On this week’s podcast, YP football writers Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall join host Mark Singleton to discuss whether the point of no return has now arrived for Sheffield United in the Premier League, following their 5-0 defeat to Brighton.
They also look at what the future holds for Rotherham United who suffered two one-goal defeats this week, the second a last-gasp loss at Ipswich Town.
What does Andre Breitenreiter need to prioritise after being unveiled as the permanent successor to Darren Moore at Huddersfield Town and can Leeds United emulate Middlesbrough and beat runaway Championship leaders Leicester City when they visit Elland Road on Friday?
PLUS, Stuart and Leon pick their respective Team of the Week and Player of the Week ...
They also look at what the future holds for Rotherham United who suffered two one-goal defeats this week, the second a last-gasp loss at Ipswich Town.
What does Andre Breitenreiter need to prioritise after being unveiled as the permanent successor to Darren Moore at Huddersfield Town and can Leeds United emulate Middlesbrough and beat runaway Championship leaders Leicester City when they visit Elland Road on Friday?
PLUS, Stuart and Leon pick their respective Team of the Week and Player of the Week ...
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:11 Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members of our football writing team.
00:19 On this week's episode we're joined by Chief Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Walshall, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs.
00:29 Don't forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by logging onto our website at yp.sport@nationalworld.com, as well as checking out our various Twitter feeds, the main one being @ypsport.
00:42 If you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football, or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well.
00:48 And if you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter at the Football Talk podcast at yp.sport@nationalworld.com.
00:59 YorkshirePost.co.uk
01:02 As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by Chief Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Walshall. Good morning guys.
01:10 Morning.
01:11 Morning.
01:12 Right, this week we saw a number of good results for our Yorkshire teams, which included a return to second place for Leeds United, thanks to their 2-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle.
01:22 Middlesbrough claimed all three points with a stunning 2-1 victory over league leaders Leicester City, which we will be covering a bit more later on in the episode.
01:30 Sheffield Wednesday claimed a valuable three points with a 2-0 victory over Millwall.
01:35 Barnsley continued their march for promotion with a 2-1 victory when they visited Fleetwood Town.
01:42 In League Two, Bradford City claimed their third win in a row with a 1-0 victory over Sutton United.
01:49 Harrogate Town had to share the points in their 0-0 draw with Crew Alexandra.
01:55 And Doncaster Rovers claimed an impressive 5-1 victory away at Grimsby Town.
02:00 But this week we start in the Premier League, where Sheffield United suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion,
02:07 in which Mason Holgate received a red card for a horrific challenge, which caught Kaoru Mitoma early in the first half.
02:16 The Blades now sit seven points off safety.
02:19 What was your assessment of the game and how do you think they'll go into their trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stuart?
02:28 Well, it was quite hard to assess the game in the sense that it was totally skewed by that red card 13 minutes in.
02:36 There are some teams you can get away with being a man down against.
02:42 The lower down the league you get, sometimes actually having a man sent off can be to your advantage.
02:47 But against the passing team of Brighton's qualities, you really can't afford to be a man down.
02:55 They'll pull you left, right and centre. They move the ball so quickly and so well.
03:00 So as soon as Mason Holgate had that moment of madness, Sheffield United were always on a hiding to nothing.
03:09 I guess the positive thing for them was that having conceded two quick goals after that red card,
03:15 they then kept it at 2-0 for another 50 minutes. They even had a goal disallowed somewhat farcically in that spell.
03:24 So there was that positive they could take out of it.
03:28 But the fact is, this is three games running now and different context to all of this,
03:34 but three home games running, they've conceded five goals in. That's a massive problem.
03:39 And as Chris Wilder pointed out, it's not just the goals themselves, it's the fact that they tend to come in spurts.
03:46 So the two were very close together and then three in 10 minutes.
03:50 And that just points to lack of concentration, perhaps, maybe lack of confidence, certainly lack of leadership.
03:57 So these are all things that they really need to address because, as I say,
04:04 it's really important for the fans who are paying to watch these games as much as anything,
04:10 that they're at the very least putting up a good showing no matter what circumstances are created for themselves.
04:16 So I think they need to produce a reaction at Wolves, as they did in fairness at Luton Town,
04:22 and give the fans who have travelled down there some justification for having paid the money and made the effort to go down there.
04:30 But there's clearly big problems there in terms of those defensive bad habits that they've got.
04:39 And that's certainly something that they'll be looking to address on the training ground.
04:43 It's been, well for me Stuart, it's been one of the, if not the defining theme of the season, the defence.
04:50 We've seen plenty of Chefs United in the good times with them coming up from the Championship.
04:57 And the bedrock there has been that defensive organisation spirit, unity, all those sort of things.
05:03 It's just sort of flipped the other way for various reasons.
05:07 Obviously they've had some very untimely injuries with John Egan, a big defensive leader.
05:13 I think Armin Ocic has found the step up difficult, which he was going to do really, wasn't he?
05:18 He had a fantastic first season English football last year, but this is a huge jump, isn't it?
05:24 And various other selection issues, defence with injuries, Chris Basham.
05:30 And they've just never got it right, have they? I think they had work to do in the summer window.
05:38 They brought Eymor in, they brought Archer in, but there was always that glaring deficiency at the back.
05:45 They still looked a little bit short. I know they brought Trustee in, but there's another one who's improving at Premier League level.
05:54 We spoke about needing that. Clubs in the past about getting Championship ready players.
05:59 I think they haven't had that defensive ready player at Premier League level.
06:05 I think amongst the problems that they've had, that's been a significant one.
06:10 36 goals they've conceded at home, isn't it? They've played 12, is it, or 13.
06:16 That's almost three a game, isn't it, really?
06:20 I think amongst the problems that they have, for me, that one's...
06:24 I know you've seen a lot more of them than I have, but that's right at the top for me.
06:28 I think it's glaring that they haven't strengthened that back four, back five.
06:34 Also, they lost Tommy Doyle and Vinicius Souza has come in and done a job as the holding midfielder.
06:41 But for the amount of money they were paying for him and the fact that he's not played in the division before,
06:46 it was always a gamble as to whether he'd be at Premier League standard from the start.
06:52 It extends beyond the defence itself. There's been a lack of protection in front.
06:58 But yeah, Leon's absolutely right.
07:01 When you're a promoted side, it's very, very hard to find, be able to afford and attract
07:09 a really copper-bottomed, hang-all-hat-on Premier League goalscorer.
07:15 So you really have to be solid at the back to make up for it.
07:19 I think that's been Burnley's undoing as well, but to an even greater extent as the numbers show,
07:25 Sheffield United. Some of it is not just about the ability to tackle and mark the men.
07:32 It's the mental qualities which those splurges of goals point to and maybe a bit of leadership as well.
07:40 Of course, they're without the captain and the vice-captain through injury.
07:43 I think all these things have added up, but certainly the organisational and the leadership element
07:49 is something they can work on on the training ground and they really do have to because
07:54 they've got gaps to make up in terms of their ability, let's be honest.
08:00 I think that's it. The team's at the bottom, isn't it? They're there for a reason.
08:04 They're not going to get out of trouble by blowing away teams.
08:07 They're going to do it by grafting and being organised and not nicking wins,
08:14 but just being solid and have some sort of consistency defensively.
08:21 None of the real teams at the bottom have done that in particular.
08:25 Sheffield United did the work last summer in the window.
08:29 They were a bit behind the eight ball. They were losing a bit of time.
08:32 They sorted one or two areas, but just for me, they didn't manage to sort it out defensively.
08:39 Then you get to January and you probably look at the position and think,
08:42 "Well, are we going to spend a lot of money to bring in a defender?"
08:47 When realistically, are we going to stay up?
08:49 Obviously, there's the ownership situation as well.
08:53 It's something they'll have to address.
08:59 I think in the hearing now, they've just got to try and get a bit of pride, haven't they, Stuart?
09:03 The good thing, if there is any, from what I can see this season is that
09:08 one or two of the younger players, the Andre Brooks, the Willa Sula,
09:11 they've been bloodied. Looking at it from a United perspective,
09:16 can their evolution, their development continue for the rest of the season?
09:20 Can they do well? Personally, they've got some big games coming up.
09:25 The Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal. If personally they can get something out of that
09:32 and there can be some decent collective performances in terms of pride and a bit of hope,
09:39 then I think Sheffield United fans will take that at least.
09:43 It's pretty clear that Wylde has been brought in as a rebuilder rather than as a firefighter.
09:50 For example, Neil Warnock at Huddersfield last season. This is about the longer term.
09:56 Great if it has an impact on the short term and smelts things out.
10:00 You can see the forward thinking with the likes of Sula and Brooks.
10:05 It looks like our blaster might be next. That's good to see.
10:08 You often hear at this time of year when teams are struggling down there,
10:11 "Oh, chuck in the kids." Managers are very reluctant to do it because you can expose them,
10:17 you can break them quite frankly. But these have been brought in reasonably sensibly.
10:23 They've not been thrown in en masse. They've been dipped in and out.
10:27 I think that's the way to go because clearly when you don't have money,
10:32 you don't have much money and you've got an academy producing decent players,
10:36 that is your solution really, isn't it?
10:38 Yes, traditionally they've had a decent academy as well.
10:41 If it's dirty, you might as well use it.
10:44 Next we turn our attention to Rotherham United who suffered a 1-0 defeat against Watford,
10:51 which was then followed by an agonising 4-3 defeat when they paid a visit to promotion chasing Ipswich Town.
10:57 This now sees the Millers 14 points off safety and in a situation which is becoming more and more desperate as the season goes on.
11:05 Leon, what was your assessment of the game and is it a case of the team just making sure that they go down
11:11 with some fight at this point?
11:15 Well, they certainly did that in the game on Tuesday night at Ipswich.
11:19 They pushed them all the way and it was following the scores a little bit towards the end.
11:25 They got the penalty from Cafu and he sort of reprised the Kadenka of Somerville the other week.
11:33 Yes, a glorious moment for Leeds as well. They must have been all jumping up and down.
11:39 What a night it promised to be for them with St Ampton losing as well.
11:44 I think it's just symptomatic of Rotherham's season, isn't it?
11:48 The scoring, what was it, the second or third minute of stoppage time.
11:52 Ipswich go up the other end of the score. I've got to be honest, I watched the Sky Sports midweek soccer show
12:03 and as soon as Clinton Morrison said there were five minutes left, I thought there's loads of time here
12:08 for the goalkeeper and unfortunately it was two.
12:11 You've just got to feel for Rotherham on a bit of a human level for the supporters who went down there.
12:16 They haven't run away from home in 15, 16 months.
12:20 Seeing the team this season, it's hard enough for Rotherham to compete at this level at the best of times
12:25 but they've had horrendous injuries, they've had some rough refereeing calls.
12:30 There's issues with players' fitness and it was interesting what he said on Saturday, Liam Richardson.
12:37 He's got to be mindful of looking at the schedule, especially when they've got Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday games.
12:44 There's players there who aren't 100% in terms of the fitness, they're just coming back.
12:49 The lead Pelletiers, Sean Morrison, Sam Cooke, there's plenty of others.
12:56 He's got to be really mindful of the match minutes there.
13:00 That's another problem amongst the other issues that he's having to juggle with.
13:06 I think you look at it on a simple level.
13:10 Rotherham, they're going to go down, let's face it.
13:14 I think the first port of call is hopefully just giving it a go and some pride in the performances.
13:23 They certainly did that against Ipswich.
13:26 I'm sure the supporters are a pretty stoic bunch.
13:30 They've had to be this season and there'll be a bit of pain at what happened at the end against Ipswich.
13:35 They can take a lot from that performance.
13:37 They can look back and think, "We might have lost out right at the death."
13:42 But we gave it a good go there and it was entertaining.
13:45 That's what they did.
13:47 Hopefully, they can show some more of that.
13:50 Also, they look at the games.
13:53 They've got QPR, Sheffield Wednesday.
13:55 If they can get a couple of results there, there's a bit of a chance that they still might be in it.
14:00 Not to finish bottom.
14:02 It's small beer in the greater scheme of things.
14:05 They're going to go down.
14:07 But if they can manage to fight and not finish bottom, I suppose that's something.
14:13 I went on Saturday.
14:15 It was one of those, I mean, and what Stuart thinks as well, when we've seen Rotherham this season,
14:19 they've not got hammered that many times.
14:22 It was obviously the Watford game that accounted for Matt Taylor.
14:25 They had a couple of good hide-ins against Stoke at the start of the season.
14:30 They've been in a lot of games.
14:33 They're honest, they're organised.
14:35 I think Liam Richardson has come in and he's made them, generally speaking,
14:38 he's made them more organised, structured defensively and harder to break down,
14:44 even though I know they lost heavily at Ipswich.
14:48 Victor Johansen didn't have the best game, which is surprising, really,
14:52 given his very high standards.
14:55 But he's done that.
14:58 They've just been in games, but there's just no respect for them whatsoever,
15:01 in terms of the schedule, in terms of the injuries they've had,
15:04 in terms of the calibre of opponents.
15:07 They played alright on Saturday, I thought, but it was just one moment from the Watford winger,
15:13 one day in the game.
15:14 That's just the way it's been going for them, isn't it?
15:17 Sorry.
15:19 Just then, when you were talking about how the way that their season has been going,
15:24 whenever you're a team at the bottom of any division, really,
15:28 it's almost as if you're attracting everything to come at you at once,
15:33 be it unexpected injuries, heavy defeats, week after week,
15:38 and it just seems as though it's never-ending,
15:42 which I think is almost the case for Rotherham at this stage, Gornstuart.
15:48 It points again to what Liam was saying before.
15:51 When you're chasing results, and they've signed a lot of players the last couple of years
15:58 who haven't had a proper pre-season, or have got patchy injury records,
16:02 so when you're pushing them harder than they probably should be pushed,
16:07 and I say pushing them harder, probably in most of those cases,
16:11 the player themselves are saying, "No, I want to play that extra ten minutes."
16:14 It's not necessarily the manager's fault, but when you're doing that,
16:18 that in itself causes injuries, and you just get into this cycle.
16:22 Whereas if you're in the luxury of being a man-city of your division,
16:27 you genuinely can pick and choose and rest players and get away with it.
16:33 I just feel with Rotherham, I feel actually as though they're a better team, almost,
16:39 against the better sides, because they love that situation where they don't have the force of pace,
16:46 but they really do have the battle.
16:48 I think when we look back on Rotherham at the end of the season,
16:52 we'll be looking at all the things Liam's mentioned,
16:55 but the one thing we won't be able to say is they didn't fight.
17:00 I think so long as you can say that at the end of the season,
17:04 I think you can look yourself in the mirror then and accept that.
17:09 If you don't have the quality, if you don't have the look and all these other things
17:16 to compete with other teams, well, you just don't have it.
17:19 But you can guarantee or you can control how much you put into games.
17:24 That's the thing about this Rotherham team.
17:27 A couple of times away from home, before Liam Richardson's time,
17:32 where it feels like they have just collapsed a bit, but that's a part.
17:36 It seems to address that now under Richardson.
17:39 You know you're going to get a wholehearted performance from Rotherham.
17:42 It might well not result in any points or certainly a win,
17:48 but they're going to give everything at least.
17:50 That's really important that the fans see that.
17:54 It's important for the players' futures, whether they want to stay at Rotherham or move on.
18:00 We are still seeing that. I say that's really, really vital.
18:06 Yeah, Mark's right. When the team's at the bottom, things get on top of you, don't they?
18:12 It's almost like they're playing a game of Monopoly and every Community Chess card
18:15 or Chance card is a bad one, isn't it?
18:17 It's been that sort of season.
18:19 But yeah, I think Stuart's right. In the here and now, they've just got to claw some pride,
18:23 some sort of, not just battling, hopefully some proactive and enterprising performances
18:29 to hang the hat on. Then you'll get to the summer and then no doubt we'll probably speak about this
18:34 in future episodes. But there's a lot of things that have got to turn around at that club.
18:39 There's obviously widespread issues in terms of the training facilities that have been needed
18:47 to be resolved for a good while. There's getting the recruitment right.
18:52 There's Richardson getting the players he wants and an ethos of playing and a style.
19:00 Yeah, I think those things, hopefully it looks like Rotherham in League One next season,
19:05 they've shown the penchant for coming straight back up.
19:07 But I think you look at it and think there's bigger problems.
19:11 It's not just all about them coming back up, isn't it?
19:14 It's about, even if it takes a year or two, getting them really ship-shaped.
19:18 So when they come back to the Championship, they can hopefully stay there.
19:23 Because the Championship environment has really changed over the...
19:27 I worked on the local paper in Rotherham, showing my age now, a couple of decades ago.
19:34 But the Championship then, there were five or six clubs that were always in a similar boat to Rotherham,
19:40 whether it's a Walsall, Grimsby, Gillingham, similar sort of size club.
19:47 But now the Championship, there's no other clubs if you look at it that really compete with Rotherham.
19:53 Probably budget-wise, Plymouth.
19:55 But they're a bigger club in terms of fan base.
19:59 But that's what they're having to contend with when they're playing the Championship.
20:06 I think whenever they do come back, hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later,
20:10 then they can get themselves in the best possible position on a lot of levels,
20:15 not just in terms of the actual players they've got, but training ground, infrastructure, blah, blah, blah.
20:22 To give themselves a real chance of consolidating at this level,
20:27 because it's just sort of a bit rinse and repeat at the minute, isn't it?
20:31 I think they've got to rethink the whole strategy when they're in the Championship,
20:35 because basically at the moment, it's come up...
20:37 Because we're working with a low budget, we'll gamble on players with experienced chances,
20:42 chances yet records, who are cheap, which normally means that the fitness isn't great.
20:47 Like Sir Daniel Ayala, like Sir Sean Morrison coming in without pre-season, blah, blah, blah.
20:53 That's then compounded if you have a training ground where the pitches aren't great,
20:58 and that makes you more vulnerable to injury.
21:00 The other element is, they kind of play this backfoot football,
21:05 which is, again, understandable when you're in that position,
21:08 but they're causing themselves problems within matches as well, because they can't keep the ball.
21:12 So it tends to be attack after attack after attack after attack.
21:16 I saw them play against Hull, and they scored very early on,
21:20 but then they just naturally sat back and invited problems,
21:25 and that's the issue with Rotherham, whether it be on the field or off the field,
21:29 they're inviting their own problems.
21:31 So they have to try and get into a space where the next time they're playing in the Championship,
21:36 they're not inviting those problems to quite the same extent.
21:39 And it's much easier said than done, because they've got to deal with the financial realities of it.
21:44 But nevertheless, they do have to find a way to do it a level down,
21:49 where you've obviously got more things in your favour.
21:51 That's the time to really get your head around it and get it right.
21:55 I just don't think Liam Richardson does get the time.
21:58 You know, you'd probably say he's mischievous.
22:00 When you've listened to him, there's a lot of intelligence and experience to what he's saying,
22:05 and he's been brought in on a three-year deal.
22:08 He'll need the time to implement the changes he wants,
22:12 and he'll need the patience from supporters as well.
22:15 The one thing about Rotherham is that they have been used to relegations,
22:21 but they've been used to promotions as well.
22:23 So there could be a stage early next season, say in theory,
22:26 you get to, I don't know, October, something like that,
22:31 and they might be 10th, 11th, 12th in League One,
22:34 and there could be one or two grumbles from some supporters,
22:37 sort of saying, "Well, this isn't looking good, this, that, and the other."
22:40 But there's got to be a realisation of the bigger picture at Rotherham
22:44 if they're going to turn it around sustainably over time.
22:48 That's what I think, anyway.
22:50 You look at Ipswich now, who are flying in the Championship,
22:53 and when Kieran McKenna came in, I think there was probably an expectation
22:56 among the fan base that they would push for the playoffs and make them that season.
23:00 And he had a decent chunk of that season, wasn't able to do it,
23:04 and there would have been some in the fan base who wanted him sacked then,
23:07 but he needed that time to get the foundations in place.
23:11 And I say, even though Liam Richardson's going to end up with about six months
23:15 of this season, I think the work that he's doing, and a lot of it can't be done
23:18 until the summer, is so fundamental that he probably needs a good 12, 18 months
23:23 before he can get into grips with it, which is why Leon's saying
23:26 they might not go up next season, but so long as they go up in the right health
23:31 is the most important thing, really, isn't it?
23:34 Yeah, and obviously Ipswich are a bigger club than Rotherham.
23:38 But even with them, it takes time.
23:41 League One as well, it's tough. You look at some of the teams there,
23:46 there's some ex-Premier League teams there as well,
23:48 like the Charltons and the Stanley, although the pitch took pause with time,
23:55 so it's not straightforward, but they should be happy with the pitch at Rotherham, hopefully.
23:59 Yeah, and just one other thing, Leon mentioned about not finishing bottom,
24:02 of course, who might finish bottom if Rotherham don't is an extra incentive for them.
24:07 Yeah, exactly.
24:08 The team that they love to beat more than any other, isn't it?
24:11 Exactly.
24:12 So basically, I think it's just a matter of getting their priorities right.
24:17 Yeah, there's a short-term one, isn't there, finishing the season,
24:22 with a bit of pride, there's a medium-term and there's a long-term one.
24:25 Liam Richardson seems to get it, and I think they're in probably the best hands they could be, really,
24:31 at this stage, I think.
24:33 Yeah.
24:34 And now we turn our attention to the Yorkshire clash between Huddersfield Town and Hull City,
24:40 in which Huddersfield Town thought they'd snatched a draw in the 92nd minute,
24:44 before Hull City had other ideas and secured all three points two minutes later,
24:49 through a Jacob Greaves winner, which was then followed by a 2-1 victory,
24:54 when Hull City paid a visit to Southampton, and this result saw the Tigers return to the play-off spots.
25:01 We also saw news of Huddersfield Town announcing the appointment of Andre Breitenreiter as their new head coach.
25:09 I don't pronounce names.
25:10 Cheers.
25:12 Now, what can both Huddersfield Town and Hull City take from this result, between the two of them?
25:18 And what are your thoughts on Breitenreiter's arrival, Stuart?
25:22 I actually think they can both take an awful lot from it.
25:25 I think on Saturday night, Huddersfield weren't felt any positives,
25:30 because whenever you lose in those circumstances, when you've equalised in the second minute of stoppage time,
25:36 and you've lost it in the third minute of stoppage time, that's about as painful as it gets.
25:42 But I think the way they played over the course of the game,
25:48 it was the first game I think Breitenreiter had watched from the stand,
25:52 and I've obviously seen plenty of them on DVDs.
25:56 I've got called a grandad, I think, for mentioning DVDs nowadays.
25:59 Whatever you use, streams or whatever.
26:02 Tapes.
26:03 Yeah, exactly. Cassettes or whatever.
26:06 To actually see it in the flesh, there's a lot there to work with.
26:11 I mean, Leon's seen a couple of John Worthington's games as well,
26:14 and they've really been a good showcase to a new manager of,
26:17 'Look, this is what this team is actually capable of.'
26:20 They've seen a team that's able to press high, which we understand is a big thing for Breitenreiter,
26:29 and how he wants to play, that can get on the front foot, that can get the crowd involved in the game.
26:34 All these things that were lacking under Darren Moore, we've seen that.
26:37 It's not that they weren't capable of them, it's just that with the right situations, they are within them.
26:43 So I think he'll have gone away from that, saying, 'Yeah, OK, the result was not the result we wanted,
26:49 and the way we conceded the winning goal was poor, but there are things there.'
26:55 And to be honest, to concede a poor winning goal is obviously not great in the short term,
27:01 and in terms of morale and everything, but again, it's in your face there as manager.
27:05 There's no hiding from it. That's an obvious problem.
27:08 That's what I'm going to work on on the training ground this week.
27:11 So even that was good. And from a Hull perspective, I saw them twice last week,
27:16 I saw them at Rotterdam as well, and neither of them were easy wins.
27:21 Sometimes a team that plays football as well as Hull on their day, you kind of associate them with,
27:28 'Well, they can win easy, how can they win in difficult circumstances?'
27:33 But I think for all their inconsistency, I think Hull have definitely got that in them.
27:38 I saw those two matches, saw them win at Middlesbrough, that sticks in my mind as another game
27:42 where they really had to grind something out. So Liam Rousinio will be delighted with that.
27:49 Scored very early through Jacob Greaves and then did a lot of defending, but defended really well.
27:54 Didn't give up many good chances, it was largely keeping Huddersfield at arm's length.
28:02 So Rousinio could take a lot of that. I think at that stage it was four wins out of five.
28:07 And you could see where the confidence came from to then go to Southampton and get that result.
28:12 Which as I say, I kind of feel Hull have got that in them.
28:15 If they get into the playoffs, they are capable of doing something.
28:19 The question is, can they get enough consistency and get the results to do that?
28:25 And since I looked at it as a mini-break for them when they were out of the FA Cup,
28:30 they were out for a couple of weeks on the training ground.
28:32 That's what I think five wins out of six now. They feel like they are finding a bit of rhythm.
28:38 They still have to work out the centre-forward position.
28:42 They still don't really have anyone defined there who they seem like they can rely on from the start.
28:48 Billy Sharp hasn't scored yet, it looks like he might be more effective from the bench at this stage.
28:54 But generally, things are coming together, confidence is there.
28:58 And I think for both, it was a day that if you take the emotion of the result out of it,
29:07 from a Hull perspective, if you really lean on that, it was a good day for both.
29:11 I think that's the thing with Hull, Stuart.
29:13 I mean, you look at the players they've brought in January, they've clearly got match winners.
29:18 You can go back to the summer window as well with Philly G.
29:23 Obviously, they've got the likes of Carvalho in January.
29:27 They've got match winners on the day who couldn't win games at this level.
29:30 But I think probably the thing that's just as impressive for me is the way that they've found different ways to win.
29:37 They obviously had three away games in a week.
29:40 Two Yorkshire Derby's going to Rotherham and Huddersfield, that brings its own challenges.
29:48 Two sides scrapping, then they've had a short turnaround and gone to a side who haven't lost at home since
29:55 something like the end of September, wasn't it?
29:57 So, they've found different ways to win.
30:01 They've obviously ground it out at Huddersfield and said they were behind at Rotherham as well.
30:06 So, that's been as impressive for me as anything really.
30:10 And they did have some sort of wobbles, didn't they, early on in the winter away from home?
30:13 Yeah.
30:14 They were having some, I think they did lose to Bristol City and they lost one or two other games.
30:21 And then, you've seen you called out the softness in conceding goals a little bit.
30:27 So, that's a positive from their respect.
30:30 The interesting one now, they've gone from being the hunter to the hunted a little bit, haven't they really?
30:37 They've got a massive game against West Brom on Saturday.
30:41 So, it'll be psychologically interesting to see how they deal with that.
30:46 I think they're probably ready for it, aren't they really?
30:48 In terms of the development at the minute and the flying high.
30:52 In terms of Huddersfield, it seems a good footballing fit.
30:59 The front foot football seems to be overly bothered about possession.
31:03 High energy, that style just really seems to suit Huddersfield, doesn't it?
31:10 Tom Lee spoke the other week about how John Worthington had come in and gone back to that front foot style.
31:19 The players were really happy with it.
31:21 I just think Brian Wright has come in, Huddersfield are in a bit of a sticky situation.
31:26 I just hope he doesn't do too much initially, really.
31:30 At the minute, they've got 10 or 12 games, whatever it is.
31:34 The first part of the call is getting enough wins and points, however they come, to stay in the division.
31:39 Then he gets to the summer and the real tactical nuances that he wants his side to show in the play,
31:49 that's when he can go to town in that respect and get a full season behind his players.
31:56 I think first of all, you should go into the press conference with him, Stuart.
32:02 The thing that I would want to see more than anything is what's he like as a character and an individual.
32:09 Is he an inspirational guy? His command of English seems really good.
32:12 What's he like as a personality and as a bloke almost?
32:16 To get these players together for the first short term aim, which is to get themselves out of trouble
32:23 and hopefully get enough points and then maybe have a bit of fun when he gets to April.
32:29 First of all, I certainly would not blind the players with science and over-complicate it.
32:35 John Worthington has hit on a strategy that the players are comfortable with, they enjoy and are competent at playing.
32:44 They've had some pretty good performances.
32:47 Probably a little caveat with the game against Hull, it was a short turnaround, wasn't it?
32:53 I'm not giving that an excuse for the result, but when you look at the style that they play,
32:59 and you spoke about Worthington, all the players emptying the tank and when they're tired out,
33:04 he'll throw them off and bring someone else on.
33:06 It's a tough ask against a good Hull side to get their motor levels of performance, isn't it?
33:12 So I had a little bit of sympathy there.
33:14 It is, but I don't think that was really reflected in the performance, to be fair.
33:17 I think they did keep going all the way. It was a 90-second-minute equaliser.
33:22 Maybe the mental switch-off between the equaliser and the winner.
33:26 I think it was the timing.
33:28 Maybe that was a bit of mental tiredness.
33:32 But I think up until that point, they have been pushing and pushing for the goal.
33:36 It wasn't a case of them running out of steam.
33:39 One thing I'd like to see, he's announced his new training team and he's brought in Kevin Russell from the B team,
33:47 so there's that English connection, along with people he trusts.
33:50 I hope that he involves Worthington a bit.
33:52 Worthington has got an important job at the academy,
33:55 and particularly the way Huddersfield are going to go, that's why he's keen to get back to it.
34:00 But I just think in the short term, he's done a really good job of paving the way for Brian Ryder.
34:05 So I think it would help that transition if he could do it.
34:08 Because as Leon says, you don't want to change too much too quickly.
34:11 But the things Worthington has already changed should play into his hands.
34:16 So if there can be that bit of continuity, if he can help out, that might cut a few corners and just speed things up.
34:24 Because as Leon says, the bulk of the work will be done in the summer.
34:27 And when you bring in a manager like him, who's new to the league, maybe looking to change things a bit,
34:33 you're more comfortable with them coming in in the summer.
34:37 But that's not to say that they can't make changes during the season.
34:40 As Leon says, you're just wary of doing too much too quickly.
34:45 I think you're spot on, Stu.
34:47 I think you think about academy players developing your own to bring them into the first team.
34:53 Surely that should be the case with overtime, with good coaches as well.
34:58 Worthington falls into that bracket. It's his club, he knows the club.
35:03 His career graph is good at the minute. He's happy in a job to do with the academy.
35:10 But B4 years down the line, he'll be hopefully wanting to make that step up to be a number one at a senior club.
35:18 In an ideal world, that'll be Huddersfield, won't it?
35:21 If everything goes, that's the way I see it anyway.
35:26 Hopefully his time will come in that regard. I think he's happy where he is at the minute, isn't he?
35:31 And he's not particularly wanting to dip his toes in it at the moment.
35:35 I just hope that, I think the will do, that his career curve can develop.
35:41 As you said, Stuart, giving him some more experience with the first team when the time arises would be beneficial for everyone, wouldn't it?
35:50 Yeah, I did ask him on Saturday night and it's clear he's got a bit of a taste for it.
35:54 Leon and I have seen it so many times where you get a caretaker coming in,
35:58 "No, no, I don't want the job full-time. I don't want the job full-time."
36:01 And suddenly they win a few games and they think, "Oh, I quite like this."
36:05 And it doesn't seem like it's gone the full way.
36:08 Because as I say, developing their academy is really, really important to the strategy of that football club.
36:13 He understands that. He wants to be part of it.
36:15 But I think it has made him feel like, "Yeah, maybe when the time is right, I'd like to come back to this."
36:20 You always like to see a boyhood fan, an ex-player as a manager.
36:27 When you're a supporter, it just gives you that extra feeling that he's one of us.
36:31 He understands what we want.
36:33 You can never do it on sentiment, but if you've got somebody who's there and ready and shown the qualities,
36:39 then why not encourage them, as Leon says, by just giving him the right opportunities over the next couple of years.
36:45 Don't rush him. But when the time comes, there he is, ready to go.
36:49 Continuity, isn't it, as well?
36:51 Yeah.
36:52 And next we turn to Middlesbrough, who, like I mentioned at the top of the episode, claimed a stunning 2-1 victory over Leicester City,
36:59 and by doing so, completed the league double over the division leaders.
37:03 What did you make of the performance?
37:05 And seeing as Leicester City's next opponents will be Leeds United, how do you think Daniel Farke will be approaching that game, Leon?
37:13 Yeah, well, in terms of midfield, it was typical Middlesbrough, wasn't it? Let's be honest.
37:17 You look at it, they've got one point out of six against Rotherham. We've no disrespect whatsoever to Rotherham,
37:23 but they are bottom of the league. They've lost at home to QPR, they've drawn at Sheffield Wednesday,
37:28 I think they've lost at home to Millwall as well, but on the other side, they've beaten Leicester twice,
37:34 they've beaten West Brom, so it's a little bit chalk and cheese, isn't it?
37:38 But yeah, a good result. The interesting thing from a Borough perspective, he changed his tactics,
37:43 I think he's outflanked his Leicester opponent twice, Michael Carrick, the possession-based team Middlesbrough,
37:49 but he's sort of basically gone, 'Look, you can have the ball, Leicester, we're going to switch to a three-man defence
37:56 and try and hit them on the break.' And it's worked very well twice, hasn't it, really?
38:01 You look at Middlesbrough, I think on the day, they can compete with any team, but it is that consistency.
38:07 We've spoken before about the lack of clinical edge in the final third, and that's probably going to be telling
38:14 at the end of the season, isn't it? But there's an argument to say, 'Well, look, they're probably keeping a bit back for the summer.
38:20 What's the point in throwing loads of money at it in January when the top four is pretty much boxed off
38:26 and there's not really a massive chance to go up?' But I mean, they've still got the faintness of Sniff, I suppose,
38:34 for the playoffs, although results didn't go for them in the week. But they've got to become more consistent at home.
38:41 When you look at the home form at the minute, they've really slipped up in that regard.
38:46 They were strong last year, that was one of the bedrocks of getting in the playoffs.
38:50 Away from home, they seem to be OK, but I think in the here and now, it's the home form.
38:56 In terms of Leeds, I just look at Leeds and they're just chugging along very, very nicely, aren't they?
39:05 It's been pretty much outstanding what they've done so far this new year.
39:11 They had a little bit of a dip at Christmas. Daniel Farke, we've spoken about him lots and lots,
39:18 and I'm sure will continue to. He's just not panicked in any way, shape or form.
39:23 The thing that's really impressed me is, more than any other, the Somervilles of this world,
39:29 the Rooters, who are as good as anyone offensively, but so strong defensively.
39:35 I think their record's as good as Leicester now, isn't it? 26th have conceded.
39:39 They're sort of chalking off the clean sheets. It just seems to be every challenge that gets thrown at Leeds,
39:45 at the minute, they seem to be ready for it. Obviously, they got a big one against Leicester on Friday,
39:50 then you settle up next week, they've got the Chelsea cup game on the Wednesday.
39:55 Short turnaround, then they've got to go to Huddersfield on the Saturday lunchtime.
40:00 There's no respite the week after they've got, I think they'll end up playing Saturday, Tuesday, Friday, isn't it?
40:06 They've got Sheffield Wednesday. So, all these things, these hurdles having to contend with.
40:11 You look at the recent run and they've been travelling all over the place, haven't they?
40:14 Plymouth twice, Swansea, Bristol City. Everything, obstacle that's arrived there, they've sort of jumped it, haven't they?
40:22 Yeah, just all power to Daniel Farker and I think the unity and the collective resolve of that group as well.
40:30 We speak a lot about the talent they've got and they've got a hell of a lot in the final third.
40:36 But they've got some real leaders there, haven't they? You know, the Rodon's and Ampadu as well.
40:44 They've got some proper, proper players there at least.
40:47 I think the interesting one from a championship perspective is when they do, when the next setback is.
40:54 Because it will arrive at some point, though. So, it's how they cope with that.
40:58 But I don't want to show you all the things, but I think that at the minute there doesn't seem to be many teams who've got a stronger mindset than Leeds.
41:06 No, I think they'll sort of shrug it off. I mean, we've only seen one back-to-back defeat for them this season.
41:13 You know, we've got Southampton having their wobble now and they've lost two in three.
41:19 The thing for them is, can they nip that in the bud or will this escalate when it happens with Leeds United?
41:25 Precisely because of those leaders Leon's talked about and because of that management, you do believe that they just keep level-headed and see it through.
41:33 I mean, I say December wasn't great, but Norw was a disaster either.
41:38 And I think sometimes when we talk about leaders, we tend to look at birth certificates and just assume, "Oh, he's quite old, he'll be a leader. He's quite young, he won't be."
41:49 I mean, Ethan Ampadu's what, 24, Leon?
41:51 Yeah, yeah, he's not. He's by no means a veteran, is he now?
41:55 Exactly. Joe Rodon as well, exactly. Leeds are quite a young team, but they're not a team without leaders.
42:05 I mean, for starters, they've got leaders on the bench and in the dressing room with the likes of Cooper and obviously earlier in the season, Ailing, now Connor Roberts and players like that.
42:15 But they've got young players who've really stepped up and really sort of embraced that atmosphere that Daniel Farke has created.
42:25 And I think that's the difference between them and a team like Middlesbrough, who've got all the ability to beat a team like Leicester City, but don't have that steadiness and that reliability.
42:36 And I think from Middlesbrough's perspective, we've talked a lot the last couple of weeks about next season as opposed to this.
42:43 I think when Middlesbrough are looking at it, they've got a couple of things to address.
42:47 One, the sort of centre-forward and just general goal-scoring situation.
42:52 They obviously cracked it second half of last season with Cameron Archer. They need to find another solution.
42:58 And two, this season they've had a lot of injuries. They've got to ask themselves, and I don't know the answer to this, to what extent those are sort of self-inflicted with training methods, facilities and all this sort of thing.
43:11 Or to what extent they're bad luck. But they need to really get a grip with that as well, because that has undermined them this season.
43:20 And I say it could purely be bad luck, but they need to answer those questions.
43:25 Yeah, I think you're spot on Stuart. I mean, it's interesting, just quickly going back to Leeds.
43:30 I think you look at them, you know, they were at the end of last season, they just looked a team of individuals, didn't they?
43:37 And I think that, for me, that's probably the biggest achievement of Farquhar.
43:41 It's just created a culture again, isn't it? It's a proper Leeds United dressing room, isn't it?
43:46 And you know, he's not interested in excuses, and they've just come together in a pretty short space of time really.
43:53 There was disruption at the start of the season as well, wasn't there? Certain players, a transfer window.
43:58 So, I think that's, you know, to do that pretty quickly is remarkable.
44:04 And let's be brutally honest, there were players who could have seriously disrupted that.
44:08 I mean, I'm not speaking out of turn to say that we know that Willy Nonto wanted to leave.
44:12 We know that Jed Spence got sent back from his loan. I think we can safely say because Farquhar wasn't too pleased with his attitude.
44:19 When you've got a strong dressing room, you can deal with one or two players at night.
44:24 You can put them in the place, and now Nonto's become a key player for them.
44:28 That's the real strength of a strong dressing room.
44:32 It can outlast, for example, Luke Ayling's presence, any individual's presence.
44:40 And it can sort of repel a couple of bad influences.
44:44 Obviously, you can't have too many, but those sort of things could have sidetracked Leeds, but they're not at all.
44:51 Yeah, I think I'd just look at the promotion race, strong dressing rooms.
44:55 You could have a word for Ipswich, haven't you?
44:57 They had that wobble at the, what was it, Christmas, going into the first bit of the New Year.
45:02 They'll have heard all the mood music saying, "Well, they're finished. They're going to drop away into the playoffs."
45:07 They haven't. They've gone again. They've made a couple of buys.
45:10 I think that's a great buy. But they've been asking questions of that dressing room, and they're sort of answering it.
45:17 I think they've won, what, the last two or three now, so they're backing it.
45:21 And even the way as disappointing it was for Rotherham, that's a sign of a proper team, isn't it?
45:26 They go behind in the second minute of stoppage time, and they still have the wherewithal to dust themselves down and get a goal.
45:33 So don't discount Ipswich.
45:35 And that's why Leeds have to be on it. All of those three teams are pushing each other really, really hard.
45:41 So the standard has got to be high from Leeds and from the other two.
45:45 And finally for this week, I turn to Stuart for his Player of the Week before looking to Leon for his Team of the Week.
45:51 So, Stuart, who has been your standout player this week?
45:55 Well, I've just touched on him, and the one that really sticks in my mind at the moment is Willy Nonto.
46:02 As I say, he's had lots of reasons to be stroppy this season, quite frankly.
46:08 First of all, he didn't get the transfer he wanted.
46:11 Then he couldn't get in the team because of the form of Daniel James.
46:16 We've seen plenty of players where a player's been refused a transfer in January.
46:24 The club's kept him on, everyone's been delighted, and it's become pretty clear pretty quickly.
46:30 They were better off not bothering because it was just a waste of time.
46:34 Nonto, by contrast, he's knuckled down, he's had to wait for his opportunity because of Dan James.
46:41 But James' injury has opened it up, five goals in five now, and it's Dan James who's struggling to get in the side.
46:47 So hats off to Nonto, that's exactly how you want people to respond.
46:52 And yeah, he's my Player of the Week for that.
46:54 And Leon, your Team of the Week?
46:57 Yeah, there's been one or two contenders.
47:01 I did Sheffield Wednesday's game the other week at Huddersfield and they were desperate defensively.
47:06 They've managed to turn it round and beat Birmingham, a huge result at Millwall.
47:11 They were really down there, aren't they?
47:14 So that's impressive, they're sort of battling away Sheffield Wednesday.
47:19 I think Aragher, after getting hammered, was it 9-2, they've gone away to a promotion chasing side
47:26 and they've got a 0-0 draw, so that was...
47:29 It was a change of team as well.
47:31 It was a change of team, so that's a real go out and put it right.
47:34 Yeah, fair play to them.
47:36 Doncaster Rovers, they seem to be turning it around a little bit.
47:38 They've gone to Grimsby and scored some terrific goals.
47:43 That's probably as big a moment as they've had in the season, going there and winning 5-1.
47:48 Fair play to them.
47:50 Bradford City are chugging along nicely.
47:52 I don't think they've conceded a goal in the league, it's about 4-5 games.
47:58 That's been good to see there in the mix, but I think you've got to go back to Hull City, haven't you?
48:03 Three away wins on the spin, two derbies against sides who were scrambling around for points at the bottom
48:11 and then going to a team who've, I think in Southampton only lost once in 25,
48:18 pretty impregnable at home, hadn't been beaten since the end of September.
48:24 They're running hot, Hull, they're on the real crest of the wave.
48:28 Nine points from nine in an away week, factoring travel, everything like that, tremendous.
48:36 It should be a great game on Saturday against West Brom.
48:39 I think basically what this means is we're just completely spoiled for quality in the EFL.
48:45 Well, yeah, I think the good thing about it is how unpredictable it is as well, Mark.
48:52 Who would have thought that Rotherham would have gone to which,
48:56 which can just be so close to getting something right at the end.
49:00 But yeah, it's always been a great division in the Championship.
49:06 And you look at the battles in League One and League Two as well,
49:10 God knows how many teams are in the mix to get in the playoffs, the last playoff spot.
49:15 I think you can go down to about 15th, 16th and intriguing fight in League One as well.
49:21 So it's good to see.
49:23 Yorkshire Post.co.uk
49:26 Yorkshire Post.co.uk
49:36 Many thanks to Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobbshall who will doubtless join us again soon for more discussions on the Yorkshire football scene.
49:42 Don't forget, you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by logging on to our website at yp.sport@nationalworld.com.
49:49 Or if you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well.
49:55 If you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter or Facebook pages,
50:00 or email us directly with a subject matter as football talk podcast at yp.sport@nationalworld.com.
50:06 As ever, many thanks for listening, look after yourselves and bye for now.
50:11 [Music]