On this week's show, our panel discuss the latest games involving Yorkshire's leading clubs - including Sheffield United, Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, Huddersfield Town, Hull City, Rotherham United and Barnsley ...
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00:00:00 Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post where
00:00:14 we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:00:17 of our football writing team. On this week's episode we're joined by Chief Football Writer
00:00:21 for the Yorkshire Post Stuart Rayner and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post Leon Wattrell
00:00:25 to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't forget you
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00:00:58 Right, so this week let's start in the Premier League where Sheffield United suffered
00:01:08 an unbelievably disappointing defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur thanks to two incredibly
00:01:14 late goals from the home side and the Blades also saw Olly McBurnie being shown a red card
00:01:20 for his second bookable offence after Spurs' second goal. Now this is the fourth game in
00:01:25 which Sheffield United have lost by a single goal. What did you make of their performance
00:01:31 and what can Paul Heckingbottom do to help his side before their game against Newcastle
00:01:35 United?
00:01:36 Well in terms of what I made of their performance, they are certainly competitive at the moment.
00:01:41 As you say, they haven't lost a game by more than one goal. For 98 minutes they were really
00:01:51 in that contest. There's no question that Spurs dominated the play and it was a question
00:01:58 of Sheffield United defending and trying to hit them on the counter attack. But by that
00:02:03 stage they carried out the plan really well as they had done at the 88 minute mark against
00:02:11 Manchester City or whatever it was. But just a couple of defensive lapses late on cost
00:02:19 them and it's already becoming a pattern and a familiar pattern. Because if you think back
00:02:25 to this time last season, how often were we saying Leeds United played really well or
00:02:30 played well but. And the season before that when Sheffield United were relegated, during
00:02:37 those first 17 games they didn't win, we were often saying, well I actually played quite
00:02:42 well but. It's just the little details but the Premier League is about the little details.
00:02:49 And in terms of what Paul Hackingbottom's got to do, I guess, it's easier said than
00:02:54 done but I guess he's just got to get that tiny little bit more concentration out of
00:03:00 them. Because lapses that you don't get punished for in the Championship, you do in the Premier
00:03:07 League. You do when there's players of the quality of Son Heung-min or Erling Haaland
00:03:12 or Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson in the next game. When they're around you just can't
00:03:20 afford those lapses. And Sods Law, when Sheffield United are making them, they are really getting
00:03:28 punished for them. But in the main I think they can be quite pleased with the general
00:03:35 level of their performance but without the points to back it up, that's not much consolation.
00:03:43 So they just need to nail down these minor, well I say minor, on the one hand they're
00:03:50 quite minor little things and on the other hand they're absolutely major because they're
00:03:55 deciding the games.
00:03:56 Yeah, I just do worry about them. Defensively Sheffield United, they obviously missed a
00:04:06 couple of players in Egan and Baldoch on Saturday but I just sort of look at the defensive resources
00:04:16 and especially with one or two players being out, they look very thin to me. They obviously
00:04:21 brought in a trustee in the summer but he's obviously improving at the Premier League
00:04:28 level as well. As much as it's about when you're going to be a candidate at the bottom,
00:04:33 winning games and being engaged with how you're going to do in the seat, I think a lot of
00:04:38 it as well, whether you manage to stay up or you just miss out, is just having that
00:04:44 defensive resolve, grinding out, not necessarily the wins all the time, but just the draws
00:04:50 and handling the pressure. That's where I do worry about Sheffield United. I think they've
00:04:55 got two relative match winners of sorts in Hamer and Archer who have obviously been brought
00:05:06 in for Hamer. He's coming for Berg and Archer's coming for Nadal but they obviously spent
00:05:16 the majority of the money there. They just do look thin for me in terms of defensive
00:05:22 options. The record was decent last season at the Championship level but the players
00:05:28 have got the wraps. Armin Dodgic was excellent. He's finding it tougher coming up to the Premier
00:05:35 League without singling him out. I just think being sort of pinniculty, I would have liked
00:05:42 to have seen them get a Premier League ready and other Premier League options at the back
00:05:50 to go alongside Egan to make me feel a little bit more sure about things. You can't have
00:05:55 everything without Kandjer. He did have a lot of work to do in the last few weeks, Paul
00:06:02 Hedgen-Bottom, and he did some good work in that regard but I do worry about the defensive
00:06:09 options. I think when defending is a teamwork job, when it's about keeping their structure
00:06:18 and getting men behind the ball and being organised, they can do that. It's the individual
00:06:23 one-on-one moments as you say, Liam. That's when the quality or lack of it shows, doesn't
00:06:27 it? Sometimes it's not even technical ability but if you've been running that Spurs game
00:06:35 lasting for 111 minutes, if you've been running around for 108 of them after high-quality
00:06:44 players, your concentration can just go for a second. You lose your man at the corner,
00:06:51 bang, it's 1-0. That's how ruthless and harsh these Premier League games are. As Liam said,
00:07:00 that's what you're dealing with. You need that quality, there's no point in bleating
00:07:03 about it. In all fairness, no-one at Sheffield United has. You're right, Liam. All of the
00:07:12 focus in this summer seemed to be on getting more goals out of that unit. As you say, trustee
00:07:21 hasn't been trusted yet. La Rucci, the left-back, hasn't really looked the part. In fairness,
00:07:27 Luke Thomas did the other day but he's really the only addition to that defensive unit.
00:07:36 Whilst Wes Vodringham has definitely stepped up, I totally agree with Liam that Ahmed Ogic
00:07:42 has been a bit of a disappointment so far. Hopefully he'll find his feet.
00:07:47 He's a learning curve for the lad, isn't he?
00:07:52 You can't be too harsh on them which is why, obviously, you made the point. You want a
00:07:57 couple of players who aren't starting that learning process who've already done it because
00:08:01 they've got a bit of experience. You could look at it either way. You could look at it
00:08:07 and say, "Oh well, they went to Spurs and they matched a really good, informed team
00:08:12 for such a long period of the game, albeit in quite a negative way, as they did against
00:08:16 Man City." You can look at that or you can look at the league table and draw two completely
00:08:23 different conclusions for them. I'm with Liam. It seems to me, as we were all expecting,
00:08:30 in all honesty, that it's going to be a very tough season for them. Whilst they have to
00:08:35 grab those positives and build on that, you just can't ignore those negatives and those
00:08:43 problems that keep popping up.
00:08:45 I suppose you look at it now, it is still relatively early days. But if you look at
00:08:52 the league table and certainly the bottom end, you can't see it changing that much until
00:08:59 January, really. I think everybody acknowledged that the teams who have gone up, it's going
00:09:07 to be hard and it's going to be a struggle. So it's proved in terms of the results for
00:09:11 Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton. I'm not quite sure of the actual statistics. They
00:09:19 must have only took a couple of points from about a dozen games of play between them.
00:09:25 Throw one or two others into the mix as well. I know it's fast-forwarding a little bit,
00:09:29 but you look towards December and then January. I just wonder if all these types of teams
00:09:37 are going to be chasing that same sort of player almost. That defensive leader who's
00:09:45 got experience in the Premier League might not necessarily be a first choice that the
00:09:49 club is at. Which clubs can get to January and get that sort of player? That could be
00:09:59 the success or failure of the season. There's a few other teams as well who might be in
00:10:05 the mix. The Evans of this world, and Wolves, maybe Bournemouth. If I was looking at Sheffield
00:10:13 United at the minute, that's the thing I would point out. To be fair to them, they're not
00:10:21 alone in terms of the struggles that are exposed. I think they're looking at having issues as
00:10:28 well. You just have to see what Sunday brings against Newcastle, but that's my take.
00:10:38 The fact that they're playing Newcastle just sums up the fact that it's just relentless
00:10:44 in this league. You think, 'Oh, we've struggled against Manchester City, we almost got there,
00:10:52 and then Spurs are on the horizon in no time at all. Get Spurs out of the way and Newcastle
00:10:56 are there.' There's so many teams with so many quality players. It does feel this season
00:11:02 more than most that a couple of clubs have just got so much ground to make up this season.
00:11:13 I worry, not even from a Sheffield United perspective, but from a Neutral perspective,
00:11:20 that there's a danger that the bottom end of this Premier League is a bit of a foregone
00:11:24 conclusion because it does already feel like it's quite a small, quite a tight relegation
00:11:30 battle. Normally, if you're not involved in it, you like to see as many drawn into it
00:11:36 as possible.
00:11:37 It looks like it's already at low points already.
00:11:40 It does. It doesn't seem like takeover talk is progressing quickly enough that January
00:11:48 is going to be the magic bullet for Sheffield United, that they're going to be able to go
00:11:52 out and buy that quality defender. Time will tell. You're then hoping that other teams
00:11:58 can't as well. We all know that somebody who takes the gamble sometimes and throws daft
00:12:02 money at it don't always succeed, of course.
00:12:08 Just to pick up on you, that defensive thing, every game there's no free lunches, is there?
00:12:15 There's going to be no free lunches for Luton, Burnley or Sheffield United. Whatever team
00:12:23 that they choose to play, there's going to be some sort of major obstacle and problems
00:12:28 to negotiate. Obviously, the top side totally speaks for themselves. Your game plan has
00:12:37 just got to be probably a set piece. If you do get an opportunity, it's primarily going
00:12:45 to be without the ball, isn't it? Getting your defensive structure as a team right.
00:12:51 Even the teams lower down, it's just such a huge jump for the Championship teams. It
00:12:58 is relentless in terms of the physical level but also, as Stuart's mentioned, that concentration.
00:13:05 You just can't afford to blink for a minute, can you?
00:13:11 You take the other week, you play Everton, one of the few teams you're going to come
00:13:14 up against, at least until Beto gets settled, without that sort of killer striker. What
00:13:20 happens if you get denied by the England goalkeeper at the other end? Even the lower middle table
00:13:24 teams have got those players of real quality. You can't complain about it, it is what it
00:13:35 is, but it is such a big gap to make up in one season, particularly if you can't throw
00:13:42 barrel loads of money at it, as Sheffield United and Luton in particular can't.
00:13:49 Now we turn our attention to the Championship and we start with the news that Neil Warnock
00:13:53 will leave Huddersfield Town after their game at home against Stoke City. After guiding
00:13:58 the Terriers to safety last season, we thought that was his job done and he would go back
00:14:02 into retirement until he announced that he was staying as manager for this season. What
00:14:08 do you think has brought this decision on and who do you think the club have lined up
00:14:12 as his replacement, Leon?
00:14:13 Well, there are a few names out there, we couldn't be too sure who it will actually
00:14:18 be. I just think the bottom line is that they've obviously lined somebody up. Warnock was told
00:14:24 after the West Brom game before the international window that it was going to be the change,
00:14:32 and there may be circumstances with Huddersfield identifying somebody and just a theory, maybe
00:14:40 they're conscious that one or two other clubs could be. It's coming up to the autumn now,
00:14:47 mid-autumn, thinking about changing horses in terms of their managers and getting a target
00:14:53 in. So I think that's primarily what it is. They've obviously got somebody lined up, they've
00:14:58 been making some key decisions in terms of appointments within the club, they brought
00:15:04 in David Weatherall, they brought in Mancart right earlier. In terms of bringing Warnock
00:15:12 in, that made sense as almost like an elongated caretaker manager, isn't it, to buy them a
00:15:21 little bit of time and get everything settled down after the new takeover. So I think it
00:15:27 was always a case of when, not if, Warnock would go at some point this season. It's certainly
00:15:37 been hastened by the fact that they've managed to line up a target. Perhaps events as well,
00:15:45 there's been a little bit of noise behind the scenes. There was the tweet from Kevin
00:15:52 Nagel, which I don't think will have gone down well with Warnock after the Norwich game.
00:15:58 And a little bit of tension there. I just think primarily, they've been doing a lot
00:16:03 of the work behind the scenes, they've identified the target, who they want to bring in and
00:16:08 hopefully deliver the plan they're talking about, the Premier League. In three years'
00:16:14 time we'll have to see how that one develops, to be fair. But there's a lot of candidates
00:16:17 that have been mentioned, the ones with local links, Darren Mawes, Chris Wilder, I don't
00:16:23 know what Neil Warnock will think about that, judging by what he said on Monday. Others
00:16:30 as well, some intriguing names, Anthony Barry has been linked to Pottersfield before, one
00:16:36 or two shouts for Wayne Rooney, Nathan Jones, who I think Cartwright's worked with before
00:16:42 at Stoke. So we'll have to wait and see.
00:16:48 I take Leon's point in terms of what he was saying there about Neil Warnock being effectively
00:16:55 an elongated caretaker. I just think it's a mistake clubs make far too often, where
00:17:04 they sack a manager, or I suppose in this case it's maybe mutual consent, but they lose
00:17:10 a manager so soon after a transfer window. Neil Warnock has shaped that squad. He made
00:17:18 that decision to give contracts to a couple of players who the club had decided they wanted
00:17:22 to release. Now that's fair enough if Neil Warnock's going to work for them for the season,
00:17:27 that makes sense. But now that decision's been put on somebody else, they don't have
00:17:32 the option apart from the free agent market to alter that squad in any way until January.
00:17:40 They're kind of handcuffed. If this decision had just been made in August, then obviously
00:17:50 they could have had that. I mean, you don't want to be changing manager in August. The
00:17:54 point is you don't get a stopgap in at that time. We saw it last year with Leeds sacking
00:18:00 Jesse Marsh in February, a couple of games after the transfer window closed. Every manager
00:18:05 who comes in, I mean, it always amuses me, every manager who always comes in, and I can
00:18:10 guarantee the next head of spiel manager will say it, I've got an unbalanced squad. They
00:18:14 always say that. They always want to change the makeup of the squad, which is natural
00:18:20 enough. But making a decision so soon after the transfer window, you just bind them into
00:18:26 so many decisions. And yes, Neil Warwick's a very experienced manager. If you were going
00:18:32 to trust it to somebody else, you'd trust it to someone like that. But as a manager,
00:18:37 you want that level of control. He might not rate Bergzog, for example, who was one of
00:18:43 the main signings. He might think more of a priority should be to have got in, I don't
00:18:49 know, another central midfielder for argument's sake or whatever. So it does make me uncomfortable
00:18:56 when clubs get rid of managers one, two, three games after a transfer window shuts. It just
00:19:04 doesn't seem to make sense to me. In other respects, they seem to have planned things
00:19:09 reasonably. Well, there seems to have been a reasonable degree of planning. It's not
00:19:15 like the top knee jerk that we saw at Leeds when Jesse Marsh left when he did. But yeah,
00:19:23 in terms of who they get in, I think it's important they bring someone in with experience.
00:19:27 I mean, obviously, Cartwright's got some experience off the field, but the rest of the hierarchy
00:19:36 are quite inexperienced when it comes to English football. They've got quite a lot of knowledge
00:19:40 of American football. And who knows, that might come into play as well in terms of the
00:19:45 candidates they look at. But yeah, I think we saw the big mistake they made last season
00:19:51 going for Mark Fotheringham on the back of Danny Schofield and their inexperience. I
00:19:57 think they need someone who can guide the club as a whole, you know, in terms of the
00:20:06 youth development, the academy, all these sorts of things. Somebody who can provide
00:20:11 that sort of experience is something I personally would be looking at. But we know as well that
00:20:16 they're working on a tight budget, so we'll have to see what they come up with.
00:20:20 Yeah, in the past, Huddersfield, they have sort of come up with some left field ones
00:20:25 that haven't particularly worked, haven't they? You think back to the Jan Seeverts and
00:20:28 the Fotheringhams of this world. They need somebody who's got solid experience of the
00:20:38 championship for me. I think about Neil Warnock, knowing Neil being Neil. When he left Middlesbrough
00:20:47 a few years ago, he sort of had it in his head that with some investment in January,
00:20:54 they might have had a nibble for the playoffs. If they'd have kept Warnock in charge and
00:21:00 he'd obviously had two wins on the chart, if they'd have got a bit of momentum and a
00:21:04 few more wins. Knowing Neil, he'd have been thinking about that, thinking if he can get
00:21:09 to January, he'd be sort of around mid-table and make some decent signings in January.
00:21:18 He might have an outside chance. But yeah, I think he's done a pretty steady job there
00:21:25 when you look at what his successor will have to work with. The defensive options look solid,
00:21:32 especially when Tom Leeds comes back. I like the look of the midfield three with Hogg,
00:21:40 Wiles and Modoni just in front. There's obviously a bit more of an issue in terms of getting
00:21:44 that regular goal scorer. Berzog does look a little bit of a work in progress. He did
00:21:52 some good things on Saturday, but he's quite unorthodox and a little bit raw at this level.
00:21:59 But yeah, whoever gets the job has got a decent amount to work with. I think the one thing
00:22:05 that's also sort of garnered from this week is that he's been told there's going to be
00:22:14 a change and he's been around the block. Warnock knows that's sort of fair enough. But he was
00:22:20 surprised when he was actually told after the West Bum game by all accounts. It's certainly
00:22:26 put fire in his belly for the next challenge, whenever that may be, probably after Christmas.
00:22:32 But I'd expect to see him somewhere in the new year.
00:22:34 Yeah, likewise. I mean, the biggest thing that the new man will inherit is a Championship
00:22:39 club. Warnock did an absolutely fantastic job to keep them in the Championship. That
00:22:45 was the most important thing because it really did look like a very serious prospect of them
00:22:50 dropping down to League One and then goodness knows what knock-on financial problems might
00:22:54 have come from that. So, again, for the second time he's done that club, wonderful service.
00:23:01 I just felt that keeping him on was a bit too based in romanticism and not thinking
00:23:08 ahead. Obviously, Lyon's sort of put the other side of it, that they were looking for someone
00:23:15 to bridge the gap. But I feel as though they'd have been better making the change in the
00:23:20 summer. But that's just me speaking with hindsight. If they turn out to have a good season, then
00:23:27 it will have been a good decision. Simple as that.
00:23:29 I just thought they're not too fancy, Paul Stewart, and they do a point. We've both seen
00:23:35 it over the years, we've been in this situation, seen it at countless clubs. Big talk of change
00:23:41 as a new culture, new identity. But the Championship ultimately is results driven and it's a hard,
00:23:48 hard league. There's a lot of three-game weeks as well. It challenges teams physically and
00:23:54 mentally. You can have all the plans and all the visions you want, but it's league driven
00:24:02 by reality, isn't it? Certainly if you've not got millions and millions of pundits with
00:24:07 parachute payments.
00:24:08 Of course, and a lot of these clubs that talk about identity and philosophy and all this
00:24:13 stuff, it's normally about pretty, pretty passive football. But there's nothing wrong
00:24:18 with having the identity of being a hard-working, physical team. I think that's got its place
00:24:27 and I think that's reflective of what Huddersfield Town fans want. I'm not saying that they just
00:24:33 want to see the ball hoof from one end of the field to the other, but they do want to
00:24:37 see a team that gets stuck in and is physical and hard-working. So there's no harm in saying,
00:24:44 well, that's the identity we want to adopt. We want to build on the good things that Neil
00:24:50 Warnock did at the back end of last season and expand on them. So yes, I think sometimes
00:24:55 you're right, the chairman can get highfalutin ideas about, oh, we want to be the Championship,
00:25:03 the league warner, conference north version of Pep's Manchester City, when actually,
00:25:10 that's a) not what fans are after and b) completely unrealistic, as Leon says, on the budgets
00:25:16 you're working with.
00:25:17 And Hull City is our next stop. The Tigers claimed a late draw against Coventry City
00:25:23 thanks to Aaron Connolly nodding in Tyler Morton's cross. This point took the team
00:25:28 up to fifth in the table. I saw many positive comments about the performance and even Nick
00:25:33 Wesby said that Liam Rossignol is bringing the good times back to the club. What were
00:25:39 your thoughts on the game, Stuart?
00:25:41 They just feel to me like a club in a really good place at the moment. They seem to, referring
00:25:48 back to what we just said, they seem to know what they are, know where they're going and
00:25:53 have a clear idea of how they're going to try and do it. They've picked a really good
00:25:57 manager. I'm a big fan of Liam Rossignol as the person to lead it and more importantly,
00:26:05 in contrast to the start of last season when Shotaro Valadez was in charge, they do seem
00:26:09 to be letting him lead it, which I think is crucial. After everything we've just been
00:26:14 saying about Neil Warwick there, they've got a chairman who is very enthusiastic and that
00:26:19 sometimes can be a problem. Sometimes they can be too enthusiastic and too interfering,
00:26:25 but they seem to have struck a good balance, got good personal relationships where the
00:26:29 chairman is heavily involved but not to the point where he's overruling, squeezing out
00:26:38 the manager. They seem to play a sensible brand of football. They spent last season
00:26:45 sort of nailing down things at the back. This season they seem to have done a good job of
00:26:49 just adding that bit more attacking players. As you say, Aaron Connolly has been a lot
00:26:53 more effective in this spell at the club than last year's loan spell. Liam De Lappe has
00:27:03 looked like a really good signing. Obviously, Ozan Tufan scored a few goals before he got
00:27:08 injured. I think from their point of view, it's just a case of keeping this momentum
00:27:14 going and not being too downbeat when inevitably the odd setback comes. They look like they've
00:27:23 got a well-equipped squad. They've obviously got a bit of money behind things which helps,
00:27:28 but they've got some common sense and some clear thinking as well. It should be a good
00:27:32 combination for them.
00:27:33 Yeah, I think everybody there has learnt through experience, haven't they? There was a lot
00:27:38 of talk and idealism and optimism when the new era began at Hull. I think they got a
00:27:46 little bit carried away. Not the summer that's just gone, but the one before. It was a little
00:27:53 bit like a football manager, wasn't it? A lot of name signings coming in. It just did
00:28:00 seem scattergun. It took the senior to come in. He is young, but he's always seemed to
00:28:07 me to be an old head on Young's shoulders. He speaks eloquently and he's well respected
00:28:16 in the game. He sort of built the foundations last season, didn't he? Made them harder to
00:28:24 beat. Got a structure in terms of the defensive shape and play. The next match up, the aggression
00:28:30 was to focus on the front of the house, getting more of an attacking threat. There just seems
00:28:39 to be more of a solidity and base at Hull. They're having fun, and Nick was right to
00:28:48 say that in his match report. There's obviously plenty of inspiration for Hull from like-minded
00:28:56 clubs who bridge the gap between coming in at relegation a few years ago to growing mid-table
00:29:05 and then having a potential shot at the playoffs. You think of the likes of Coventry and Loop.
00:29:13 It is doable if everything falls into place. They had an exciting end to the window. You
00:29:21 do look at the options they've got. They're not overly blessed with number nines as such,
00:29:27 but the main two that they have got have started the season superbly, haven't they? We spoke
00:29:35 before about how Connolly lost his way a little bit. It was always a big season for him. Good
00:29:44 for him that he's had the chance to build his career with somebody who understands him
00:29:50 and can get the best out of him and knows what to say to him in Liam Messina. He's got
00:29:59 three or four goals and he's back in the island fold. Liam has been a breath of fresh air,
00:30:07 hasn't he? We saw his attitude, his work ethic. He chips in with a couple of goals. He looks
00:30:13 like a young player with a hell of a future. Behind him, they've got a lot of attacking
00:30:21 options on the wings and number 10s. We spoke about Scott Twine before. Two fans started
00:30:29 the season very well and he was obviously missing for the Coventry game. Harry Vaughan
00:30:35 made his mark right at the end of last season. Rossini has spoken highly of Lachiello. He's
00:30:42 had his moments as well, even though he's probably a bit of a project signing. They
00:30:47 made the big buy with Phil Higin as well. There's a lot of creative attacking options
00:30:54 there. Sensibly, there is optimism and positivity there. Rossini is keeping a lid on it and
00:31:05 speaking well. They look to be a side who, without putting my colours on the mask and
00:31:14 saying they're going to get in the playoffs, if things drop into place, they surely have
00:31:19 a chance.
00:31:20 When we talked earlier about the newly promoted clubs, the gap feeling too big to bridge in
00:31:28 the Premier League. I think in the Championship, obviously, as just mentioned, Luton and Coventry,
00:31:34 it does feel like, let's not paint a false picture here, all are not poor relations in
00:31:42 this division. They've got fair amounts of money. But nevertheless, if you've got stability
00:31:47 in that, there's so many clubs, often quite big clubs, punch below their weight because
00:31:52 they're so unstable and so veering from one course to the other. I just alluded to how
00:31:58 many managers Huddersfield have had the last few years. If you've actually got a clear
00:32:02 plan, even if you change managers, as Luton did with Rob Edwards coming in, if there's
00:32:07 that overall stability and clear way of thinking, that can make up a lot of the gap.
00:32:13 As I say, when you add in the fact that they actually have got serious money to spend in
00:32:18 the transfer market when FFP allows, you add in the fact that Liam Rossini's reputation
00:32:26 that we've just talked about, that's quite widely shared in the game. So that gives you
00:32:30 a big leg up when it comes to loaning players at the quality of Liam Delaf. Clubs want to
00:32:35 see their clubs go to work for coaches like that. I think they're in a really strong position
00:32:43 and I would totally back up what Leon said. I wouldn't put my neck on the line and say
00:32:49 it was going to happen, but they are definitely playoff contenders this season.
00:32:52 Yeah, they just look to a nice balance there, doesn't it? They've got one or two senior
00:32:57 players, the likes of Sarri, and then they've got some really good young players further
00:33:05 down, Jacob Greaves of This World and Regan Slater, good ages. Senior players as well,
00:33:15 you've got to mention Louis Coyle as well. You think that quite a few of the signings
00:33:21 from abroad as well, they've assimilated and took that time to get up to speed with the
00:33:27 championship, some decent recruitment in the summer. Yeah, it just looks a happy place
00:33:33 to be, doesn't it? Years gone by, the successful Hull sides have always had that sort of togetherness
00:33:39 and spirit and you do sense that a vibe is getting built there.
00:33:45 And Leeds United is where we head to next and there were some very positive comments
00:33:49 that came out of their 3-0 victory over Millwall. This saw Joel Pirro get his name on the score
00:33:55 sheet twice, as well as Georginio Rutter. What did you make of the performance and was
00:34:00 there anything that stood out for you particularly, Stuart?
00:34:04 Well, you couldn't fail to be impressed by the quality of their counter-attack in football.
00:34:09 They only had three shots on goal in the game and they were all rapid counter-attacks, ruthlessly
00:34:16 finished off. I think there were times in the first hour where the front four, Pirro,
00:34:22 Rutter, Nonto and Somerville just linked up so brilliantly. There was really good fluidity
00:34:28 between them, really good understanding. And then for the final, I think he came on about
00:34:33 69 minutes, Dan James came on and almost raised the level again. Absolutely rapid, as you'd
00:34:39 expect, gave another dimension to their attack. So it feels like all the pieces are there
00:34:46 now for Daniel Varka. He's assembled a really good squad with lots of championship now,
00:34:54 lots of good quality and it's just a case of getting everything in order. There was
00:35:00 the odd moment where you were a little bit twitchy about them defensively and in all
00:35:05 honesty this isn't the best Millwall side of the last few years, not at this stage of
00:35:10 the season anyway. But you feel like they've got more than enough to compensate for it.
00:35:16 You mentioned all those players and not Patrick Bamford who is starting his return to playing
00:35:24 hopefully in the next couple of weeks and that will give him a boost. They've done this
00:35:28 without Liam Cooper as well, he's on his way back. So it feels like they've got lots of
00:35:34 options and it's just a case of Varka picking the right one for each situation and getting
00:35:43 a good blend. But you saw lots of signs in South London that things are coming together.
00:35:49 Leanne and I were both banging on in August about waiting until after the international
00:35:55 break then you'll see the real Leeds. Well it felt like in that first game in the international
00:35:59 break we got a glimpse of what the real Leeds is going to be and if you're a Leeds fan it
00:36:05 was pretty exciting. Yeah, they're growing very nicely into the season. I like the fact
00:36:13 that they've got Rodon in. I liked him at Swansea when he was in the championship. He's
00:36:23 a strong defender for this level and for Perdue as well. He's obviously playing with him at
00:36:28 international level. And then if you factor in Pirro as well, that's adding to the spine
00:36:33 isn't it? And then you've got Cooper and Bamford to throw back into the mix. Obviously the
00:36:39 threats are wide in Gonto and Somerville. Yeah, it's starting to come together for me
00:36:48 as we spoke before about I wasn't too unhappy at Leeds being in that mid-table, sort of
00:36:55 lower mid-table before the first international break. He won't be, well he's said in public
00:37:01 Varka, not really talking about league tables as such but he's got a hunch in the back of
00:37:08 his mind he won't be saying anything but he'll probably think this is where we need to be
00:37:13 before the October break and then maybe have something in mind by the next break after
00:37:18 that even in November. But yeah, I think along those lines, I think if Leeds can be fifth
00:37:28 sixth by the time of the next international break that'll be fine. They're the sort of
00:37:34 team for me that there'll always be one or two early pace setters that they'll be looking
00:37:39 out with their shoulders and Leeds will be one of the teams that teams will be fearing.
00:37:46 I do like the cut of Varka's jib, he's obviously got a great record at this level with Norwich
00:37:53 but just everything he says, it's common sense, it's considered, it's really resonating with
00:37:59 the Leeds supporters. He's a figure who just will not get carried away at all. He's incredibly
00:38:07 grounded, he knows what to say at the right times and he's been through a little bit of,
00:38:15 well him and Leeds have been through a little bit of adversity in the summer, the narrative
00:38:19 was all about players who didn't want to be there. He's closed ranks with the ones who
00:38:25 are there and who want to be. There's been a big attitude shift and a change in the narrative
00:38:32 hasn't there? It seems to be a club that's, it is early days but it's sort of coming back
00:38:39 together isn't it? The supporters are bought into what he's doing and obviously more performances
00:38:45 like they delivered at Millwall will hasten the process.
00:38:51 I think that mindset and the results just frames everything. If Leeds had not shown
00:38:57 that mindset, if the results had been wobbling a bit, we might be talking this week about
00:39:00 what a big loss Jed Spence was with his injury. It feels like they've got into that no excuses
00:39:09 mindset that we talked a lot about for Sheffield United and Barnsley last season. They can be
00:39:15 resilient to these things. I think the big test for Leeds will be when some of those
00:39:19 key players, as Leon's mentioned, pick up a six week injury or a suspension or just
00:39:26 lose a bit of form. You look on paper at what they've got in reserve. Players like Karl
00:39:31 Darlow, you mentioned Cooper, you mentioned Bamford, Grew, Glen Kamara, you know, Anthony.
00:39:37 They look at least, some of those are still to be tested, but they look on paper as though
00:39:42 they've got players who can step up in all of those positions and make light of injuries
00:39:48 and give Farker the option to rotate things as you have to in a 4-6 game season. Having
00:39:55 had a ridiculously light bench in August, they now look like he's got serious options.
00:40:01 He's a man who knows how to use them, how to manage them through a championship season.
00:40:05 I think things are in a pretty positive place for Leeds and when you get into that situation,
00:40:13 things can really snowball in a good way. I think the thing with Farker quickly as well
00:40:18 is he's obviously been very successful at this level and there's a good chance at some
00:40:23 point in the autumn Leeds go on a good run. I think the manager in him will be interested
00:40:28 in how Leeds react to a setback, which they will happen down the line, which they're guaranteed
00:40:33 to happen down the line, whether it's in a three game week or not. Leeds will get beaten
00:40:38 somewhere and I think the trick for Leeds and Farker, what will really be interesting
00:40:44 is how quickly they recover from that. If Leeds slip up somewhere, then in the next
00:40:50 game produce a convincing performance and victory, that will suggest they really are
00:40:56 going along the right lines and they're going to have a strong season. I think Leeds are
00:41:03 in really good hands. It's a good, strong, sensible appointment and I think things are
00:41:13 looking up there.
00:41:14 Next we turn to Rotherham United, who fell to a 2-0 defeat when they paid a visit to
00:41:19 Huddersfield Town. This means the Millers have only recorded one win from the first
00:41:23 six games this season. What do you think Matt Taylor will have to do to help turn his team's
00:41:28 fortunes around and hopefully keep the team as far away from the relegation zone as possible?
00:41:35 Well I think in a nutshell, Mark, it's sort the away form out. He did mention, obviously
00:41:41 speaking, before the game against Millwall, but Taylor was asked after the game at Huddersfield
00:41:50 whether the away form had become a psychological issue. They've only won twice since he arrived
00:41:58 last autumn and you have to go back to November, they won at Sheffield United for the last
00:42:04 win. He just admitted it is becoming a big monkey on his back and he spoke of having
00:42:10 the player, a different side home and away, having a home and away sort of split. The
00:42:16 bottom line is we've spoken enough times about Rotherham's home form and it can be a tough
00:42:22 place to go. The New York Stadium is a tight arena when the fans get behind Rotherham and
00:42:29 they've got the foot on the throat of opponents and they're winning second balls and there's
00:42:36 an intensity. That looks after itself as far as Rotherham are concerned but away from home
00:42:44 it's different. They're simply not going to achieve their aims, which let's be honest
00:42:51 for Rotherham, is just finishing out of the relegation zone if they don't chip away and
00:42:55 get some wins away from home. I've not seen all of Rotherham's games as myself and Stuart
00:43:03 haven't but they had a big beating at Stoke on the opening day but I'd imagine that the
00:43:09 performance at Huddersfield was as disappointing as Taylor's probably been all season. There's
00:43:17 been endless talk in August about the disruption that Rotherham have had. They've not got the
00:43:21 biggest of squads, they've had a mini injury crisis but they had one or two options for
00:43:25 that game at Huddersfield with the likes of Sam Nombé and Sam Klukas on the bench. They
00:43:32 sort of wanted two out but it was a fairly strong hand that he had to pick from and it
00:43:38 was just so flat and disappointing, especially defensively. They really did look susceptible
00:43:47 on the day and it could have been a heavier beating. That's the sort of worry for Rotherham
00:43:56 United and that's the thing that they're really wrestling with at the moment. As much as they
00:44:01 can dig out a fine win against Norwich and they should have beaten Blackburn, they shouldn't
00:44:07 in August as well. They played pretty well against Leicester and were unlucky to lose that.
00:44:11 The away form, there's a massive need for improvement there even though we all know
00:44:19 how hard it is at this level for Rotherham. I think Leon sort of came up with a key word
00:44:26 when he was talking about Leeds before. We talked about why we think Leeds are going to be
00:44:31 contenders up there and why we thought Hull will be play-off contenders and what Huddersfield
00:44:37 need to do with their new manager. Leon mentioned the word 'sensible'. That's the thing. You get
00:44:42 the sense that unlike some of the clubs in the Championship, Rotherham are sensible. There's
00:44:48 a realism there as to what they're up against in terms of budget. People do need to keep their
00:44:55 nerve really and see things through. From Matt Taylor's perspective, he's obviously had to work
00:45:03 with a very tight budget. There's no question about that. He has been able to remould this squad.
00:45:10 This squad has got his fingerprints on it now. Whilst he's obviously not got everything he
00:45:16 would have wanted because he simply can't afford them, he has got a Matt Taylor squad to work with.
00:45:24 He needs to find those solutions there from the pieces available. I think the key thing is,
00:45:32 and I'm pretty confident that this will be the case, that people just need to hold their nerve
00:45:38 and not get too carried away. A month down the line, we're still talking about some of these
00:45:47 problems away from home. It's going to be a tough season. It's kind of depressing in some ways to
00:45:53 say that all Rotherham's ambition should be is to stay up, but that is the reality, I'm afraid.
00:45:59 I think Tayek showed last season, it took him a bit of time to get to grips with the squad he
00:46:09 inherited, but he did find the solutions in the end. I would hope that that's going to be the
00:46:14 story of this season as well. He just needs a bit of space and a bit of time and then it's over to
00:46:23 him. He does have to deliver, but I don't think there should be or will be too much unrealistic
00:46:32 pressure on him at the moment. Now we focus on Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough,
00:46:36 who played out a 1-0 draw when the two of them met and went head-to-head in a game which both
00:46:42 managers were going into under immense pressure as they're both in the relegation zone and in
00:46:48 desperate need of getting points on the board. What did you make of the performances and how
00:46:53 much pressure will they now be under to get those points on the board, Stuart?
00:46:58 Well, they will be under pressure because they're two big clubs at the wrong end of the
00:47:04 championship. The reality is, for everything I've just said about Rotherham, you don't have that
00:47:12 leeway at those clubs. That's a weakness of those clubs in times of adversity. I was there and it
00:47:21 was a frustrating night because they both had spells of about 20 minutes, maybe a bit longer
00:47:27 with Sheffield Wednesday, where you could see there was something there. You just need to look
00:47:32 at the Middlesbrough team sheet and fair enough, there's a few names who are a bit new to the
00:47:38 championship, a bit unsure of them. But amongst them you've got players like Lewis O'Brien,
00:47:44 Hayden Hackney, Johnny Howson on the bench. Really high-quality players, but the confidence
00:47:55 of both of them is just so brittle. Sheffield Wednesday were, let me put it this way,
00:48:01 comfortably the least worst team of the first half. They looked much more confident than
00:48:06 Middlesbrough. They were stringing together passes, which is something Middlesbrough were
00:48:10 really struggling to do at that stage. They took a 1-0 lead, but as when I saw them at Preston,
00:48:16 it just took one sloppy goal conceded from a set-piece and it just all seemed to evaporate.
00:48:21 That confidence completely disappeared. Suddenly, Middlesbrough picked it up, having come out for
00:48:27 the second half quite strongly. They played some good stuff for about 20 minutes or so,
00:48:32 scored that goal, had a goal disallowed, but then it just seemed to ebb away from them as well.
00:48:38 They just seemed to revert back to how they started. It just looked like two teams who need
00:48:44 to be convinced that they're better than their league position shows. Wednesday have shown it
00:48:51 quite a few times this season. I've seen them three times this season. They played very well
00:48:57 for half a game against Preston. They played very well for half a game against Middlesbrough,
00:49:04 and they had an excellent 90-minute defensive performance against Leeds United. So there is
00:49:09 something there, but they don't seem to be able to follow it through to the full conclusion, to
00:49:16 keep that concentration we were talking about with regard to their neighbours for the whole game,
00:49:20 to keep that confidence and that belief there, to keep doing what they've shown themselves can work.
00:49:26 Yeah, they just don't seem to believe in that. In terms of Wednesday in particular, there's
00:49:33 obviously this really frustrating sideshow between the chairman and Darren Moore, of course,
00:49:42 absolute nonsense. The fact that Darren Moore's working in the media at the moment, the sooner
00:49:49 from Sheffield Wednesday's perspective he gets another management job and out of the TV studio
00:49:56 so he can stop being asked about this, the better. Because every time he does talk about it,
00:50:00 you get a reaction from the chairman. This thing that just needs burying carries on.
00:50:05 There was a protest on the evening, 15 minutes in, there must have been about 30 tennis balls
00:50:13 thrown onto the field. It was something of nothing really. It was a protest in keeping
00:50:19 with the quality of the game. But it did remind everyone that there are deeper problems at this
00:50:26 club. Middlesbrough got booed off at half-time, Sheffield Wednesday got booed off at full-time.
00:50:31 They're just not happy places. But both those situations feel retrievable. It doesn't feel like
00:50:38 these are clubs that are way out of their depth where they are. But somehow, it's that chicken
00:50:45 and egg. They need to get confidence into their players so that they can win matches. How do you
00:50:50 get confidence? By winning matches. So, one way or the other, they need to square that circle,
00:50:56 both clubs. They're just desperate for a catalyst, a pair of them, Stuart, aren't they?
00:51:00 It is early season, we're only seven games in. But it's almost got to be one of those situations
00:51:07 where you just get a win from however it comes, however scrappy it is. And then it will, at least,
00:51:13 it might be a bit of a sticking plaster, but it will quieten a little bit of the noise. Because
00:51:20 at the minute, it just seems on a game-by-game level, doesn't it? Or even a half-by-half level.
00:51:26 Absolutely. Not even just quieting the noise, but also just to unlock some of that belief,
00:51:33 I think, Leon, is just as important. Because as I say, Middlesbrough had it for 20 minutes,
00:51:37 Sheffield Wednesday had it for half an hour, 45 minutes, but it just disappeared straight away.
00:51:42 You suspect that's because this is a team not used to winning, not believing that they can win,
00:51:48 in both those cases. I think a big issue as well is,
00:51:52 OK, they're in the firing line, Munoz, and slightly to a lesser extent, Michael Carrick.
00:52:01 It's recruitment as well, isn't it? Recruitment is king. I sort of look at
00:52:06 Middlesbrough's recruitment, and don't get me wrong, there's some good players they've got on
00:52:13 paper. I think a lot of Championship clubs would have wanted Lewis O'Brien in their ranks.
00:52:18 But yeah, there just looks a lot of... I don't know if they got a little bit carried away with
00:52:25 what happened last season under Carrick. It was a real fairy tale almost, wasn't it? An incredible
00:52:32 run from relegation candidates to the play-off semi-finals. At some point in late winter,
00:52:40 they were being spoken up as potential top two candidates. But I just think that maybe they just
00:52:49 forgot a little bit of the situation that they were actually in when Carrick took over, when
00:52:55 they were in a similar position to what they're in now. Probably a little bit better, in fact,
00:53:01 slightly better anyway. There's still quite a few of those players there.
00:53:06 They went for a lot of players in the summer project, young players with potential, but
00:53:14 a very limited amount of experience at Championship level. And maybe thought, well,
00:53:20 we had a good Carrick, an incredible turnaround last year. We've lost one or two players, but
00:53:26 we'll carry on from where we've left off. But we've got a successful way of playing and
00:53:33 we'll be steady and we will get results. It's proved to be not the case. Some of the buys
00:53:41 look like they're already really struggling at Championship level. He obviously brought in
00:53:48 without picking on the lad he got from Denmark, Lucas Engel. I saw him on his debut against
00:53:55 Huddersfield. He found it hard on his debut and having seen the game against Sheffield
00:54:05 Wednesday on television as well, he toiled as well. So, he's got to be questionable with one
00:54:09 or two of the recruitment decisions there, which is not a new thing, to be fair, at Middlesbrough.
00:54:18 You know, ultimately, we talk about plans and identity, but it's about what happens in
00:54:24 both boxes. Middlesbrough do look a little bit suspect in that regard. Defensively,
00:54:31 they look a little bit light in terms of the forward options as well.
00:54:35 I mean, we talked about it, I talked about it with regards to Sheffield Wednesday on previous
00:54:42 podcasts saying, I wish in the short term they made a bit more use of their established experience
00:54:48 players to allow the younger players to settle in a bit more. It was a bit slightly disconcerting
00:54:58 for me. Steve Middlesbrough playing such an important game with Haussner and McNair as
00:55:06 a new substitute, you know, Isaiah Jones was on the bench and made a big difference when he came on.
00:55:11 You'd like to, or I'd like to see anyway, more reliance early on those players you can bank on.
00:55:19 Because if ever, you know, I obviously understand that Johnny Housen's at the stage of his career
00:55:24 that he can't play three games a week very often. But if there was a game to target,
00:55:29 you know, in September, never mind in this week, it was obviously Sheffield Wednesday. That's the
00:55:34 game he wants him on the pitch for. And I just feel as though some of the young players and
00:55:40 inexperienced players in both of those squads who've been recruited this summer have been thrown
00:55:46 unnecessarily into the deep end. I think it would have been better for them to have more of a
00:55:54 bedding in period. And then maybe we might see Lucas Enkel, who as Leon says, he looked out of
00:56:00 his depth the other night, but maybe if he just had a bit more time to acclimatise, being able to
00:56:05 come into a team with wins under his belt, we might have seen a better, more confident start from him.
00:56:13 So I think particularly for both sides, I think there's a back to basics response needed. I mean,
00:56:25 when they left out Hequay and Rhys James, just purely as tactical decisions, Munoz said
00:56:30 afterwards, you know, obviously they can't bring Marvin Johnson back in because he's been left out
00:56:35 to the squad. But those, I do think they need to make more use of these already established leaders
00:56:43 that they've got. Maybe, you know, come November, December, phase them out a bit more if you do feel
00:56:48 that that's the way you've got to go. But they just seem to have gone off too early, too much
00:56:54 in that respect. Yeah, they're both wrestling to find the best sides, aren't they Stuart? I think
00:56:59 that's the best way of putting it. But, you know, there'll be more and more pressure. The pressure's
00:57:06 only going to increase, isn't it? You know, if Middlesbrough go behind against Southampton on
00:57:11 Saturday, it sounded like some of the supporters were starting to turn a little bit on Tuesday
00:57:18 night. And, you know, that dynamic is going to be thrown into it. And already it's early days for
00:57:25 Munoz. But, you know, there's a lot of thought and discontent with what's happening with the
00:57:32 ownership at Wednesday. But, you know, he's under the pump as well. So, you know, you just hope for
00:57:37 the pair of them that they can get a result or two before the next international break. Or
00:57:44 you do start to, you know, fear for them. And then the table does start to sort of
00:57:49 forge itself, doesn't it? I think that's when teams, when you start to look at the table by,
00:57:54 you know, between October and November and you just desperately need some hope for the pair of
00:58:01 them. And finally for this week, we turn to Barnsley in League One, who welcomed Portsmouth
00:58:06 to Oakwell and fell to a 3-2 defeat, which saw the Tights go 2-0 down or concede two goals within a
00:58:13 minute and 3-0 down inside 18 minutes. However, they dug deep and were able to bring the scoreline
00:58:19 to 3-2. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to get that all-important equaliser.
00:58:24 What was your reaction to the performance and how do you feel that the team could improve, Leon?
00:58:33 Yeah, well, it was a slightly madcap evening, really. We even had a sprinkler that was
00:58:38 shooting off all over the place in the first quarter of the game when
00:58:43 Portsmouth, I think, they got three goals in eight minutes. We're 3-0 up just after 15 minutes. So,
00:58:50 it was bonkers in that regard. And yeah, incredibly, Barnsley could have ended it with
00:58:58 a point. They made some, they had to make changes at half-time, Neil Collins. And in fairness,
00:59:07 there's an argument to say he could have maybe even made a couple before that because
00:59:10 Barnsley were just defensively and in the middle of the park, they were all over the place,
00:59:17 it's fair to say. You've got to give credit to Portsmouth as well. They looked a really,
00:59:23 really good side in the first half. The front three were excellent with the movement and the
00:59:29 strength and the threat and the two behind in midfield were running the show as well.
00:59:36 But from a Barnsley perspective, it was pretty unsatisfactory. I think I've spoken before in
00:59:45 the podcast that Barnsley's midfield, I know that without Luke Connell at the minute, who's
00:59:51 still out with this sort of worrying illness, they're well stopped there. They've got Adam
00:59:59 Phillips, Herbie Kane, good players at this level. Further forward, Devante Cole, he's carried on
01:00:06 from where he left off last season. He was excellent under Michael Duff and Neil Collins
01:00:13 is getting the tune out of him. Sam Cosgrove has had almost a bit like another option of Plan B,
01:00:21 if you like, with physicality and the target man qualities, Max Watters as well, and the young
01:00:29 lad, Mick Tate. I think they're OK in those two departments. They sort of look after themselves,
01:00:34 but just defensively, that's been the big fear. They've obviously lost the back three who served
01:00:41 them so well in the second half of last season in particular. It's the Anderson and Kitching,
01:00:46 the big departures, and Bobby Thomas as well. I didn't worry about Barnsley at the back.
01:00:54 Yeah, they've played three of the better sides at Ligue 1 level at home this season,
01:01:00 and they've conceded three goals to all three of them. They obviously lost 3-1 at home to Peter
01:01:06 Brad, who did that game. Peter, like Portsmouth, had an excellent spell and had some really good
01:01:12 offensive players. It proved too much for Barnsley. Oxford won 3-1 as well, and obviously Portsmouth
01:01:18 as well. I think there's been some really encouraging signs at the start of Neil Collins'
01:01:25 reign, but it's just that they do lack, on the night certainly, some defensive leadership and
01:01:35 conviction. In the first half, it could have easily been more than three. It could have been
01:01:42 four or five. That was concerning, but the good news aspect was that Callum Stiles came on and
01:01:49 he was very good. Owen Dodgson did well after coming off, and Nicky Cadden and Cosgrove offered
01:01:58 a threat as well. Barnsley do have, not necessarily in defence to be fair, but in terms of
01:02:05 midfield wing-backs and forwards, they do have options. Defensively, it was pretty grim in the
01:02:14 first half. I didn't see the game, I just read Leon's report, but what does encourage me about
01:02:24 that is what Leon said earlier with regards to Leeds. There are always going to be bad games and
01:02:32 bad defeats. As he said with regards to Leeds, it's how you react. The fact that Barnsley did
01:02:37 obviously have this horror start, and at least cut it back to three-two, suggests there's a bit
01:02:42 of character there. Obviously, character overtakes you so far. If you're continually having those
01:02:49 defensive problems that he's just highlighted, that's something that Neil Collins, as a former
01:02:54 defender, really needs to get to grips with on the training ground. There's two levels of it.
01:03:02 There's the individual ability, which has obviously taken a hit after Liam Kitchen,
01:03:08 Andy, Mads Andersen and the other big defensive losses they've had. The other level is just the
01:03:15 organisation to at least make light of it. They really need to get that nailed down a bit more
01:03:25 strongly. At least if there's a bit of character in there, you would hope that if they can just
01:03:31 get to January in a decent position, then some of that Kitchen money will be in the kitty and they
01:03:37 will go out and address some of these defensive problems that they couldn't do with him leaving
01:03:42 so late in the window. Then there's cause for a bit of hope. It's not doom and gloom,
01:03:49 and we've got to remember what went before for Barnsley. They were on a really good run.
01:03:53 More than anything, it's just a reminder of the things that they need to work on.
01:03:59 When you're a team in good form, that's not the worst thing in the world to have those
01:04:04 little reminders now and then.
01:04:07 Yeah, absolutely. You've got to consider as well that they came into the game on the back of
01:04:14 four games, two nils and kept four clean sheets. They were solid by all accounts
01:04:20 against Burson on Saturday, but as Stuart rightly says, some sides at this level are a step up in
01:04:29 class. Portsmouth went top on the night and they look to me like they're going to be hanging around.
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01:05:15 As ever, many thanks for listening. Look after yourselves and bye for now.