With Leeds United having got the better of Hull City in their Elland Road Yorkshire derby, YP football writers Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall assess the season so far for both teams as we head into the first international break of the 2024-25 campaign.
Another derby battle provides the material for the next discussion as Rotherham United finally got off the mark in terms of both goals and points while ending the unbeaten start to the League One season for Michael Duff’s Huddersfield Town.
Sheffield United’s ability to end Watford’s unbeaten start in the Championship comes in for praise, too, while Stuart picks his team of the week and Leon his player of the week.
Another derby battle provides the material for the next discussion as Rotherham United finally got off the mark in terms of both goals and points while ending the unbeaten start to the League One season for Michael Duff’s Huddersfield Town.
Sheffield United’s ability to end Watford’s unbeaten start in the Championship comes in for praise, too, while Stuart picks his team of the week and Leon his player of the week.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:18we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:21of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by Chief Football
00:24Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post,
00:28John Wopshall, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't
00:32forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond
00:35by logging onto our website at yp.sport at nationalworld.com, as well as checking out
00:41our various Twitter feeds, the main one being at ypsport. If you search for Yorkshire Post
00:46Sport, Yorkshire Post Football, or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as
00:50well. And if you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those
00:54various Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter at footballtalkpodcast
00:59at yp.sport at nationalworld.com.
01:02As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by Chief Football Writer for
01:07the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Wopshall.
01:11Good morning guys.
01:12Morning.
01:13Hello.
01:14Morning. Right, this week we saw Middlesbrough get back to winning ways by claiming a 2-0
01:18victory over winless Cardiff City. Sheffield Wednesday's recent dip in form continued
01:23with a 3-0 defeat to Millwall. In League 1, Barnsley claimed all three points with
01:29a 3-0 victory over Crawley Town, and in League 2, Doncaster Rovers claimed a nerve-wracking
01:353-2 victory over Port Vale. Bradford City fell to a 2-1 defeat to Grimsby Town, despite
01:41a late push to try and claim a point. And Harrogate Town fell to a 1-0 defeat at the
01:46hands of Barrow.
01:47However, let's start this week with the clash between Leeds United and Hull City.
01:52The home side ran out 2-0 victors and continued their unbeaten run with back-to-back league
01:57victories. It also saw a number of new arrivals make their first appearance for the home side.
02:04On the other hand, even though Hull City were able to put together a number of good shots,
02:09they weren't able to break through Elan Millier's defences and are still to record a league
02:14victory.
02:15Now, what did you make of the two sides' performances, Stuart?
02:19Well, not a great surprise really. Everyone got a bit caught off guard a bit. Well, not
02:26everyone. Some people got a bit panicky by that first week of the season for Leeds, but
02:29it does seem to have quickly settled back to where they should be really. Three consecutive
02:36clean sheets now, just integrating players into a solid structure. Hull are still a bit
02:44of a mess, which is no surprise. They signed 15 players in the summer and 12 of them came
02:50after their last pre-season fixture. So, Tim Vouta's not one to sign a player on a Thursday,
02:57chuck them in on a Saturday. A lot of them haven't made their debuts yet, or if they
03:02have, they haven't made them from the start. And we keep saying it here, but it's going
03:06to take time. They do look like a disjointed side. You can see what they're trying to do,
03:14but they're a long way from having the understandings as individuals and collectively to do it effectively.
03:24It's quite a complicated way he wants to play. I've been banging on about this all season.
03:33It's not something you can just do at the drop of a hat. There's a lot of work for Hull
03:39to do. I hope anyway that when they reflect on this transfer window, they'll really chastise
03:48themselves for taking so long over the signings. Really, from a footballing perspective, August
03:54has been a waste of time. Three points picked up from four games, no momentum, no belief,
04:02no confidence, no nothing. They're going to be starting again later on when they get back
04:09after the international break. But from a Leeds perspective, very different and very
04:13different to last season. They've established that way of playing. They've got that model.
04:19They had the core of the side. They needed to identify certain key areas to address.
04:26By and large, they've done that. They've got the full back they needed. Isaac Schmidt wasn't
04:30registered in time to play at the weekend, but he will come into things later on. It's
04:34not like he was one of the full back options rather than if we don't get a new signing,
04:39we don't have a left back or what have you. I think goals from midfield were important.
04:46It looks like Tanaka has been signed to bring that. He only had a very short cameo from
04:51the bench, but he looked quite assured and composed in that short period of time. A couple
04:58of wingers in to fill the hole left by Chris Henshaw of Somerville. The only thing they
05:03don't have really is a direct replacement from Routier as a number 10. But it just means
05:13slightly reshaping the way you go about things. You can either play Pirro there, you can play
05:19a slightly different player to Routier there, maybe by moving one of the wingers. Or you
05:23could even change formation to a 4-3-3. I think they've got the options there. So there's
05:28no great panic. And then on the big plus side, we talked at the end of last week's
05:34podcast about Matteo Joseph. He scored a real goalscorer's goal, a real number 9's goal.
05:43Having produced a performance that Leon saw the week before where he sort of demonstrated
05:47the unselfish parts of the number 9's play with the way he set players up and held the
05:53ball up to then show that element as well. Potentially, they've found themselves a big
06:00solution and a different way of getting goals without having to dip into the transfer market.
06:05So from a Leeds perspective, yeah, it was really positive.
06:08Yeah, it's just calmed down, hasn't it? It's Leeds United, that's a rollercoaster, isn't
06:14it? Every bad couple of results are going to get magnified with the stature of the club.
06:21I did the post-match game, they didn't play particularly badly. They were a little bit
06:25unlucky. Certainly, a cup game against Middlesbrough, there's a bit of noise, obviously,
06:30exacerbated when Rutter left. But I mean, you shouldn't really look at statistics that deeply
06:38at this time of year. But I think it's useful in some respects. You look at Leeds this time
06:46last year, they've got six points from five games and probably a little bit of a rough
06:53August. They went so close to promotion in the end and it was pretty freakish, wasn't it? They
06:58didn't finish in the top two with the amount of points that they actually ended up getting,
07:03even though it was obviously a tough end to the season. But they've got eight points from 12 now,
07:10isn't it? Stuart said they're getting in order defensively after a couple of shaky games at the
07:19start and it's going along nicely. I think the fact they've had that adversity and
07:26Mark just didn't panic, did he? He's the calmest man in the building,
07:31which the manager really needs to be at Leeds United, doesn't he? There is so much going on.
07:37And part of the gig being the manager of Leeds and being successful is having that calmness and that
07:46clarity of thought and single-mindedness and ability not to flap and panic. And
07:52Fark has shown that. Yeah, it looks a good day against Hull. He ticks in the box.
07:58Solomon had a good debut by all accounts. I was pleased for Joseph, I think last week,
08:06about how his general play, his general centre-forwards play, the sort of stuff that
08:13people who know the game respect and applaud was pretty good for a young lad. A super pass for the
08:21second goal at Sheffield West in particular. He really deserved a goal, didn't he? He might
08:27have not knocked it in from 25 yards, but sometimes if you're a young striker, those
08:32goals coming across at the near post in front of the girl at the end as well. He deserved that and
08:38that should do a lot for his confidence. And Leeds are fine. I say don't look at the league tables,
08:44but I still think it's a little bit useful as well. Look at the team. If you look at the
08:48Championship now, fair play to Sunderland. They've had a flying start. You do get one or two pace
08:54setters, fair play to them. But Leeds are doing slightly better than Burnley. They're above all
09:00the three relegated teams and for all the talk of it being sticky at the start of the season.
09:05They're above Sheffield United, they're above Burnley and Luton. They've had a sticky start.
09:14So if you look at it in that respect, that's decent. A long way to go, but I just think they've
09:20calmed it down. I think all stewards touched on it. They're just desperate to find a win
09:27somewhere and then the fans can buy into what Walters is trying to do. The defensive statistics
09:33don't look too bad on paper. I suppose if you're going to cling on to something, maybe there is
09:39that. I still think you look at the players they've bought. In time, this should force
09:47yourself into a decent unit. The lad up front, Bedia, he looked quite useful. From what I saw,
09:54he gave a pretty accomplished defender at this level in Joe Roden. He gave him a few problems,
09:59didn't he? I think Miller is a good player. He showed that last season. But it's just
10:07getting them all together and just getting that win relatively early when it all resumes again
10:13after the international break. It would just give everyone a confidence rush, a bit of a sugar rush,
10:20and not least the manager. But they've certainly got a tough one when they come back against
10:26Sheffield United. If they don't win that and then it's a couple of games before
10:32the winless streak continues, the pressure is going to ramp up a little bit. We'll have to see
10:39how that one plays out with the international break. Obviously, a lot of clubs will have one
10:45or two away, but probably reasonably well-timed for Hull, I'd say.
10:49I think what encouraged me from a Hull perspective, I've seen quite a bit of it this season. I think
10:54I've seen probably all three of their league games they've played in Yorkshire. I made a note in my
11:01notebook 22 minutes in on Saturday that Hull had kicked the ball long. This was news. I've mentioned
11:12this before with regards to other teams. You do need to mix it up a bit sometimes. We don't want
11:18to see Rupert Wall-Mimbledon stuff, but with Badia, he's got a big physical presence. When you've got
11:28a quick winger like Miller, you've got a couple to come in who they signed on deadline day to play on
11:32the other side. It just gave Leeds something else to think about. Actually, that specific incident,
11:39Stroot won the header, ended up with a Leeds disallowed goal. But the next one, I think Miller
11:44went through and had a shot over. It's just adding that bit of unpredictability. I mentioned it to
11:51Walter afterwards and he said, well, everyone has to adapt as you go along. You hear it too often,
11:58I think, from young managers, particularly nowadays. Well, that's the way we play and
12:03we're just going to do it and do it better. It was heartening to see that there was a bit of
12:11an acceptance that we can't just do this one thing, particularly when this one thing's only
12:18coming off, I don't know, one in every 10 or something like that. Hopefully, they can learn
12:25from that and build on it. It wasn't like they started bombarding Leeds from that point. It was
12:31just every now and then they would play it longer. I think that's the sort of balance they need to
12:37look to. It's all about balance. Leo mentioned there about just calming things down at Leeds and
12:45it works both ways. Matteo Joseph isn't suddenly a Champions League quality striker after one game,
12:51but there were signs there of something to really get behind. I think with where Leeds are at the
12:58moment, having lost Somerville's goals, as Leon rightly said last week, everything Joseph did in
13:06that game at Hillsborough was really, really positive and really good. But I think this season,
13:11Leeds need the centre-forward to have goals on top of that link-up play, just to share the
13:17burden around. As I say, I don't know about Leon, but I'd rather see a number nine score a goal
13:24like that than a belter from 25 yards, because that's for the midfield boys and the number 10s
13:31and the wingers, isn't it? You want someone who's a predator in the six-yard box. It was really good
13:36to see. I think the thing with, just touching back on Hulligan, Walter is obviously a very
13:42experienced manager. He's got a lot of experience in Germany. You can watch as many videos of
13:49championship games if you like, but until you're there and it's in front of you and you go in
13:56Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, that's when you really find out about it. As Stuart's rightly said, you
14:02have to tailor your methods sometimes and be a bit pragmatic at times if you're going to be
14:09successful. I think especially that will kick in when you do get the three-game weeks in the
14:16autumn. I agree with Stuart's point about the centre-forwards at Leeds as well. I'm not
14:22particularly picking on Patrick Bamford, but he's not scored enough for those goals, has he really,
14:28in the last few seasons. Leeds, their build-up play when they're on point and their attacking
14:37play is as good as anybody's in the division. They have been guilty in the past of just not
14:42finishing the amount of goals-to-chances ratio and a few more of those scruffy goals,
14:49if you like. But important goals I think will help the cause this season if they can
14:55get a steady stream of them.
14:58Next, let's turn to the clash between Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town.
15:04This game finished with the Millers claiming the first league win of the season with a 2-1
15:10victory and in turn saw Huddersfield Town's perfect run end. How do you feel the two sides
15:16performed and was there anything that stood out for you, Leon?
15:20I think the main thing you've got is there was controversy. I thought Huddersfield were
15:25a little bit lucky. He was a bit loose with his arm, Danny Warding, getting sent off,
15:30but I didn't think there was that much malicious intent. Although that said, I don't think
15:37McArthur did him any particular favours as such. He did go down like a giant redwood, really. But
15:46if you're a Rotherham player and a Steve Evans Rotherham player, you will do that.
15:52So I did think it was a little bit harsh. I suppose you could say the Rotherham defender
15:57was standing. Did Ward need to move his arm in the first place? The penalty looked tough,
16:02I've got to be honest. But I said it in my report, in terms of the overall tone of the game,
16:09Rotherham were good and they deserved to win. When it was 11 against 11, they were the better
16:15side. I think I remember saying last week that I thought it was a dangerous game for Huddersfield.
16:24So I think it was a good game for Rotherham in the respect that
16:27there are obviously three games in that they've been a bit unlucky, 50 odd chances not managing
16:34to actually score, which is mental really, isn't it? And their XG was through the roof.
16:40I think it was a good game for them to have, a game against a side who were unbeaten,
16:45the local aspect of it, they'd been relegated. It was just a game to rally round and
16:51Rotherham did that. They didn't just do that, they played pretty well across
16:56all departments. I thought the back line was decent. The midfield, I thought we'd probably
17:02want to talk about Huddersfield, but I thought the midfield certainly won the honours.
17:09I thought Liam Kelly was excellent, he was the best player on the pitch in the first half.
17:14Powell showed some nice touches down the left, he's got a nice delivery as well
17:19from set plays and there was a nice link between the two.
17:23They've got match winners up front, haven't they? You look at Clark Harris,
17:28typical Evans style. Again, he was bigged up in the week in his weekly column in the local paper
17:34and you read that and you just knew all day long he was going to start against Huddersfield.
17:40I think he'd been a sub in the league game the previous Saturday, so that was decent management
17:49from Evans to be fair. He scored a penalty, but I thought in general play he posed problems with
17:53his physicality. He looked up for it and Wilkes in the ten looked, he showed some flashes.
18:02He got the goal at the end. Huddersfield, I know they were down to ten men, but
18:08it was a great goal but they switched off for me. The one thing you don't let Malik Wilkes do
18:13is cut inside from the right on his left because he's got an absolute
18:17sledgehammer of a left foot and it cost him the game. He looked decent as the ten.
18:24Nombé, he was very good, especially in the first half. He faded a bit, he got a bit tired, but
18:29he put himself about and was useful. They've got match winners there, haven't they?
18:36Obviously, Evans came in at the end of last season. The season was dead. This just felt
18:44a bit like their homecoming almost. There was defiance there at the New York Stadium,
18:49they all bought into it. Evans was on the pitch, lapping it up as he does.
18:54Their season has arrived. Huddersfield, I did the trophy game this week as well at
19:02Doncaster. Things aren't quite dropping for them. One or two decisions going against them,
19:09they had a penalty which Michael didn't like. They obviously had the penalty on
19:14Saturday, which I felt was... I didn't think it was a penalty, but as I've said, I thought
19:19Rodden deserved to win. I thought the defeat at Rodden had probably come in a little bit because
19:25they've been managing games and getting through. They weren't great against
19:33Shrewsbury. They got the goal, you thought they'd kick on, but it was more managing the game.
19:40There's one concern for me with Huddersfield. I just think it's the balance of the midfield.
19:46They've got one or two injuries at the minute and I think they're missing Herbie Kane.
19:52He's what you could call a ball-playing midfielder. Get his foot on the ball,
19:58take the game. He's progressive with his passing. He can pick a pass. I think they've missed him,
20:06but they can't do anything about it. It's injury, but just that little bit of balance.
20:10I've watched the last couple of games without picking on them too much. I think Evans and
20:15Wiles have been a little bit off it. They've been a bit disappointing. I think he'll have got
20:24Hodge away on international duties. I think going forward, Duff mentioned it to be fair after the
20:30Doncaster game. You get the pre-season, you get them fit, you work on your team shape,
20:36how you want to be structured as a team. Now going forward, give them some more time to work
20:42on the individual work with players. I think they're getting that balance right in midfield
20:49for Huddersfield. When they've got Kassoumou's back and Kane's back, their options are pretty
21:00strong, aren't they? They've certainly got players to pick from. Even though people were talking
21:06about, we could have done with a striker before the deadline. I think the issue is more midfield
21:13for me as we're going into the autumn. Overall, not that much to stress and fret about. They've
21:25got decent options. I was a little bit disappointed by Kevin Nagel coming out afterwards after the
21:31trophy game. As is his want, he's the chairman. Look, he does what he wants. He signs the cheques.
21:37To go out on Twitter and come out with this not good enough, this and that, I don't really see
21:45what that achieves at this stage of proceedings when they've had a few little rough calls.
21:55They won the first four games of the season, didn't they? I was just a little bit disappointed
22:01by that and I didn't see the need really. On Danny Ward's red card, you could call numerous
22:11clips of the same thing happening elsewhere and not getting punished. To be honest, I look at
22:16those and just think, are you taking the risk? You're not guaranteeing a red card but you're
22:24running the risk and do you really need to? It did obviously have a bearing. I think I referred
22:34to it the other week about how perhaps things weren't quite as brilliant as 100 per cent
22:41suggested for Huddersfield. Things aren't quite as terrible as three defeats, two of them in the cup
22:48and the trot suggests again it's all about a bit of balance. That's really where, as Leon says,
22:56Kevin Nagle can do as he pleases because he bankrolls that club but that's where as a manager
23:02you'd really like him on board with that same message and playing it along. It feels like he's
23:09a good person to do it but it does feel like managing upwards is part of Michael Duff's job
23:15as well as downwards. I think it's probably quite helpful that Huddersfield have an international
23:26break because of call-ups. It's not guaranteed in League One but it's a pity that John Russell
23:35as one of those midfielders will be away. I think just working on the balance of that midfield,
23:40just fine-tuning things and just keeping calm is the way for them. Lee Nicholls looks to be in
23:49fine form. That automatically gives you a bit of a leg up. Josh Gerome has started well at
23:54the other end of the field so likewise. I think things are in a reasonably good place.
24:02On Rotherham, Leon mentioned earlier about not reading too much into stats and I'm all on board
24:08with that, especially when it comes to XG. I think a lot of us do but when it's as stark as
24:19what Leon spells out, Rotherham are top of the league for XG and bottom of the league for actual
24:26goals. It does tell a story. You can certainly overplay it because it's one statistician's
24:35opinion of whether somebody should have scored or not and we can all agree and disagree on that.
24:40But when the numbers are that stark, I think it does tell you that Rotherham were actually doing
24:45quite a lot right before they got this first win of the season. But as we're going to talk
24:50on with other clubs, just doing that, just getting over the line is so important for the confidence.
24:57Clarke Harris getting his goal and Malik Wilkes as a new sign and getting their goals
25:03really matter because, again, as Leon said, you look at that forward line of paper and you think
25:08there's a lot there but until the goals come, you can't really hang your hat to that. Now,
25:16I think they're all underway, aren't they? Hugo, Nombé, Wilkes, Clarke Harris who had a
25:22disrupted pre-season and was playing a bit of catch-up. Hopefully this can be the start of
25:27a couple of them emerging and really going on a goal-scoring run for Rotherham.
25:34I wouldn't be surprised now if over the next, I don't know, four or five games,
25:38Rotherham maybe pick up a couple of points where they shouldn't do because they've got that forward
25:43line firing and because the old cliché we trot out about things evenings themselves out will
25:49probably come to play. Absolutely, they've got a match. The three there we've talked about,
25:54as well, but they've got a bit of confidence coursing through the veins that they can win
26:00matches, can't they? The quality of those players in this division. And they've got people off the
26:04bench, as you say, Hugo, if those guys are having an off day. Tough one at Charlton on Saturday,
26:10that's it, isn't it? It is, yes. You want to be going into a game like that with a bit of
26:16confidence so it was perfect timing for Rotherham and important to see because always with relegated
26:22sides you do wonder about the longer it goes on without a win, it starts to play on particularly
26:27the fans' minds and then seeps into the players and so on and so forth. So it's really important
26:33not to end the first month without that precious league win. I think quickly, you don't look,
26:38we've talked about not looking at league titles and you don't this, that and the other, but
26:42when I do look at League One, all the big hitters are pretty much there, aren't they? If you look at
26:49how it's going to finish, I'm not quite sure what order it is at the minute, but if you look
26:54how it's going to finish, the only one who you probably will say will be up there with them is
26:58Rotherham. You've got Birmingham, you've got Huddersfield, you've got Wrexham, you've got
27:04Stockport, they're probably in the mix as well. They've got a bit of a winning mentality over
27:11the last few years. Barnsley are sort of sixth or seventh, aren't they? So I think even though
27:17it is very early days there, I think those teams at the top plus Rotherham, that's who you would
27:24expect to be finding out already. And now let's have a look at Sheffield United who claimed a
27:301-0 victory over Watford thanks to an own goal from the Watford goalkeeper, although they could
27:35have had more had Kiefer Moore not had his penalty denied. However, they managed to hold on for all
27:44three points in a game where emotions were running fairly high. What did you think of Chris
27:50Wilder's side and the performance that they put in, Stuart? Well, I mean, a lot of those things
27:56I was just saying about Rotherham, I had Sheffield United in the back of my head as well. Leon was
28:01at the QPR game and mentioned on here after that about this long run since December without a
28:08league win and how it preys on minds and absolutely dead right. So to get it done was
28:15important and to not just get it done, but to get it done against a team that had had 100%
28:21start to the season. Tom Cleverley was first to come out and say that Sheffield United deserved
28:28it. It was very tight. Watford hit a post, there was that penalty saved from Kiefer Moore. The goal
28:35was an own goal. Nevertheless, it was deserved and it was a really good championship game.
28:43The first half in particular was two really good sides playing decent football and the second half,
28:50as you said, it got a bit fractious and there was a bit of an edge to it and that's what you want
28:54in championship football. You want that mixture of the two things really. So yeah, it was a really
29:03good win. It was a really good way to do it from a Sheffield United perspective. It was a real
29:10collective effort and not by 11 people or 16 people, but by 26,000 people. The fans really
29:17played their part as well and I think that was important. I think it was just really important
29:24that Chris Wilder had been telling people all summer, oh come and play at Bramall Lane. You'll
29:30experience this, you'll experience that. To be able to go in the dressing room and say, see,
29:34told you so. This is what you signed up for and if you keep producing performances with that heart
29:41and that fighting quality, this is what you're going to get back in return. So I think that was
29:46important. I think when you look at Sheffield United's transfer window, I don't think it quite
29:52panned out the way everyone was expecting. I don't think that many of us were probably expecting
29:57Ahmed Hodic and Souza in particular to still be there, but they both did things that the fans
30:04really got behind and that was important. You could easily have fans turning on players.
30:12Both of them had matches last season when you thought, are they really on board with this? But
30:19I say they did things in the game which spelt out to the fans, not for the first time this season,
30:24that yes, they really are buying into this now and the fans responded in kind. So that was
30:32good to see as well. I say I think it was just a really heartening day because they've hinted
30:38that they were capable of this so far, but until the Rotherham goal scorers, until you've actually
30:44done it, it's always praying there in the back of your mind, particularly on the terraces where
30:52you think, we've seen this before, we were 2-0 up against QPR and we still nosed it up.
30:58To see them show that character was really important.
31:01I think you hit the nail on the head there, Stuart. I think it's the way that they did it
31:05that was important. They could have gone out there, it can happen in the Championship,
31:09and they could have smashed Watford 3-0 and everybody's saying, aren't we brilliant,
31:13this and that. But I think given the history and the fact it's a relatively new group and the
31:19dressing rooms having to come together just to grind it out and see it out at the end,
31:27you can imagine what that dressing room would have been like afterwards. It would have probably
31:33been even more noisy than it would have been if they'd have just won 3-0 or 4-0 really.
31:38Just seeing it over the line against a side who, it sounds like they ask questions at the start of
31:43the season, was really important for so many reasons. Important for the supporters to see that.
31:50I mean, look at the amount of goals that Sheffield United have, I know different personnel,
31:54but the batteries that they've taken at home in the past year and they've pushed on the record
32:00not winning at home in the league since, what was it, December, wasn't it? Early December, yeah.
32:06Yeah, so just do that. There's people, there's some big player characters they've brought in,
32:11the Sousas of this world, you know, do his confidence good and everybody else really,
32:19so I do think the way that Sheffield United won, and you do get a lot of these sort of close
32:27championship games, don't you really, as well, and it's about who comes on the right side,
32:32you know, that augurs well for me.
32:36It's about knowing you can come out of those games on the right side as well,
32:40if you keep losing them or not winning them, yeah.
32:44And I mean, just quickly, you said this in the past, Leon, these are the sort of results where
32:50managers can really tell what kind of players he's got around them and who he's brought in because,
32:57okay, fine, you love a good 3-0 victory on a Saturday, but when it comes to these really
33:05niggly, hard-fought victories, let's say, on a Tuesday night,
33:11that's when the real metal for these players shows.
33:15Oh yeah, you agree, I mean, you look at the success that Sheffield United had in the first
33:20era under Wilder, you know, some brilliant, high-octane football, but it was underpinned by
33:28the characters and the strength that they had in that dressing room, and look at some of the
33:33players that they've lost, they've lost good players, but they've lost proper professionals
33:40and big figures, you know, the Norwoods, the Bastions of this world, the Egans, so,
33:46you know, looking at what Wilder's done in the people he's brought in,
33:48he's brought in some talented footballers, don't get me wrong, but he's brought in some,
33:53the characters as well, you know, there's the Souter, there's the Kiefer Moores,
33:58you know, there's a few others as well, so, you know, that will just help in forging that
34:06togetherness and the new dressing room that Wilder's trying to create, which will need to,
34:14you know, you need to be strong playing for Sheffield United at home, because
34:17if it's, you know, if it's not going in the way that supporters want, they'll let you know about
34:21it, so, you know, I just think on so many levels, psychologically, you know, in terms of,
34:28you know, where they're at this season, you know, getting those narrow wins, Mark, is,
34:33is, you know, it's good for their development. I think if you look back to when Sheffield United
34:40were relegated, when Paul Hickingbottom was caretaker, they probably lost more in terms of
34:45the dressing room than on the pitch with those players, and Wilder made a point in the pre-match
34:51press conference that maybe the departure of some of these really big characters and really big
34:56personalities, he suggested that maybe last season, whilst some of them were still around,
35:02maybe the likes of Souza were in their shell a little bit, but now they're forced to step
35:07up to the fore. Yeah, good point. You know, it's, it's brought the best out of them, so, yeah,
35:12hopefully, hopefully that's the case. Yeah, good for the young lads as well, you know,
35:16Blaster and Brookes, who, you know, they were blooded and they showed the promise, but,
35:21you know, being part of that winning dressing room when you've just sort of,
35:25you know, you've been pushed all the way and you've, you've got a, you've got a strong win,
35:29that's, you know, that'll have been something they'll probably remember and, and take from
35:33Sunday. Yeah, and finally for this week, I will turn to Stuart for his team of the week before
35:39looking to Leon for his player of the week. So, Stuart, who stood out for you this week?
35:44Um, well, I mean, really the, the two teams we've, we've just talked about in terms of the
35:50winners. I mean, I think it was obviously a good, a good win for Leeds, but as I said at the time,
35:55you know, with where Hull were sort of expected really. But yeah, you, you really can't
36:03underestimate the importance of that first home win for Sheffield United and that, and that first,
36:09first league win full stop this season for, for Rotherham United. So,
36:14it's a toss of a coin between them, but I think, I think Rotherham, because of the,
36:20because their difficulties extended away from home, I think they, they needed it even more.
36:25You know, the thing about both teams was they beat, well, teams with 100% records. So it's not
36:31like they, not like they picked up an easy win. I think, I think for me, it's, it's Rotherham
36:36United and it, and it feels like it will not just be a good win in isolation. It feels like this can
36:43be the start of them really getting going. Yeah. No, I think that's a fair call.
36:49Well, it's my turn now, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. There's one or two candidates. I mean,
36:54I mentioned Harry Suter, you know, he sounded like he had a decent game, Stuart, and that'll
37:00be good for him. He pulled it, maybe his sort of game really, you know, getting his head and his
37:04body on, on things. Solomon as well, obviously his debut for Leeds, he had a nice little
37:11contribution for, for one of the goals. You know, Firpo as well, he's took from critics in the past
37:16and he's, he's shown his character and had a decent, last few weeks as well. The two Rotherham
37:25lads I mentioned earlier, say I thought, Lloyd Kelly, what's his name? What's his Christian
37:31name, Stuart, tell me. Liam. Liam. They said Lloyd Kelly. Yeah, you think of the
37:35Larrigate head of recruitment there, right? Yes. He, he looked to me, he showed exactly
37:41why Rotherham bought him. He, he, he won his challenges, you know, Gove in the middle of the
37:47park, you know, outshone the likes of Jonathan Hogg on the day, and that's no mean feat. He
37:52showed why Rotherham brought him in. Powell looked a nice footballer with Big Doug Joseph
37:59the last few weeks. If I have to go for one, I'd probably go for Adam Phillips, to be fair.
38:03But at Barnsley, he, he skilfully won a penalty, scored it, scored the sort of goal that,
38:10that he does score, you know, from those deep runs in midfield and a good finish.
38:17And he was, he was backing up from, I did the game in the cup game and he set up the winning goal for,
38:24for Max Watters there. And I thought it was another really strong senior performance against
38:30Sheffield United. He certainly, him and Connell certainly outshone the, the two younger lads in,
38:35in the blaze midfield that, that evening. And he just, Phillips had just, just shown to me what
38:41he brings to the table. He'll, you know, he'll get, if he's, if he's fit, he'll get you 10 goals
38:46a season from the middle of the park. And, you know, those, you know, managers love those sort
38:53of players, don't they? You know, you can get, you know, eight, nine, 10, 12 goals, you know,
38:58they're worth the weight in gold. And he just showed as well, for me, obviously, Barnsley had
39:02a bit of a, bit of a busy end to the deadline, but another big tick was the fact they kept Phillips.
39:08You know, Sam, you know, he was, there were suggestions that Preston were keen earlier
39:13in the window and he's the sort of player who I sort of feared might come into the,
39:20into the equation for some championship clubs towards the end of the window.
39:24No disrespect, he might not, he might not have necessarily been the first choice on
39:28everyone's list, but I'm sure his name was on the list of quite a few championship clubs.
39:34Fortunately, from a Barnsley perspective, he's stayed at Barnsley and, you know,
39:38he's shown pretty quickly what he, what he can bring to the table. So I'll, I'll go for Phillips.
39:43And we, you know, we mentioned with players stepping up at Sheffield United, it's,
39:47it's the case with him as well. Okay. Herbie Cain's injured. I'm going to really take the
39:52responsibility and yeah, it's a, it's a really quality player at that level. And
39:56the fewer, the fewer other clubs notice the better from.
40:02You're trying to compete with clubs, throwing money away, like it's,
40:05it's going out of fashion. You really need to, to keep holding your prize assets. So,
40:10you know, to have lost Callum Stowers, which of course we're all expecting and then to have
40:14Herbie Cain injured. Now it's his time to really, to really step up and he's already
40:19showing signs that he will.
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