On this week's show, YP football writers Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall assess the respective promotion chances in the Championship of both Leeds United and Sheffield United, a few days after the two teams met at Elland Road.
The panel also cast an eye over Sheffield Wednesday's stop-start season, with a winning run difficult to come by PLUS they analyse Hull City's performance against Championship leader Sunderland and what the rest of the campaign may hold for Tim Walter's inconsistent team.
The panel also cast an eye over Sheffield Wednesday's stop-start season, with a winning run difficult to come by PLUS they analyse Hull City's performance against Championship leader Sunderland and what the rest of the campaign may hold for Tim Walter's inconsistent team.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:14we'll be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:17of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by Chief Football Writer
00:21for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Jon
00:25Walshall, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't forget you
00:29can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by logging
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00:43Post Football, or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well. And
00:48if you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter
00:51or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter as Football Talk Podcast
00:56at yp.sportatnationalworld.com.
00:59As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by Chief Football Writer for
01:05the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Walshall.
01:08Good morning, guys.
01:09Morning.
01:10Hello.
01:11Morning. Right, this week in the Championship, we saw Sheffield Wednesday fell to a 2-0 defeat
01:17at the hands of Burnley, and we'll be covering Sheffield Wednesday later on in the show.
01:22Middlesbrough also suffered a 2-0 defeat when they hosted Bristol City. In League One, Rotherham
01:27United fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Wrexham. Huddersfield Town claimed all
01:31three points in their 3-1 victory over Bristol Rovers, which was followed by a 0-0 draw when
01:36they faced Wrexham.
01:39Barnsley snatched a late 2-1 victory when they paid a visit to the seaside to face Blackpool,
01:44before playing out a 2-0 draw when they welcomed Charlton Athletic to Oakwell. And in League
01:49Two, Doncaster Rovers fell to a 2-1 defeat when they travelled to Swindon Town, before
01:54playing out a 1-0 defeat against Bromley. Bradford City claimed all three points in
01:59their 2-1 victory over Gillingham, before clashing with Cheltenham Town and sharing
02:04the points in their 1-0 draw. And Harrogate Town had to share the points as well in their
02:091-0 draw with Carlisle, which was then followed up by a 1-0 defeat when they welcomed Paul
02:14Vale.
02:15However, let's start this week with Leeds United, who claimed an impressive 2-0 victory
02:21over Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United, which was then followed up by a 2-1 victory when
02:26they clashed with Watford. Now, what were your thoughts on the two results that Leeds
02:30United produced, and what did you make of Sheffield United's performance when they
02:35met Leeds United's Shua?
02:37Well, I think from a Leeds United perspective, very impressive. I was there on the Friday
02:45night for that Sheffield United game, Leon was there for the Watford game, so we'd both
02:50seen them this week. But they just looked to be in a good groove at the moment. In all
02:55seasons you have your good spells, you have your bad spells. And really, on paper, you
03:02would look at it and say, well, the period when Groove and Ampadu first picked up their
03:07injuries, that's going to be one of the difficult spells. But as I said on this podcast a couple
03:11of weeks ago, when Ampadu got injured, I felt there was the potential for it to be a blessing
03:15in disguise. Now, I didn't so much think that once Groove's injury added to it, but
03:20it has kind of changed the balance of the team and just given them a slightly more positive
03:26feel. I don't know about the Watford game, but certainly against Sheffield United on
03:31the Friday, the thing that impressed me the most, really, was the tempo that they played
03:35at. And that was really led by those two midfielders. Because Sheffield United came there and they
03:43came to play a real away performance. I suspect they probably wanted to play the way I saw
03:48them play at home, where they sort of sat back and hit them on the counter-attack. Whether
03:54it was them showing Leeds too much respect or probably more likely just the fact they
03:58weren't able to because of the way Leeds played, they just couldn't get out. And it became
04:03one of those defence versus attack games that you see a lot at Ellen Road and that Leeds
04:08struggle with more often than not. And sometimes what they struggle with is that they move
04:14the ball a bit too slowly. Well, there was none of that on the Friday night. I mean,
04:19you know, you had Tanaka, Aronson and Firpo who'd been outside of the continent playing
04:27international football, not long got back. They all played, they were all really on it.
04:32The excuses were there for a bit of a flat performance, even though it was a Derby night,
04:37even though it was a top of the table game. But Leeds were really on it. Obviously, as
04:42is always the case, the crowd responded to a performance like that and it just fed into
04:48it and it just made for a really good Leeds performance. And one of those performances
04:52that Daniel Farke should probably keep the DVD of, they probably don't have DVDs nowadays,
04:57but whatever they record these things on and show them that in future, this is how I want
05:01you to play. Because for me, that was the best way for a Leeds United team to play.
05:08I'm not saying it was perfection, but certainly the approach was really the right way to go.
05:14Scored from a corner, unbelievably, first time since February. So that's another box
05:19ticked and then a really good goal from Matteo Joseph late on where Jean-Pierre played a
05:25really nice pass to him and he had to fight off Sidi Pek. I mean, Sidi Pek was lucky in
05:30a way that he scored, otherwise he might have been red carded for his efforts to stop
05:34him. But yeah, just lots of boxes ticked and just building on the good things rather than
05:41dwelling on the very bad thing at the end of the Sunderland game before the international
05:45break. So from a Leeds perspective, it was really good. From a Sheffield United perspective,
05:50I mean, we're speaking before they go to Middlesbrough, so we don't quite know what the reaction is
05:54going to be.
05:56I thought they were a bit negative with their line-up, Stuart.
05:59Well, yeah. I mean, you wonder, you kind of hope if they're going to sort of just write
06:08this off as we had a bad day against a good team. But yeah, there's got to be question
06:12marks, not just about the line-up itself, but about the mentality that line-up showed.
06:17Because you can still pick those 11 players in that formation and be positive about it.
06:21But, you know, the wing-backs became full-backs. It was a real back five. And Chris Wilder
06:28was so respectful about Leeds United before the game, after the game. And sometimes derby
06:33games aren't really about respect, they're about disrespecting your opposition. And I
06:37think Leon's right. I think there's a valid case to say that Sheffield United were too
06:41respectful, too timid and paid the price for it. But I'd say if they can just shake it
06:49off and treat it as a one-off, no harm done after a good start to the season. But there's
06:54a big lesson for there about the mindset because, you know, they could easily use the same excuses,
07:01show the same timidity against the likes of Burnley, Sheffield United. They haven't played
07:05a lot of these big teams yet. And if they play like that against them too, it'll be
07:09the same result.
07:10Yeah. I mean, I think looking at Leeds, I think if you're going to point any defensive
07:14areas where you can exploit, I would say both full-backs, to be honest. I think the wing-backs
07:19aren't they?
07:20I think that Firpo's, he's having a pretty decent season as such going forward. But defensively
07:26he does switch off, doesn't he? Whether it's a concentration thing or sometimes he can
07:31be guilty of going wandering, even though he's played going forward, he's played pretty
07:34well. And I'd say the same with Bogle as well. So I was a little bit surprised that Rex Saki
07:40didn't get a start for Sheffield United in that game. But yeah, I'd echo what Stuart
07:47said. I think Stuart did the Blades game on Friday, I did the Watford game. The big thing
07:53for me was the two central midfielders in Tanaka and Rothwell. They've obviously come
08:01together through circumstances and I think they must have got so much. I mean, it was
08:05a night when Leeds got a hell of a lot of ticks in the box against Sheffield United.
08:10Those two must have got so much out of that night, playing together in a big, big championship
08:15fixture, a derby, a big high-focus game. And they dovetailed really well, didn't they,
08:22for their confidence going forward. That was massive. And you could see in the game against
08:27Watford, Tanaka in particular. I like Rothwell, he's been around the block, he's a continuity
08:35player, he's very tidy, he takes care of the ball. And they just look like two good footballers.
08:43You've got two good footballers, two schemers, if you like, in the middle of the park. Good
08:49footballers with good football brains, good technique. They should work together, shouldn't
08:54they really? And it looked a nice mix in there. I think in terms of the Watford game, it was
09:02a little bit bizarre really. I mean, Leeds flew out of the traps. A couple of mistakes
09:08from the goalkeeper, Backman. He coughed up the shot from Ramazzani and with desperate
09:17attempts to claw it back after that. I thought the second goal was poor as well, obviously
09:23not as strikingly poor. He should have gathered that cross, shouldn't he, from Gonto? He took
09:30a little bit of a deflection and there was a defender near him. But you don't have to
09:33parry that, you just have to catch it. And Aronson couldn't believe his luck on his birthday
09:40as well. So they flew in too early, they really did look the part. I think Watford had one
09:47decent chance in the first half, but that was it. You expected Leeds to kick on in the
09:52second half attacking the Kop, but fair play to Watford. They had a real go for a good
09:5820 minutes and they got the goal back. It was poor defending from Leeds. He beat Struyck
10:08and then the rebound wasn't cleared from Rodon and he tucked it away. So Leeds can still
10:16be gutted defensively down the flanks, I was a little bit surprised by Sheffield United.
10:21But I think the good thing from Leeds is they weathered the mini-storm and they finished
10:27the game very strongly. It does help when you've got good options on the bench, doesn't
10:32it? When you can put a Joseph on, when you can put a James on when it's not going particularly
10:38well. So yeah, they finished it 2-1, it probably should have been at least one more, if not
10:46two. But I think coping with that little bit of adversity, it would have been so comfortable
10:51and pretty much straightforward and almost a bit of a party feel for parts of the first
10:56half and then Watford gave them something to think about. Having that little bit of
11:02adversity and coming out the other side, I thought that was quite important really. You
11:08could see Farka on the touchline at the start of the second half, he was getting annoyed
11:12because Watford pulled one back and then they had another chance on the other flank. The
11:18left winger was given too much space. So yeah, you saw a couple of different sides to Leeds
11:25but the net result is two home games, six points. They're in a strong position and obviously
11:33you go back to the start of the season, drew the first game against Portsmouth, a bit of
11:41noise regarding Daniel Farka. As we've said many times, he's the calmest guy in the building
11:50and he can handle and he gets a club like Leeds, which is massively important if you're
11:55going to be sensible. But I think in terms of the major plus points, I would say the
12:03two lads in central midfield, they look good footballers, there's a bit of a chemistry
12:08already between them. They're technically good and they look like they've got a good
12:12football brain. So that's been the big takeaway for me from a personal perspective if you
12:18like.
12:19It's obviously very delicate in the midfield at the moment because they are one injury
12:23away from having a problem. But as things are right now, we focus a lot on what people
12:34can't do, but ultimately it's about what they can. That goes for the manager as well, there's
12:39obviously criticisms of what he's not good at, everyone's not good at certain things.
12:44As long as you don't go full Lee Carsley, you just work with what you've got.
12:50He's working within his system as well, isn't he?
12:54Exactly, and that's what good management is about. No manager has 11 perfect players and
13:00however many perfect substitutes. You just make the best of what you've got. Your full
13:04backs, they're not the best defensively, but they're really good going forward. So you
13:09try and make the most of that, you try and cover it. It'll change over the season, but
13:16right now they've got a really good balance for the players they've got and the way they're
13:20playing. As I say, it's delicate because an injury could easily change things, loss of
13:26form from somebody, but they're in a really good group now. If I was a Leeds fan, I'd
13:30be glad that they're in this time of the season where they're playing three games a week because
13:36they can really eat up some points now and make some ground if they can just keep this momentum going.
13:41It's finding solutions, Stuart, isn't it? We've spoken about it a few times on this
13:46podcast, not just in terms of Leeds United. You look at the disruptions Michael Duff's
13:50had at Huddersfield, you could probably say the same about Graham Alexander at Bradford
13:55in terms of all manner of defenders being out. That's where you earn your money, isn't
14:02it, as a manager? Finding solutions, working things out, problem solving. That's what Farka's
14:09done in the respect of the central midfield and one or two of the other managers in the
14:14region doing it as well. That's what it's all about, isn't it? That's the art of management.
14:18And as Leon says, that's where Daniel Farka's calmness comes in because he's not one who's
14:23going to fret about, oh, I've lost these players, like a lot of our managers, to be fair, because
14:29that's why they got their jobs. There's a calmness, no excuses, this is what I've got,
14:35how am I going to make the best of it? And as Leon says, you can see that through Michael
14:40Duff, through Graham Alexander, through pretty much all of our managers, because if they
14:44didn't have that, they wouldn't be in the job. It's not about enjoying it, it's about
14:48being ready for it and what have you got in your tool bag. I think it augurs well in that
14:55regard for all those clubs I've mentioned.
14:59And as mentioned at the top of the episode, we now turn to Sheffield Wednesday, who suffered
15:03a 2-0 defeat when they faced Burnley, which was then followed up by that goalless draw
15:08when they faced Swansea City. Now, what are your thoughts on the two performances from
15:12the Owls, Leon?
15:15Well, I think Stuart drew the short straw a little bit by all accounts.
15:20It was wider than it was long.
15:22Yeah, it wasn't the best watch on Tuesday night against Swansea. To be fair, against
15:29Burnley, I suppose you mitigate a bit for who they were playing. And Wednesday, I think
15:35they were certainly a bit better and they brought a bit more to the table, shall we
15:40say. And it was a funny game. I mean, it was decided by two goals, sort of either side
15:46of half-time. But it was almost like the big moments for me arrived before the goals. I
15:53mean, obviously the first one that was the goal came from Jadon Anthony. It was a mistake
16:00from Jan Valery. But not too long before that, EK Ugbo had a terrific chance to put
16:05Wednesday ahead. He's obviously not scored in the league this season. The sort of chance
16:09you want, really, is a strike when you're on that sort of run. A nice little free-kick
16:14routine, bent in beautifully from Barry Bannon. And he really should have been all over that
16:20and he should have been in the back of the net when he said it was over. Obviously,
16:24Burnley's goal compounds it. And at the start of the second half, they started well Wednesday.
16:28They were on the front foot. Charles slipped in the ball to Valentin, in a great position
16:34on the right. All he's got to do is sort of pick out someone or somebody to make the right
16:38run for a tap-in. He sort of hedged his bets, fires it across goal. It would have certainly
16:45been a goal. And that was that. And not too long after, Burnley broke at the other end.
16:51It was a little bit sloppy, I suppose, from Bernard. He got hoodwinked a little bit by a
16:58clever dummy. And the upshot he ended with, Brownell, who's a dangerous player and he
17:05was operating in an advanced midfield role on Saturday, he took away the rebound. I think he's
17:10got five or six now this season. And he's a top player at this level. And that was pretty much
17:19that. Fair play to Wednesday. They had a goal late on. They missed one or two chances. Michael
17:24Smith should have scored. But I think the game for me was pretty much over and I think that was
17:32reinforced. Danny Rowe brought off Charles and Bannon after about 72, 73 minutes. And it's not
17:39like you're putting up the white flag, but I think that was a pragmatic sort of feeling
17:44by him that we're probably not going to get anything in this one. It's funny with Wednesday,
17:50I think they're a side at the minute that they're quite tactically flexible,
17:57they can set up the game plans to tailor different oppositions in mind to counter that.
18:04But in terms of their own sort of style, they're not quite there offensively, are they? And
18:14I think their lead position is, I suppose there could have been a few places higher. They were
18:20unfortunate in the game against QPR and Luton as well, where the big decision went against them.
18:26They just look to me at the minute, I don't think they'll have any problems with relegation,
18:30but sort of a lower mid-table team at the minute. And I suppose it's getting that next building
18:37block to really take the game more to teams and post more offensive threats. I mean,
18:46obviously one or two forwards are struggling for goals, aren't they?
18:51Jamara Lowe, I think he's only got one in the league, hasn't he? We've spoken about Ugbo.
18:56They don't look a side who've got lots and lots of goals in them. I mean, I suppose the outlier
19:00this season was obviously the opening day, wasn't it? They spanked Plymouth and...
19:06They've scored 11 goals this season.
19:09Well, I had a little look. I think they've scored four against Plymouth at home in the
19:14five home games since. They've only scored four goals, so that shows. I think they're doing a
19:20lot of good things. They're very well coached. They can change the system in games. They can
19:27set themselves up tactically to negate your opponents, but it's taking it on to that
19:34next level and having a real, true attacking identity. But there's plenty of time. He's a
19:41great coach. Hopefully it will come in time and they might have one or two
19:47additions in the January transfer window might help them in that regard.
19:52Quite a few of the players are doing a lot of good work. I mean, Koubaki, I thought he had a
19:55good game on Saturday. His work rate's tremendous. He called one or two problems. His press selection
20:04was good. But yeah, I think they're just a bit of a work in progress, aren't they?
20:10Going forward at the minute, but compared to where they were this time last year,
20:15there's got to be perspective and they're doing some decent work.
20:19Even compared to where they were between the first couple of international breaks,
20:23they've nailed down the defensive side. They're a lot of the way there, as Leon says. The problem
20:29is that the bit that's missing is the most important part of the game. Leon talks about
20:35the strikers not having many goals and it's the instinct that seems to be missing. You mentioned
20:41the Valerie Cross where nobody was on the end of it. Marvin Johnson did the same thing on
20:47Tuesday night and Roel was saying afterwards, why were my players on the back foot? Why wasn't
20:54somebody going for it? And that's just what they're missing. When Leon wrote in the Yorkshire
21:00Post on Monday that Sheffield Wednesday's league position is a reflection of where they are,
21:07that's absolutely spot on. Roel referred to it. My hope for Sheffield Wednesday is that it's a
21:24bit like when you look at an individual striker and you say, oh, they just need one to go off
21:28the backside and then they go on the run. My hope is that because the foundations are there,
21:34if they can just get the confidence rush of a couple of goals in a game, maybe it might set
21:40them off. But at least the back door's closed now and they're not having days like they had
21:46at Millwall. At least they're making chances. It's not all doom and gloom, but they just need
21:53that extra bit. Unfortunately, when we were talking about Leeds United and Leeds United
21:59playing at that tempo, it lifts Ellen Road and it sets the snowball going. When what you're getting
22:05right is the defensive bit and you're playing against teams like Swansea, who, let's be fair,
22:12their main tactic seems to be to send you to sleep by passing you to death. It has the opposite
22:17effect. It kills the mood at Hillsborough. The players give the fans nothing to feed off and
22:26therefore vice versa. It makes life more difficult. But I do think, as Leon's rightly
22:33pointed out, there's a lot of good there and I hope something can just spark that extra bit.
22:40I think the fact that they've steadied the ship defensively is important in the context
22:44of what happened at the start of the season. Obviously, everyone was talking about the
22:48Plymouth result, but then on the flip side of the coin, you had the Sunderland game
22:53and you also had the Millwall game as well and they conceded a couple of goals to Leeds as well.
23:01You can see that they've obviously worked hard on the training ground to rectify that defensive
23:06side, but it's getting the balance a bit more the other way, isn't it? That's what they've
23:11got to do. But there's no reason in the weeks ahead that's going to be clearly the next plank
23:19of the development. Roal knows it, everybody knows it, don't they? I'm sure he'll come up
23:25with something. And the other thing is, you have to be realistic. What they need is an Erling
23:30Haaland. Well, if you're a championship team without Paris Girondi, you can't bring in those
23:37absolutely nailed on goalscorers. As Leon says, he's a very good coach. It's just coaching it
23:44out of these players to give them more of that instinct, give them more of that belief. And
23:50Danny Roal is the sort of guy I would want doing that as a supporter.
23:56And now let's focus our attention on Hull City, who fell to a controversial 1-0 defeat at the
24:01hands of Sunderland. Now, can you help us make sense of it as we discuss the performance that
24:07was put on by the Tigers' Stewart? Yeah, well, I mean, in terms of the goal
24:12itself, essentially what happened was Hull won a corner and they'd started the second half quite
24:18well and forced a few chances, won a corner through one of them. They played it short to
24:24Marvin Malem. The referee, Bobby Madley, unfortunately was not in a great position
24:30and sort of ran across Malem, disrupted his eyeline, but didn't touch the ball,
24:36crucially didn't touch the ball. And, you know, whether it threw Malem a bit or whatever,
24:43he gave the ball away on the edge of his penalty area. Sorry, on the edge of Sunderland's penalty
24:49area. And from there, Hull conceded. Now, you know, Hull were very angry with the referee,
24:56fans were very angry with the referee. The referee messed up. You know, we all do. He did then.
25:03But, you know, like the goal they conceded against Sheffield United, it was their corner.
25:08There was a hell of a long way between them giving up the ball and them conceding the goal.
25:13The referee was a bit of an easy guess out for Hull as well. You know, I say he's not blameless.
25:21He should have, he probably should have sent off Chris Metham in the first half for a handball
25:25as well. So he didn't, he didn't have a great day, but, you know, he's a human being, it happens.
25:30Hull didn't do their bit. That was the issue. You know, and to be having a corner as such an
25:41opportunity for the opposition to score now, you know, scouts and analysts and people will be
25:46looking at that and say there's a real weakness there. You sometimes complain about teams like
25:53Leeds having too many men behind the ball and being too solid. Well, that's the example of
25:58why you do it because Hull have just been too wide open and caught too easily. And it was a
26:04shame in a way because they were really outplayed in the first half in terms of possession.
26:11But they did a really, the thing about Hull is that, you know, I've seen them quite a few
26:14times this season and you do feel that they really bring teams onto them too much.
26:20But at the same time, they're good as individual defenders at limiting the chances
26:27that Pando faces. And that was a case in point. And as I said, they were just, they just started
26:32to tip the balance a bit and pose a bit more attacking threats in the second half. But
26:36ultimately, some of them were the better team, you know, did deserve to win. Hull can't have
26:43too many complaints and they need to really learn the lesson of just getting the balance right
26:51in moments like that. Because obviously the whole thing, the whole reason that
26:55bounce has been brought in is to be more attacking, to be more positive. But, you know,
27:00you've got to strike a balance, you know, Ben Shadley, Carsley before, applies again to Hull.
27:06You know, it's all right going out trying to do the right thing attacking wise. But if you don't
27:11have people who win the ball, you know, Hull aren't scoring enough goals. They aren't creating
27:16enough chances despite all that positive intent because the balance that we talked about with
27:22Leeds and applies to other teams, it's just not quite right now. And, you know, there seems to be
27:27lots of defeats where Tim Belter is coming out and saying, I was happy with this, I was happy
27:31with that. But the overall picture is not right yet. And they had that flurry of three wins,
27:38but this, you know, they're looking a bit more like an outlier rather than the starters right
27:44now. I know you were speaking about Sheffield, where has it been with Hull? They haven't,
27:49I know it's an early season and you don't make big predictions in the championship, but they do.
27:54I think most people looking at Hull might just say they have a look of a bit of a lower mid-table
27:58team, don't they Stuart? They're beating Stoke, they're beating Cardiff, they're beating QPR,
28:04but against the better sides, they haven't really even getting a point, if you like, against one of
28:12the real top sides of the division, that would be progress. But obviously they've lost to Leeds,
28:16they've lost to Sheffield United, they've lost to Norwich. You just feel that against the top
28:23teams in the division that they're going to come up, well the minutes certainly are coming up
28:28short a little bit. I think the next sort of key point in their development would be getting a win
28:36or a really good performance against one of the leading sides, you know, the top six candidates
28:43in the division and that would psychologically, that should give them a fair bit of confidence,
28:48hopefully. Yeah, I mean, they've come from a place where they were solid but unspectacular,
28:54they were capable of those kind of results and in the search to get better, to be more entertaining,
29:02they've certainly taken a couple of steps backwards at the moment. Now that's not to say
29:06they can't go forwards from here, but right now it looks like a classic, be careful what you wish
29:11for at the moment. And next I wanted to ask you both about what you make of the current front
29:19runners in the Championship and their chances of automatic promotion this season, because again,
29:24as we mentioned earlier on, we've got Sunderland who are leading the pack, but for me comes the
29:31question, okay, but how long can they sustain this? Can they keep this going until the real
29:37business end of the season or will they sort of fall to the wayside and the likes of Leeds United
29:43say, right, now we're in the driving seat, give us that title? Well, I think it feels like, I was
29:50talking to somebody before the game at Hillsborough actually, and it feels like there's only League
29:54One of the EFL divisions where there's a team that you really think is going to run away with it.
29:59You know, it's not unusual to see a team win the Championship with 100 points, but it doesn't feel
30:05like this is going to be one of those years. Certainly nobody's stood out yet, but there's a
30:10lot of good teams vying for it. I'd say Lyon saw Burnley's credentials at the weekend. They certainly
30:19look where you think Burnley should be, you know, given the players they've got and
30:24the experience of the manager they've got. Likewise, Leeds United, they look like,
30:29yes, they lost at Burnley, but they look ominous. They look like, again, the sort of team
30:34that you think Leeds should be. Sheffield United, that was a bit of a wake-up call to maybe
30:39make people question if they were quite as good as their recent run suggests. We'll find out in
30:46time. There's certainly spirit there. We've talked before, there's a good first 11. We just worry a
30:51bit about the underbelly. And as you said, with Sunderland, you know, they've set the pace,
30:57they've got momentum. I've seen them play a few times now and put in some really good performances,
31:03Southern Destroy, Sheffield Wednesday, as Lyon mentioned, Southern Beat Hull.
31:08Because they're based on such a young midfield, you wonder if they can have the stamina to last
31:14for 46 games. You wonder if the Vultures will pick off one of those good young players they've got
31:21in January or whether they can strengthen the squad in January or, like Hull last year,
31:28whether they might overdo it. And as we said before, upset the balance by making the wrong
31:33signing. So I think there's question marks about Sunderland, but they've got the momentum and
31:37they've got the points on the board. And it's up to them to prove that they're going to drop off
31:43it rather than everyone just assume it. So I think as things stand, it's shaping up to be quite
31:49a good title race or promotion race, whatever you want to call it. It's frustrating from a Yorkshire
31:56perspective that Middlesbrough, certainly at the moment, don't seem to quite be at the level
32:01to be part of that. As we said, with maybe a little bit like Sheffield Wednesday playing well,
32:08but just not having those finishing bits. It's been cynical, isn't it, with Middlesbrough?
32:13I mean, the top of the XG, the shots, but the ability to score goals.
32:18That's right. So maybe if they can crack that, they can get in the picture. But it does look like
32:22it's going to be quite a tight and well-contested race. And Leeds and Sheffield United have both put
32:30themselves in the picture, which at this stage of the season is all you can do, really.
32:34I think in fact, Sunderland is the story, really. You'd expect Leeds to be up there,
32:40you'd expect Burnley to be up there. There's slightly less of XG, but you still expect them
32:46to be around in Sheffield United. I think the first part of the season, Sunderland is the
32:53story. I think they've had issues before in January, haven't they? It could be one of those
32:59where just a couple of experienced players could really help in the key part of the season,
33:07squeaky bum time, if you like, to get Sunderland over the line. But you look at the start of the
33:13season, they've beaten Burnley, they've beaten Middlesbrough, they should have beaten Leeds.
33:17I mean, Leeds probably would have won that game. But yeah,
33:22they've been really good in all of these games, haven't they, Leon?
33:25Yeah.
33:25And finally for this week, I turn to Leon for his team of the week before looking to Stuart
33:30for his player of the week. Now, personally, I know who I would have chosen for my player of the
33:35week. But Leon, who are you choosing as your team of the week this week?
33:42Well, it's a bit of a Leeds United flavour, isn't it, really? I think there's one or two
33:47sort of other candidates that you could sort of vouch for. Two home games after an international
33:53break. Factor in as well that Leeds had a hell of a lot of players coming back midweek Thursday,
34:00pretty much had one training session, if that, didn't they, to prepare for a huge derby,
34:08big game in the context of the season. And they didn't only win it,
34:12they won it in a fair bit of style, didn't they? So, all power to them. And
34:18yeah, they hit the heights early on against Watford, a little bit more sticky in the
34:24second half, but they finished the game strongly. I think it's worthy mentioning a couple of
34:29candidates, if you like, as well. I mean, Barnsley, they were under a bit of heat.
34:35They went to Blackpool. It was a sticky-looking game for Daryl Clark, and it was actually the
34:41place where it finished off Neil Collins, didn't it, last season. I mean, no-one's said it would
34:46have done the same to Clark, but I think there would have been a fair bit of noise if they'd
34:50lost that game. And obviously, he got a big win. Mark Roberts showing himself to be a goal-scoring
34:56centre-half again. Possibly a plump for them if they'd have beaten Charlton on Tuesday night,
35:06but they're having issues at the minute at Oakwell, whether it's psychological or whatever.
35:11And the annoying thing a bit with Barnsley is the amount of late goals they've conceded as well.
35:16They've conceded 15 goals in the second half, nine in the final quarter of games so far this season.
35:24That's a lot. They're drawing a few too many at home. I mean, to be fair, they bailed themselves
35:29out in stoppage time with an equaliser, but only after Charlton had gone in front a couple of
35:35minutes earlier. So, if they'd have won both of those home games, it would have been a case for
35:39them. A little bit of a mention, I won't go on too long, but Huddersfield Town as well. I mean,
35:46you look at them, they'd lost seven out of eight. The situation was compounded by a lot of injuries,
35:53and they're still having to deal with injuries at the minute to keep personnel.
35:58I think they're unbeaten in four. They obviously sawed off pistol rolls at the weekend, and I
36:03thought it was a really good point from them in midweek against Wrexham. Wrexham's home record
36:08is really strong. I think they've not been beaten since the middle of March. They've won all five
36:13home games this season prior to midweek. So, speaking beforehand, Duff was saying he wanted
36:20to see, I suppose, a bit more of the ugly side of Huddersfield and how they cope with a bit of
36:25adversity. It sounds like they haven't had a bit in the first half. Wrexham pushed, but they dug
36:29in and chiselled out a really good point. So, I think that was a really good result for Huddersfield,
36:35but I think when you're looking at all the candidates, I can't look any further than
36:39Leeds United. I certainly agree with that on the team. In terms of the players,
36:48things that leapt out for you, Joe Ironside scoring his first goal of the season is a big
36:52deal, but doing it with a penalty and stoppage time to win the game, that takes some bottle,
36:59and that's definitely a big tick in the box. I think Leon mentioned Basler's record of conceding
37:07goals, but I think the way Sladeen has started the season, I think he's pretty exempt from
37:12criticism. He's had a really good start for them, and there's been some good defensive
37:17performances. I mean, you look at Bradford, Jack Sheppard, that was an absolute belcher of a goal.
37:22If anyone hasn't seen that, that's worth looking at. And for Neil Byrne, who had been ill the
37:28previous week, he scored goals in both games for Bradford. So, good to see from him. No surprise
37:37that after Leon picked Matty Pearson out for his team at the weekend that he was leading a
37:44defensive rearguard at Wrexham in midweek. Always good to see players like Pearson,
37:50they were just properly committed, just proper defenders, proper leaders coming to the fore
37:56after we'd been out of the side for a bit. But again, we've been waxing lyrical about those
38:01central midfielders. I think it's got to be one or the other for the player of the week. I think
38:08personally, having seen the Sheppard-United game, I'd say Roscoe probably slightly edged it at the
38:15two. I don't know what you think, Leon, for the midweek game. Yeah, it's probably the other way
38:19around, so you've got a bit of a decision, but I think probably either or. Either or. Well,
38:24you said you know, Mark, you can settle this tiebreaker. Which one's it going to be?
38:28For me, honestly, I'd have to go with Tanaka. Fair play to him.
38:40I don't know much about James Bond, but he got likened to some James Bond character by
38:44Daniel Farker, but that one lost me a little bit. It sounded good.
38:52As we mentioned before, he came back from the international break having played
38:57in both Saudi and his native Japan, and then played the full 90,
39:04and by the looks of the Sky Sports graphic about his heat map, he was all over the shop,
39:13creating so many problems. And I mean, fair play to him. I genuinely think that Sky got it right
39:20with giving him another match award, so I would have to go with Tanaka for this one.
39:26He's such an elegant player, but you know, with players like that, when you mention about the
39:31heat map, that's really the full package, isn't it, when they bring in that work rate, too.
39:38Both of them have been tremendous, and as we said, it could be either or,
39:42but I'm more than happy to go with Tanaka because he's been excellent.
39:45Yeah, I think they're having a good season, some of the Japanese players in the EFL, aren't they?
39:50I've watched the two lads at Birmingham, Baker and Iwata, and I thought they were tremendous
39:57against Rotherham in the game. I thought they were really good. Elegance is a good word,
40:01and proper midfielders, and when you look at a global scheme of football, that sort of thing,
40:08it's good to see. Yeah, well, you know, it was a market
40:11postacog who tapped into a lot of Celtic, wasn't it? And, you know, it could be a good one for
40:18Championship scouts to really take a look at. Absolutely. There's certainly some quality
40:22operators there from what I can see. Yeah. You know what this is going to do now,
40:26don't you? This is going to create all the other clubs to say,
40:29oh, let's have a look at these players now. Let's go to Leeds.
40:33Well, let's put it this way. You play well for Leeds United. It's not going to be secret.
40:38No, no. Absolutely.