06:34 Doncaster Rovers. It looked good business, didn't it? And I think it's just one of those
06:38 at the start of the season, they're just having to grind things out a little bit. There's
06:46 been a lot of injuries there. I'm still confident that the likes of Richard Wood and Joe Ironside
06:53 who are proven operators in the lower divisions will turn out to be strong signings. I agree
07:00 with what Stuart said about Sheffield Wednesday. To me, I don't know what he thinks, Stuart.
07:05 Fair to say a few of them seem to be punts. It looks like agents in the process of hawking
07:13 around players throughout the summer. It just looks to me that, not saying that some of
07:19 them won't come off, but I would have liked them to be a little bit more pragmatic in
07:23 terms of the targets, realising where they've come from. To me, this season's always about
07:29 consolidation at championship level. I'm still a bit confused by the signings at the
07:35 end of the window in Buckley and Hendrick. I would have just liked a little bit more
07:40 of that really because there's quite a few young players who have signed, the likes of
07:46 Basamba. Some of them will, hopefully they will come off, but it's always a gamble, isn't
07:51 it, really, as a newly promoted club. So, yeah, we'll have to see with those ones. Unfortunately,
07:57 with Derby, he got injured in his first game and by all accounts, he looked a decent signing.
08:04 But I would have just been a little bit more savvy and tried to bring in a few more players
08:08 with championship nouns for me.
08:10 Yeah, I mean, for me, that's the thing that Leeds and Hull have done very well. But of
08:15 course, the advantage those clubs have is, frankly, they've got a lot more money to spend.
08:20 So, I guess if you're in Sheffield Wednesday's boat, you do have to take a few more risks.
08:25 But perhaps, I think both of us would have been a bit more comfortable if they took a
08:29 few more risks on a few free agents who played a bit more English football. Obviously, they
08:35 brought in Ashley Fletcher, but maybe a couple more signings like that. And from my perspective,
08:41 I don't know if Leon agrees with this or not, but just use the existing players they had
08:46 a bit more in early season to just buy these young lads adapting to a new league a bit
08:51 more time. It seems a bit strange the attitude towards the likes of Marvin Johnson and Rhys
08:59 James. I mean, you often see it with managers that they're a bit wary of the players they've
09:06 inherited. But I just feel they could have bought the likes of Masaba and Gassama a bit
09:13 more time. But Leon certainly makes a very good point as well, in that they've not had
09:17 much luck with Momo Diaby getting injured. I saw his debut against Preston and he really
09:23 did look like he was one of the gambles, if you want to put it that way, that was going
09:30 to come off. So there's been some bad luck in it too. But it does, as Leon said, it just
09:35 feels a bit scattergun. It might take a bit more time to come together. And time is of
09:42 the essence. When you're a new club coming up, you don't want to give too many people
09:48 a head start.
09:49 Yeah, the one move, she was right to touch upon Marvin Johnson there. For the life of
09:55 me, I just can't see why he's not been used so far this season, why he wasn't allowed
10:01 to move out. Obviously, Derby County made moves to bring him in, very interested in
10:06 signing him. At the very least, that would have freed up some room on the budget, wasn't
10:11 it, really? He's probably going to be faced with potentially an unhappy player there as
10:16 well. I don't think Wendsey did themselves any favours in that regard. I just think it
10:25 was a little bit of a confused window at times with elements of panic. I suppose for Wendsey's
10:35 sake, the good thing is they can at least now regroup a little and have some valuable
10:40 time on the training ground away from the non-match pressures, if you like, and try
10:46 and form some sort of team structure and continuity going forward.
10:52 Yeah, and I suspect that panic was a factor as well, Liam. I suspect if they'd had the
10:57 whole day just to concentrate on moving on Marvin Johnson, they'd have been able to do
11:02 it. But the fact that they're at the same time negotiating to bring three or four midfielders
11:08 in, it seemed like they were spinning so many plates at the time. That probably diverted
11:13 attention, which could have got that Johnson deal over the line. That's a reminder to all
11:18 clubs, sometimes it's just unavoidable because of the chains you're in and the clubs you're
11:23 dealing with. But the more business you can get done early, the more effective business
11:27 you can get done late on.
11:29 And next we turn our attention to Sheffield United, who picked up their first point in
11:34 the entertaining display against fellow strugglers Everton. The blades fell behind within 14
11:39 minutes. However, by the time the interval came around, Sheffield United had been able
11:45 to turn the match on its head, thanks to goals from Cameron Archer and a Jordan Pickford own
11:51 goal. They had to settle for a point, however, after Everton scored an equaliser 10 minutes
11:56 into the second half. But they did come incredibly close right at the death to snatching all
12:03 three points. How do you think Paul Higginbottom will be feeling after his side's performance
12:09 going into the international break, Leon?
12:11 Yeah, I think he's got to be, well, he's half full, Mark. Yeah, we've spoken about it before,
12:16 he had the makings of a huge gain. Psychologically, it would have been big, whoever the victor
12:24 was, you know, what did Sheffield United say? They had to settle for a point, but one point
12:30 is certainly better than nothing, isn't it? And it was a game where I think not so many
12:36 people were surprised that it was a draw, but it was a really entertaining and absorbing
12:41 game and it showcased both sides in a positive light going forward. And, you know, Paul Higginbottom
12:50 had a whiffed list ahead of the game and obviously thought was to win it. But I think pretty
12:56 close to what it would have been, Camden Archer, you know, getting off the market, see a big
13:02 money move. As far as Sheffield United are concerned, £18 million, you know, big moment
13:08 for him psychologically. It was his first Premier League start, not just for Sheffield
13:13 United, but obviously from his time at Aston Villa, a big day in his career. Scored a great
13:19 goal and the second was credited to Jordan Pickford, he rebounded off the back of his
13:27 head. But it was all about Archer and, you know, for a striker, his currency, his goals.
13:35 And, yeah, you could see the elation on his face when he scored. I think the bigger picture
13:42 as well, the link with Gus Hamer looked very encouraging at times. Before he scored in
13:49 the first half, he was sent clear, just delayed a little bit and James Tarkovsky made an excellent
13:56 tackle. So I was sat there thinking to myself, you know, Sheffield United are going to have
14:01 to hopefully see a lot more of this if they're going to achieve their aims this season. Obviously,
14:06 hopefully with a better outcome from Archer. But, yeah, the sort of access with him and
14:13 Hamer looked promising. I'd also throw into the Frejole McBurnie, there were some nice
14:18 elements between the two of them up front. So, yeah, elements to infuse about for Paul
14:24 Hagenbottom. The pass is certainly half full. They obviously signed James McTee, he was
14:33 introduced to the crowd, he signed again for a second spell. There were quite a few clubs
14:38 in for him. So he's going to come back into the equation after the international break.
14:45 Luke Thomas came on and had a decent cameo at left back. So as Stuart says, yeah, it's
14:50 sort of come together a little bit in the second half of the window after, well, he
14:56 said it on Saturday, Hagenbottom, a bit of a nightmare at times in terms of what they
15:02 came up against. They obviously lost two of the best players in the die and another
15:09 big hitter in Sander Berg. The one worry for me is, what I would say is, John Hagen came
15:17 on with a little bit of an injury niggle. Not necessarily because of that, but I do
15:21 think they're a little bit, they might be a little bit short defensively in terms of
15:26 options. For me, I think they may have been a little bit wiser trying to bring in another
15:32 Premier League savvy option in the middle of there. Arnell, I thought he struggled a
15:41 little bit on Saturday. He was a little bit better when he was pushed inside. But I've
15:46 got to remember with him, outstanding player, one of the best players in his position in
15:51 the Championship last season. But it is a huge step up into the Premier League. So,
15:58 being sort of hyper-critical, if you like, I would have liked to have seen Sheffield
16:04 United bring in another bona fide option in there. But I suppose that's been a little
16:10 bit greedy and poor Hagenbottom could only do so much really. But, yeah, encouragement
16:16 on the day at least.
16:17 Yeah, I mean, I think if you look historically at the teams who go down, you don't have many
16:23 with strikers who get into double figures for the season. So, if they've uncovered one
16:29 in Archer, and Leon and I both spoke quite highly of him at Middlesbrough when he was
16:34 on loan last season, both thought it was a good signing at £18.5 million. Well, on the
16:39 basis of one game, and it's only one game, it does look like he's a player with the temperament
16:46 and the ability to step up and score goals at that level. And as Leon has pointed to,
16:51 if you've got Hamer and McAtee as well, you've got people actually providing the quality
16:57 service because it's all about having a good goal scorer. If you can't get in the ball,
17:00 it doesn't really make much difference. But yeah, Leon's right as well. The defensive
17:04 side is a slight worry. It seems like Sheffield United were so focused on sorting out the
17:12 front end and adding the quality that they definitely needed. Clearly, the plan was to
17:19 try and bring Tommy Doyle back as a holding midfielder and sort of cope with the rest.
17:23 But particularly not having Doyle, they do look a little bit light there. But at least
17:29 if you've got goals in your team, you're giving yourself a chance. I mean, who knows how the
17:36 next few months are going to pan out for Sheffield United off the field. But I think the big
17:41 thing for them should be to be aiming to be in contention when the next transfer window
17:47 opens and hoping that by then there's been a takeover, there's been some sort of resolution
17:53 that allows them to go out and add that quality experienced defender that Leon's talking
17:59 about. Defender or holding midfielder or whatever. Someone who could just shore things up just
18:05 that little bit more. But yeah, before that game kicked off, I think my attitude was that
18:11 whoever didn't win that game, it would be a big missed opportunity for them. Obviously
18:15 neither of them did. But I think the way that Sheffield United played, I think you could
18:20 at least take encouragement from it and see that things are progressing. Whether they'll
18:26 turn out to have progressed enough is another matter. But they are certainly heading in
18:31 the right direction after a decent finish to the transfer window basically since Sanderburg
18:37 left.
18:38 Yeah, it's going to be a mini-league in their story, isn't it? Probably six or seven clubs.
18:43 You'd include obviously United and Everton in the likes of Luton and Burnley. As critical
18:52 as those six points are, let's not forget Sheffield United very nearly won it if it
18:59 wasn't for the brilliance of Jordan Pickford. Don't lose them. Just look at that game and
19:08 what a crushing blow it would have been if Everton would have managed to win. United
19:13 would have had two weeks just stewing on it really and it would have set the narrative
19:20 and there would have been a bit of the doom and gloom surfaces among supporters. But now
19:26 at least the talk was about Pickford's sake but I think primarily among Unitedites. It
19:32 was about Arch, it was about Götzeheimer and to a lesser extent Oli McBurnie. So there
19:39 was at least a little bit of a feel-good factor to germinate in the break and obviously United
19:47 go again straight afterwards with a tough game.
19:50 It's been a very strange start to the season in the sense that with four games in for every
19:56 one bar Burnley and Luton, and of course Burnley and Luton are very significant in terms of
20:01 the mini-league that Sheffield United are in, but all of those teams who've played four
20:05 games have either had three at home or three away. So it's really skewed things and from
20:11 Sheffield United's perspective that's three home games down now with one point picked
20:18 so it will make these mini-league games that Leon is talking about even more high pressure
20:25 and you're probably looking at November now until the next time Sheffield United have
20:30 one. So it's really important that even if they're not picking up the points they would
20:37 like to in the interim, that at least the cohesion is coming together, that they can
20:41 really attack those games when they come around. Because I say there are signs that they're
20:47 making the most of what they've got, but of course we all know they haven't got very much
20:53 financially and unfortunately that is such a big factor in the Premier League. It's why
21:00 people are worried about Luton, it's why even Burnley have had a difficult step up and ultimately
21:06 it's what Sheffield United are battling against. But we have seen in the last few years, not
21:11 least when Sheffield United last came up, that you can get through that even if it's
21:16 only for a season or two but it will be very difficult.
21:20 I think just quickly a little thing to say about them as well. There is this issue of
21:27 worries defensively in terms of I don't like them to bring in another Premier League centre-half
21:35 anyway, but they have managed with a fair deal of pressure haven't they in some of the games
21:40 they've had in the last few years. The Manchester City game, they were really under the cushion.
21:43 They had to be so disciplined and organised and they only broke there right at the end
21:50 didn't they? For spelling the Everton game as well, Everton started off pretty well,
21:56 it looked a little bit ominous, they got an opener. They sort of took that on the chin,
22:02 United, and then obviously hit back and managed to get themselves a lead at half-time. Everton
22:08 as well, to be fair, they certainly deserve something out of the game and they piled on
22:12 a fair bit of pressure in the second half and managed to get one equaliser but United
22:20 held semi-firm after that so that was a little bit of an encouragement for me. They're going
22:29 to be under all manner of pressure in games this season. In some games it could basically
22:36 be 60, 70, 80 minutes possibly. United haven't capitulated and they've shown the right mentality
22:46 which they're certainly going to need going forward in the autumn and the winter. Obviously
22:52 Dirk Stewart was there for the City game. The crowd seem to be mature, they won't be
23:01 expecting the players to really take it to some of these top, top teams. It's going to
23:05 be more about shape, resolve, discipline and there has been some sort of positivity in
23:12 that regard.
23:13 And we now turn to Leeds United who welcomed Sheffield Wednesday to Ellen Road and had
23:18 to settle for a point in a 0-0 draw which saw their Yorkshire rivals frustrate them
23:23 as the Owls picked up their first point of the campaign. That's not to say there weren't
23:28 chances as both teams had numerous opportunities to get on the score sheet with Georginio Rutter
23:36 forcing a crucial save from the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper. What did you make of
23:41 the game and how useful could this international break be for both sides, Stewart?
23:46 I think it's got the potential, the game, to have been a big step forward for Sheffield
23:51 Wednesday. First clean sheet of the season, first point of the season. They defended really
23:56 well as a unit and individually and although largely it was a case of getting men behind
24:04 the ball and defending, they were actually in the second half, the last half hour particularly,
24:10 more dangerous on the counter attack than Leeds United were. So they were still able
24:15 to throw a few punches. As we always say with these sort of things, now it's a case of what
24:20 comes next. If they lose the next couple of games 3-0, then that becomes irrelevant. If
24:25 this is a starting point, it becomes big. But because of the things we were talking
24:29 about with regards to Sheffield Wednesday's transfer window, those extra two weeks on
24:34 the training ground, just constantly working to get that cohesion, to get that understanding
24:39 is going to be really important. The only minor, and it is minor, frustration for them
24:46 is that Jeff Hendricks away on international duty, so he's not going to get the benefit
24:51 at that time. But nevertheless, as a group, the majority of them will be back at Middlewood
24:56 Road. They can get some serious work in and hopefully we really see the benefits of that
25:01 in the September matches. I think for Leeds, it just highlighted the areas they've still
25:08 got work to do. That's not a surprise. This is a revamped side a couple of weeks into
25:12 the season. You're not going to get perfection. They've actually got more points at this stage
25:18 of the season, Daniel Farke pointed out, than his Norwich team did. The season they won
25:24 the league with 94 points. So it's certainly not panic stations, but if you take the Ipswich
25:30 game out of the equation, I think they've scored six goals in six games, two of which
25:34 have been against lower league opposition in the cup. So they clearly need to just work
25:40 on their patterns and plans to just break down defences like the one Sheffield Wednesday
25:47 put in front of them on the Saturday. Because the nature of Leeds United's standing, the
25:54 fact that they were played in the Premier League last season, the fact that it worked
25:58 for Sheffield Wednesday, more clubs are going to go to Elland Road to play that way and
26:04 frustrate them. And they've just got to find the answers to it. There were a few question
26:09 marks about the use of Joel Perrault. Daniel Farke defended it, saying he didn't play him
26:14 all the way up the field as a number nine because he felt he did his best work at Swansea
26:19 arriving from late. Well, I don't think what he did on Saturday worked either. So they've
26:25 just got to refine that and get it right. But you look at it and you think there's the
26:30 pieces there to find a solution. He's a manager well capable of it. I think they'll get less
26:38 of a benefit from the international break because they'll have a few more of their key
26:42 players away. But nevertheless, hopefully that time and just the longer they spend together
26:49 as a group, they should sharpen up in that respect. But I say more than anything, it
26:55 was an encouraging day for the away team.
26:58 Yeah, I mean, you look at the total from Leeds isn't earth shattering in terms of what they've
27:03 got, six points from five games. But I actually think, sort of quietly, he might not say as
27:09 much, but I think Farker will be mildly satisfied in the respect of everything he's had to contend
27:17 with. I mean, it was all about the summer window. It was basically Leeds reacting to
27:26 the relegation/release clauses, wasn't it really? And that was the narrative of it.
27:30 And he's had to do that and then try and formulate a squad and get players in. There was disruption,
27:38 and he's managed to do that. He'll need the time, like at Sheffield Wednesday, to assimilate
27:44 these new players, the Spencers, the Antonis and the Kamaras. And it will be in, I'd say
27:52 by mid-autumn, you can really judge Leeds. I think Stuart's right to say that it will
27:59 become the norm for teams coming to Ellen Road. They're going to drop into a low block
28:03 and they're going to say to Leeds, "Solve the puzzle." And they've not managed to do
28:09 that against Wednesday. Still looking for the first home league win of the season. So
28:14 that's a little bit of a frustration. But I think given the, and there was real disruption
28:19 at Leeds over the summer, lower mid-table, while they would have hoped for, obviously,
28:26 a bit better. It's not disastrous either. They're not in the bottom three. And you've
28:32 got to remember they've come back and they've shown good character and resulted to get results
28:38 against the likes of West Brom and Cardiff as well. So, as I said with Sheffield United,
28:44 I think it's important to see the glasses half full with Leeds United. And I think they'll
28:49 grow into the season.
28:50 Yeah, I mean, when I said earlier about Sheffield United just getting to the next transfer window
28:56 and contention, for Leeds it was always going to be about just getting to this international
29:00 break with morale intact and a decent squad spirit, given all the difficulties they've
29:07 been through. And as I said before, Varka brought up in his press conference that Norwich
29:11 had four points after their first five games of that promotion season. So he knows. I mean,
29:16 he's not the sort of man to get carried away and get panicky anyway, but he can point to
29:21 that example to his squad. Really, I've ranted about this before, but league tables are pretty
29:28 relevant at this stage of the season. It's more just in Leeds' case, it was more about
29:33 the mood about the place, the fans not getting too panicky. I mean, they weren't in that
29:40 Sheffield Wednesday game, frustrating as it was. The squad spirit not being too destroyed
29:45 by unhappy players being around or all that sort of thing. And now for them really, and
29:53 for, frankly, too many of our clubs, it's okay. Well, the season starts again, in Leeds'
29:58 case, on September 17th, because they play Millwall on the Sunday. On that weekend, that's
30:03 really when a lot of these seasons get going. And as Leon says, we really shouldn't rush
30:11 to judgment about Leeds until the middle of the autumn. I think that's a very fair comment.
30:16 I think seeing that spirit and organisation was obviously, you know, supporters, you want
30:23 to see flowing football and an exciting fair and a side showcasing the talent as well.
30:30 But I think in Leeds' case, it was just as important, if not more so, to just see that
30:34 character, that resolve and that spirit after what happened in a pretty dreadful last season.
30:42 It was a pretty pitiful relegation as well. Leeds fans want to see Leeds players wanting
30:51 to wear the shirt and that the shirt doesn't hang heavy on them. Leeds have shown that.
30:58 It's not been scintillating, but it's shown that spirit and that desire and that camaraderie.
31:06 They had a really good day at Ipswich as well, you've got to remember that. And that's important
31:11 as anything really, just showing that grit and the decent comebacks against, alright,
31:17 they didn't win, but against Cardiff and West Brom. They've only lost one in five, alright,
31:22 they haven't won three in five, but they've only lost one in five. One or two, you know,
31:29 Ampadu looks like he's going to be a really good signing for Leeds. Archie Gray as well,
31:35 he's going to be a top, top player. Some individual pluses there. And yeah, it's sort of small
31:45 but important incremental steps for Leeds at the minute, so I wouldn't be too down on
31:50 them.
31:51 And next we turn our attention to Hull City, who claimed a 1-0 victory away at Leicester
31:56 City, which brought the 100% record for the hosts to an end, thanks to Liam De Lappe scoring
32:01 the only goal in the 15th minute. This took the Tigers into the top six, which going into
32:06 the international break is surely a positive for Liam Rossini and his side to draw from,
32:11 wouldn't you say, Leon?
32:12 Yeah, they're in a good place. I mean, it just shows the sort of slings and arrows of
32:18 football. I did the Sheffield, the Hull versus Sheffield Wednesday game in mid-August, Hull's
32:25 first home game of the season. You know, there was a bit of a down mood going into that game,
32:29 they'd just been beaten by Doncaster Overs in the cup in the midweek and they'd lost
32:35 out right at the death against Norwich and there was a little bit of doom and gloom around
32:39 and it just goes to show how things can change now. Obviously, 10 points from 12 and, you
32:49 know, a real sort of statement win at Leicester who obviously ended their 100% record. And
32:57 yeah, Hull in a pretty good place. Liam Rossini, Stuart will probably agree with me as well,
33:07 he speaks with intelligence and authority. You find yourself nodding your head to the
33:13 vast majority of stuff that he actually says and he won't be carried away. He's got a good
33:21 defensive structure there that he implemented from the second half of last season to get
33:25 Hull away from trouble. And now it's more about further up the field, isn't it? I think
33:32 the elapsed in a great signing, he's had a little bit to prove. He didn't have a great
33:37 loan spell at Stoke and Preston but he's obviously seen something that he likes about him. Rossini
33:46 is a tireless worker and it's great for him to see a little bit of him getting the rewards
33:52 at Leicester. Obviously, Adam Connolly, a bit of a point to prove. I think the good
33:57 thing for Hull is they've made a splash right at the end of the window. There's some quality
34:03 players to add to the group. A group who are in good form and don't forget as well, Tufan
34:11 wasn't playing as well at Leicester. There's Philip Jean, who I saw a bit of on loan at
34:18 Cardiff last season. He looks like an excellent player who can add something to any championship
34:26 side. He's going to come into the mix. Tyler Morton as well, he did well at Blackburn.
34:31 So, Hull are in a good place. One or two of them are coming back from injury. They've
34:36 got two home games straight after the break, including one against Leeds. The games that
34:42 Hull will be really wanting to attack, I think this next block of games until the next international
34:52 break, we'll hopefully see Hull solidify the credentials that quite a few people mentioned.
34:58 Hull being well, they could be in the mix, but potentially having a shot at the top six
35:05 and we'll know a little bit more by October.
35:09 In all honesty, Hull are probably the only team in the county who have been ready for
35:15 the season before this international break. We talked then about how there's no panic
35:21 at Leeds because there's plenty of time to make it up and it applies to lots of other
35:27 clubs as well. It's nice when you're able to get out there and set the pace. If you
35:33 want games like Leicester, Coventry or Leeds, you want those big games at the moment because
35:39 they're ready for them. The sooner they get to play them and the chance to take points
35:44 off them, the better. I'm just impressed with the way common sense has come to this
35:51 club. It was all a bit fantasy football last season, as I touched on before with the transfer
35:56 window. You've got a manager come in, his first six months, sort out the defence, this
36:04 season, work on the attack. They've scored nine goals in five championship games already.
36:09 They've touched on all the attacking players, they've got firing. It's been absolutely
36:15 textbook stuff. Backed up, it's got to be said, by plenty of money. We've seen lots
36:21 of teams, not least Hull last season, squander that. It's all about spending it well. There
36:27 just seems a really focused, sensible approach at Hull City right now, which is paying dividends.
36:37 Once you make a certain start to the season, good or bad, there's a momentum there, which
36:45 you can either carry on if it's positive or you've got to shut down as quickly as possible
36:51 if it's negative. Hopefully, Hull can just ride that and get into this season in contention.
37:00 Then the positivity, both in the stands and on the field, can hopefully take them places.
37:06 The system seems to assume it's 4-2, 2-3-1. They're not overly blessed with natural centre-forward
37:16 options. There's only Connolly and De Lappe, but you look behind that. In terms of attacking
37:26 midfield options, Hull have looked to me as well-stocked as anyone. There's obviously
37:32 some Philly Jean and Toufan and Scott Twine. There's lots and lots of goals right down
37:46 the middle, but they should have plenty of other players who are certainly capable of
37:52 contributing, getting the 6-7-8 goals a season, that sort of thing. That's encouraging. They've
37:58 got a strong defensive base, as Stuart's right to say. There's still things to... he won't
38:04 be satisfied, Liam Messina. As well as a good talker, he's very ambitious and he's got high
38:11 standards. I know in his reign so far, they haven't won three league games on the trot.
38:21 That's something that Hull last did, I think it was January 2022. So, if they're going
38:26 to be a serious player, they're going to have to pull together those blocks of wins. The
38:35 evidence so far has shown that there's been a little bit of encouragement for a couple
38:38 of wins, then they might have drawn and lost one, and then they start again. They're aiming
38:44 for a good sort of consistency and I think it's a good challenge that will sit well on
38:48 the shoulders.
38:49 I think it's the modern way, Liam. I think the days of you being able to have four really
38:56 top quality number nines, or like Neil Warwick would happily accumulate five or six of them,
39:01 and keeping them happy, are just gone. You can't keep that quality of players on the
39:07 fringe. So, I think the key is to have a couple of really good ones, and then players like
39:11 Toufan Twain and people like that who can do a job there for a game or two if you need
39:16 them. Because otherwise, you look at Man City who've only really got one out-and-out number
39:22 nine, but they've got Alvarez. Tottenham for all that time had the problem with backing
39:27 up Harry Kane, but they had Son who could play out wide and then just fill in there.
39:32 I think that's kind of what you need, and I think that's what Hull have got. Really,
39:37 they're lucky to have Toufan Connolly and Delap juggling around. That's quite a bit
39:46 of strength by modern championship standards. So, again, I just think it's a manager who
39:54 understands the era we're in and the needs of it, and has done a good job of keeping
40:01 a cool head in a club that could have really been quite a rollercoaster club. Because of
40:08 the passion and the extravagance of the owner, you need that sort of settling figure, and
40:13 I think they've got that. That's why I'm confident that they can have a really good
40:18 go at it this season.
40:19 Even though we are still in the early days of the season, I wanted to get your thoughts
40:24 on who could prove to be real promotion contenders this season. When it comes to Yorkshire
40:30 representation in the Championship, there's quite a few to pick from. When looking in
40:36 Leagues 1 and 2, we have Barnsley, who have started fairly well this season, and in League
40:42 2, we see Bradford City, Harrogate Town and Doncaster Rovers, who have had fairly mixed
40:48 starts to the season. What are your thoughts, and who do you see could make a real challenge
40:56 for promotion this season, Stuart?
40:58 We've just talked about Hull, I think they can certainly be in the play-off picture because
41:03 of all the things we've talked about. Leeds, my confidence that they'll be in and around
41:08 it is based on the manager's experience and the talent that's in the squad. You need
41:16 both together, and I think he can get the best out of that squad in time. Middlesbrough,
41:23 you've been waiting in the early weeks of the season thinking, "Surely they'll get
41:28 it right now, it'll happen in a minute, it'll happen in a minute." It hasn't happened yet.
41:33 So we wait and see if they yet again end up leaving themselves too much to do, or not.
41:41 Michael Carrick showed last season what a good manager he can be when he gets things
41:46 together. I don't think Huddersfield, Rotherham or Sheffield Wednesday outside of their chairman
41:53 were ever expecting to be in the promotion picture this season, and I don't think they
41:58 will be. I think for all of them it's just a case of consolidating and having another
42:03 season. Barnsley's an interesting one. Obviously that great start dipped off for a couple of
42:09 games, but as usual it's about not overreacting. A couple of back-to-back wins now, so hopefully
42:16 they can get to the sort of levels they hit last season. And then in League 2, it's such
42:23 a competitive league this season. There's so much money sloshing about. You've had teams
42:28 come down from League 1, you've got a lot of experience at lower league football. You've
42:35 got teams who've come up with a lot of money, teams who've stayed in the division throwing
42:39 a lot of money about, so it's going to be difficult. As I said earlier, I was quite
42:43 optimistic that Doncaster would be in the picture. Now we're sort of reserving judgement
42:49 a little bit on the signings, although as Leon says, there's some players there that
42:54 you would bank on to come good. It's just a case of finding the right formula. Bradford
43:00 have thrown away a few points at early doors while they're trying to settle in this new
43:05 system. They haven't got any cut firing yet and now he's picked up a bit of an injury.
43:09 So we wait to see if that's going to cost them or not. Harrogate again, with the greatest
43:17 of respect, with the resources they're working on, they're in that boat of consolidation
43:21 again. They're not a team who I think would expect to be talked about with regards to
43:27 even making the playoffs. Barnes is one of the interesting ones to me and Leon's seen
43:34 a bit of them this season. I haven't. I'm interested to know what you think, Leon, about
43:39 their prospects. Yeah, I think they've made some decent signings up top. Stuart, I'd be
43:48 interested to see how Cosgrove fares because he's a big, strong lad, a traditional target
43:53 man striker, if you like. He'll give Barnes that ability to mix it up and a bit more of
43:59 a plan B to go direct. I think he's a good age, 26. He's scored goals at this level at
44:09 Plymouth and he's met John McTeer as well, by all accounts. He's only a few games in
44:16 but he's shown some real promise. That'll add to what they've got up front in Devante
44:23 Cole, who's carried on from where he left off really last season. He's one of the most
44:31 in-form operators in the division and I think it'll be crucial going forward that Barnes
44:37 try and retain him because, from what I can gather, there have been some interest in him
44:44 in the window. With Cole, Max Watters as well, Cosgrove and McTeer, they look fairly well-catered
44:53 for going forward. Everybody knows about the midfield. One of the best in the division,
45:01 Adam Phillips, Herbie Kane, we'll see Luke O'Connell to come back in as well at some
45:07 point, hopefully. So they look fine there. The issue for me with Barnes is the defence.
45:12 They've basically lost the back three from the play-off file, haven't they? With Liam
45:18 Kitchen getting sold, the Barnsley chairman Nirabh Prakash had said a few weeks ago that
45:24 he wouldn't be sold and it's so slow that he was. The player did want to leave. But
45:29 he's a big hole to fill, a big character as well, Kitchen. He's gone, Matt Anderson's
45:36 gone, Bobby Thomas went back to Burnley, he's been sold to Coventry. I think the crux for
45:45 Barnes could be how quickly they gel into a consistent defensive unit over time. I think
45:54 Autumn and Winter will find the answer to that question. There has been some promise.
46:00 Jack Sheppard's come in from non-league and he's done really well by all accounts. But
46:06 I think the Barnsley situation, for me, it's just how much consistency they can get defensively
46:14 in a pretty quick time. That'll gauge for me how Barnsley will do. I agree with everything
46:20 Stuart said there. I think we'll have the look of contenders for the play-offs. They'll
46:25 be encouraged by other teams in previous seasons and why wouldn't there be? The Coventry's
46:30 in this world. Huddersfield a couple of years ago and Luton. They don't look to me like
46:38 they're going to have a 20-goal score at all but they'll have plenty. As I've mentioned
46:43 earlier, six, seven, eight goals a season, maybe a little bit higher. So positivity there.
46:50 I think Leeds will be up there and I think as Stuart's also said, if they get to January
46:56 and they're in a threatening position, they'll be able to recruit the necessary quality of
47:02 player to kick on again in the second half of the season. Bradford, for me, that's going
47:08 to be about consistency. You mentioned about Hull under a senior not managing to win three
47:15 on the spin under his reign so far. It's a little bit similar with Mark Hughes and Bradford.
47:23 They've had Spurling win a few games and then they'll slip points when you expect them to
47:29 win. So getting that consistency and sharing the goals around. Obviously Andy Cook's out
47:35 at the minute. If Bradford are going to bridge that gap between play-offs and automatic contenders,
47:41 quite a few more are going to have to chip in. The good signs already is that Alex Patterson
47:49 is putting his hand up in that regard.
47:53 Finally for this week, we turn to Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town, who both recorded
47:58 their first wins of the season. Rotherham United claimed theirs when they played out
48:03 a 2-1 victory against a Norwich City side who coming into this game had a 100% record.
48:08 Huddersfield Town claimed their victory in a late 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.
48:14 How useful could this be for both Huddersfield and Rotherham seeing as after the international
48:20 break they go straight into a meeting with one another, Leon?
48:24 I mentioned earlier about Daniel Farker probably quietly not being too happy with the fact
48:31 that they've got six points out of five games but he won't be shouting it from the rooftops.
48:38 I think possibly that might also be the case with Matt Taylor. They've only got four points
48:46 and he's pretty modest. But they're off the mark and there's been so much disruption
48:52 there at Rotherham. They've obviously lost one of the good players as well relatively
48:58 recently in Ben Wiles but they've had a mini injury crisis at the start of the season.
49:03 Some games they've not been managing to fill the bench. There's been players there with
49:08 respect to young players who aren't really ready for the Championship level at the minute.
49:15 They've been missing five or six players and hopefully they'll be all back in contention
49:21 for the vast majority of the game against Huddersfield. I think what they've had to
49:28 contend with at Rotherham, they've done reasonably well. I think the two games against Stoke
49:38 should be looked at in a little bit of isolation. In the league game by all accounts it was
49:44 a pretty bad 45 minutes. Rotherham have been in the games apart from that. He's been
49:54 talking about that regularly with Matt Taylor. They've backed it up with a performance and
49:58 a result against Norwich. I think there's positive signs for Rotherham. They have a
50:07 couple of weeks to get Sam Nombé up to speed. He's going to be a big player if Rotherham
50:12 are going to achieve their aims. I think he'll help Jordan Hewpel as well. He'll take some
50:17 of the emphasis off him. Christie as well, obviously he was the record signing before
50:24 it was trumped by the arrival of Nombé. Another one who's going to be a huge player for Rotherham.
50:30 He's not been fully up to match fitness and speed yet. This break will really help him.
50:37 There will be some good individual battles touch wood when Rotherham start again on the
50:53 resumption. Relatively speaking, they've got a bit to look forward to.
50:59 There's only two goals difference between the two teams. The significant thing for me
51:06 is not even so much looking at the squad, not looking at the results, but just the different
51:12 moves of the two places. Matt Taylor has been very realistic from the day he walked into
51:18 Rotherham United about where they stand in the pecking order. He's basically patiently
51:24 stood at the back of the queue to wait for other deals to sort themselves out before
51:29 he was able to get the business done that he wanted to. He knew that and he was reconciled
51:34 to that. You compare that with Huddersfield Town where we mentioned the other week about
51:40 Kevin Nargles tweet at the utter shambles of the defeat to Norwich City, who we know
51:46 are a very good team at championship level. They've had a really good start under David
51:50 Wagner. Then the follow-up of Neil Warnock's press conference where he talked about his
51:55 frustration about missing transfer targets, about not realising that his contract renewals
52:00 would come out of his budget. It just seems that Matt Taylor's had the transfer window
52:06 he expected and has dealt with it. Neil Warnock has been disappointed about his and has gone
52:12 public with it. I just worry about the effect that might have on morale at Huddersfield
52:19 Town. Whoever's in the right, whoever's in the wrong, it sets a mood there of negativity.
52:26 With Rotherham, the kind of attitude we saw from them last season, the kind of attitude
52:32 we saw at clubs like Sheffield United, we know what our loss is. We're not going to
52:36 complain about it. We're just going to roll our sleeves up and get on with it. I also
52:42 feel a bit like Leon was alluding to there, that Rotherham go into this game in slightly
52:48 better shape than Huddersfield just because of the headspace it feels like they're in
52:53 as a collective. We'll wait and see if that comes to pass. I was just a bit alarmed by
53:00 those Warnock comments on the back of Nargles' tweet. I think they just said to me, I don't
53:06 know if Leon agrees, you just thought, 'Uh-oh, there's trouble ahead here. This isn't going
53:11 to end well and it might end quite quickly.' It's similar to what actually happened at
53:17 Manchester, isn't it? In some regards with the early season, tensions behind the scenes.
53:24 That culminated in Warnock's second full season. It culminated in his departure in
53:32 November, wasn't it? At the end of October, start of November. There was a bit of a growing
53:39 mood behind. Also as well, typical Neil Warnock, given everything that had gone on in that
53:48 past week, that the turn-up at West Brom and get a tremendous result. That just was Neil
53:58 Warnock all over, wasn't it? Backs to the wall defiance, sticking two fingers up if
54:04 you like. I take your point, Stuart. It's clear as day that Warnock certainly wanted
54:14 a bit more going forward and they do look, if they do, get an injury too. He has his
54:22 critics, does Danny Roar, but if he does get injured then Huddersfield Town will really
54:29 miss him. They haven't really got many other players of that ilk to do the job. There's
54:35 going to be a fair bit of stock in Birzog, who is a newcomer to Championship football.
54:41 A bit on his shoulders and also Ben Wiles and Jack Radone. It was good to see Radone
54:51 again. He's gone on Saturday and I think there's going to be a heightened emphasis
54:58 on the attacking midfielders chipping in with goals, given the fact that Warnock hasn't
55:02 got what he particularly wants up front. They are wanted to watch and he's got the lad
55:08 Huddling who can come on, but he's a young lad who's going to be used sparingly and
55:16 a substitute really. He's got the makings of a big game when Huddersfield play Robben
55:24 and we'll find out a little bit more about the pair after that.
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56:06 footballtalkpodcast@yp.sport@nationalworld.com. As ever, many thanks for listening, look after
56:13 yourselves and bye for now.
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