On this week’s FootballTalk Podcast, YP football writers Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall get together with host Mark Singleton to discuss the latest stories and issues surrounding the Yorkshire football scene.
They start with a rampaging Leeds United and their return of six points, nine goals and two clean sheets from their two games in the space of five days – are they a cert for automatic promotion?
Hull City suffered a setback at Stoke City after a recent upturn in form and belief, but they still look well set for climbing away from trouble in the Championship.
The EFL Trophy derby clash between Rotherham United and Bradford City is also discussed, as is a more general look at how Yorkshire’s 11 EFL clubs fared during the January Transfer Window – who were the winners and losers?
They start with a rampaging Leeds United and their return of six points, nine goals and two clean sheets from their two games in the space of five days – are they a cert for automatic promotion?
Hull City suffered a setback at Stoke City after a recent upturn in form and belief, but they still look well set for climbing away from trouble in the Championship.
The EFL Trophy derby clash between Rotherham United and Bradford City is also discussed, as is a more general look at how Yorkshire’s 11 EFL clubs fared during the January Transfer Window – who were the winners and losers?
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:14we will 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
00:21Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post,
00:24Leon Wattrell, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't
00:29forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond
00:32by logging onto our website at yp.sportatnationalworld.com, as well as checking out our various Twitter
00:38feeds, the main one being at ypsport. If you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire
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 at the Football Talk podcast
00:55at yp.sportatnationalworld.com. YorkshirePost.co.uk.
01:02As 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 Wattrell.
01:09Good morning guys.
01:10Morning.
01:11Hello.
01:12Morning. Right, this week in the Championship, we saw Sheffield United claim all three points
01:15in their 1-0 win over Derby County, Middlesbrough fell to an agonising 3-2 defeat at the hands
01:21of Sunderland, and Sheffield Wednesday had to settle for a point in their 1-0 draw with
01:25Luton Town. In League 1, Huddersfield Town lost 3-2 when they travelled to Northampton
01:31Town, and Barnsley had to share the points in their 1-0 draw with Burton Albion. Now
01:35in League 2, Doncaster Rovers continued their impressive run of form with a 2-1 victory
01:40over MK Dons, Bradford City suffered a small bump in their promotion push with a 1-0 defeat
01:45at Wimbledon, and we'll be covering them later on in the episode, and Harrogate Town
01:50shared the points in their 1-0 draw with Crewe Alexandra.
01:54However, this week, we start with Leeds United, who sent their fans into seventh heaven with
02:00a comprehensive 7-0 thumping of Cardiff City, which was followed up by a 2-0 victory when
02:05they clashed with Coventry City. This now sees them five points clear at the top of
02:10the Championship. Now, what were your thoughts on the two performances, Leon?
02:14Yeah, they've made a statement, haven't they? I mean, obviously the biggest home win since
02:21that memorable day. A lot of us, old enough, will remember the old Match of the Day footage,
02:25Barry Davies and all that sort of thing when they beat Southampton 7-0, and you know, magnificent
02:32performance. And to be fair to the Cardiff keeper, Jack Hanwick, he was probably the
02:39best player, and if it wasn't for him, I think it could easily have been double figures.
02:44So that was a magical day that a lot of Leeds fans won't forget in a hurry.
02:51But I think when you've had such a good performance and victories that, you know,
02:57it's good to have a game relatively quickly, although it was obviously a tough game going
03:01to Coventry. They're flexing their muscles and making a bit of a move under Frank Lampard,
03:08and there's a lot of teams, I've spoken about this before, a lot of teams who are going
03:12to be fighting for those last two places in the playoffs. So their season's live. It looked,
03:18even though as well as Leeds had done, it looked a tricky fixture in midweek, but
03:23went there and did the business again in an excellent away win, and what, 66 points,
03:29we're not even halfway through February. They're in a hell of a position, aren't they, Leeds?
03:34And well, I suppose they need to be in some respects, because it's obviously teams chasing
03:41So, yeah, two tremendous wins. Farker being Farker, he wasn't totally
03:51happy on Wednesday night. Leeds did miss a lot of chances, to be fair. They dominated the game,
03:57and they should have been, you know, a three or four goal victory certainly wouldn't have
04:02been flattering. Missed a few one-on-ones. Joe Pirro missed a big chance at the end.
04:07He was a little bit casual. One or two others as well. Dan James, but, you know, all things being
04:14equal, you'd take 2-0 at Coventry all day long, given the form. It's been a sticky place for
04:20Leeds, and they're a pretty dangerous side, and yeah, just going really well. We touched on it
04:28before, Stuart, as well. You know, there's some big games in February, isn't there? They've got
04:34the Sunderland game on the horizon, the Sheffield United game at home, and yeah, Leeds are getting
04:41their ducks in a row at just the right time. Away from home, we'd spoken as well before,
04:46if there's a little bit of an Achilles heel, a bit of an issue, it's probably been that, hasn't it,
04:50really? But you look at that, there's four clean sheets in five. They're sort of getting
04:57the right sort of consistency there. They're scoring the goals, they're churning out the
05:02clean sheets. I think it's something like 19 in 31, something like that.
05:08And yeah, they're in, you know, a heck of a place. I mean, it's interesting. I thought that
05:16they could have maybe wanted this fixture, obviously it had to be called off for the FA Cup,
05:21you know, shoving it further down the schedule, if you like, at some time later in the season,
05:25whether it's, you know, April or something like that, or some point in March. But they've,
05:30you know, it's worked to their advantage now, hasn't it? Points on the board, a sticky fixture.
05:36They've, you know, there may be a midweek somewhere down the line where Leeds aren't
05:41playing, but they've got those points in the bag from a hard game. And yeah, it's looking good for
05:49Daniel Farquhar. I'm sure he'll restore, you know, his players, his sort of first choice
05:56league team for the Cup game against Millwall, and then they'll be back in harness for the
06:02Watford game. Yeah, I mean, I think it's important, whatever team he picks against Millwall,
06:07they're clearly in a purple patch at the moment, just to keep it going. That's the thing. I mean,
06:12it was January last year they kicked into gear and, you know, it was Coventry away when they
06:18slipped up and that felt like a really significant moment last season. So to sort of bury that ghost,
06:23and helpful too, you know, they'll enjoy beating the Frank Lampard team as well, of course.
06:30Lots of good elements to it. But yeah, I mean, Leon talks about the scheduling. I actually
06:35talked to Grant McCann about this this week, because, you know, when the fixture list's
06:40served up, your games are when your games are. But when it comes to rearrangements,
06:44it's up to the clubs to decide. And McCann was saying in Doncaster's case, as the
06:49chasers in League Two, he kind of wanted to get ahead of the game and put some pressure on Walsall.
06:54And I think that's the advantage. I mean, we talked about a couple of weeks ago, didn't we,
06:59with regards to Sheffield United playing first on the weekend. And they actually messed it up.
07:04We talked about the psychology of going first and laying down the gauntlet. And that's the thing to
07:09do when you're the leaders, isn't it? Just rack up the pressure, pile up the points and then say to
07:15other teams, right, what are you going to do about it sort of thing. And then you hope that suddenly,
07:20you know, all those draws at Burnley start to add up and it becomes a problem. You know, you hope
07:26that Sheffield United slip up somewhere. You hope that Sunderland sort of lose this knack of pulling
07:31points out of the fire and someone somewhere down the line ends up dropping out of the race because
07:37you've just set too fierce a pace. And, you know, likewise, to go out and win a game 7-0
07:44as opposed to just doing a job and winning 2-0 or 3-0, again, that sends out a message,
07:49look, we're relentless in this race. We're going to keep going. I mean, it seems ridiculous to
07:54think it was only last week's podcast. We were talking about, you know, style and nil-nil draws
08:00and all this sort of thing. I say that side of it is very much down to personal taste.
08:07But when you look at the goals leads have scored and the goal difference, it's a phenomenal record.
08:13As we always say, worth an extra point. So, yeah, I mean, as I say, when you're in this sort of run,
08:20it's just about keeping it going. And I think that the pleasing thing for me about the Cardiff
08:25game looking from afar was that you've got people coming off the bench and scoring goals and making
08:29contributions. You know, although the team's quite settled at the moment, it's not just those 11
08:36players contributing. And that, again, is really important in the slog of the championship. And
08:42when we're talking about this Millwall game in terms of others coming in, because, you know,
08:46if for argument's sake, Ramazani, Nanto, Josef, full start, you know, there's absolutely no
08:53excuse for them not being right up for it. But they also look in actually decent rhythm at the
08:59moment and, you know, able to do it. There shouldn't be too many excuses. I don't think
09:03Lyon sold both the games. I think it's about rustiness of those guys.
09:08I think it's handy in that respect, this cup run, isn't it, for Leeds and, you know,
09:13good in the respect he's at home as well on a Saturday. He's going to change his team,
09:17basically, isn't he? And they've got a pretty good chance of getting through that.
09:23And obviously the next round, I'm sure he'd do the same again, wouldn't he, if it's in between some
09:28league pitches. And, yeah, he did have a quibble at Farquaad about, well, you know,
09:34we should have boosted our goal difference more at Coventry. And, you know, it could sting us on
09:39another night. But I think, inwardly, he's going to be really pleased, isn't he?
09:43Plus, playing in a league isn't bad, is it?
09:46Well, exactly. But it would have backfired, though, wouldn't it? If you imagine they'd
09:50lost that game, you know, the Leeds punters are like, you know, it's 24-7, they dissect
09:56everything. They'd say, why didn't we play it further on in the season? And it would have given
10:01a huge boost, wouldn't it, I think, to the likes of Burnley. They won the night before.
10:06Some of them have got a great result at Middlesbrough. You've got Sheffield United,
10:12you know, obviously didn't hit the straps like Leeds did against Cardiff, but they've still
10:16got three points, didn't they? That would have given them all those three sides a real big boost,
10:21wouldn't it? If Leeds had lost or dropped points at Coventry. But it's worked the other way for
10:27Leeds in that respect. In a promotion race, it could be, I don't know, it could be, there's
10:33obviously two from four, which team handles that little bit of a bad spell, which might only,
10:38I don't know, it might only be two or three games, it might be a draw and a loss.
10:43Three games. It could get down to that, couldn't it, really? I'm sure, in the running,
10:48there's going to be a little point where, you know, all the four teams have at least one result
10:54like that or, you know, if not two. And, you know, the five margins could well decide how it finishes
11:03up in early May. Leeds are five clear at the minute, but it's still pretty tight, isn't it?
11:10Yeah, I mean, five can go pretty quickly, can't they? I mean, you know, Sheffield United had that
11:14Middlesbrough-Leeds week, didn't they? You know, Leeds had that start to the new year with a couple
11:19of draws. When it's that tight, that's all it can take. And it would have been the most championships
11:24thing ever to win 7-0 and then lose in the midweek. So, it says a lot for Leeds. Relentlessness,
11:31professionalism, focus, that they've got that job done when, as Leon says, there's
11:37tiny, you know, tiny doubts about them away from home, playing a good side in good form.
11:41It was all there for them to slip up. So, the fact that they haven't is really good. And say,
11:47from their perspective, with Sunderland and Sheffield United on the horizon, they just want
11:52to still be in that form when those games come around because, you know, you can't see them all
11:56day long playing as they are at the moment. Yeah, I think just quickly with Leeds, I think
12:01there's going to be a hell of a lot of focus on these, you know, the Sunderland and Sheffield
12:06United games. I think the danger with Leeds sometimes when they play, you know, the sides
12:11who are slightly, you know, of a lower ranking, you know, they just drop a little bit in intensity.
12:17They've got a tricky game at Watford, you know, that's, you know, for an example, they've got to
12:23go to QPR, you know, one of the teams like that, Portsmouth even, you know, when you just,
12:29you know, Farka's all about focus and intensity, isn't he, and not dropping off. And
12:33I think he'll know that's just a little thing because you look at the teams who, you know,
12:39they lost, was it Millwall, wasn't it, early in the season, they lost there, they weren't quite
12:43at it, a tough venue. So that's the little thing, just not get sort of too carried away, although,
12:52you know, to be fair to Farka, he never does, but just watch those sort of mid-ranking fixtures
12:59almost that people will sort of, most people from the outside will say, oh, Leeds, they should win
13:03that, but they've just got to be a little bit wary of those games for me. Yeah, I mean, that's what
13:08winning leagues are all about, is that the playoffs are normally full of teams who can
13:11beat the best teams, but then slip up on the lesser days. If you, particularly with Burnley
13:18and Sheffield United and Sutherland on the form that they are, you've got to be relentless,
13:21you've got to just be at it every day. And that's where Leeds is really enviable squad depth.
13:29Should be an advantage if it's managed properly. Yeah, exactly. And our next stop takes us to
13:35Hull City, who had to return from their game at Stoke City empty-handed following a 2-1 defeat,
13:40which still leaves them in a precarious position in the table. Now, what did you make of the game,
13:46Stuart? It was really odd. It was odd in the sense of, a little bit like what we've just
13:51been talking about. Hull were excellent for half an hour, played some really, really good football,
13:56went 1-0 up, dipped slightly, but were generally good over the whole 90 minutes,
14:02but didn't get the job done. And that's the difference between sides at the bottom and
14:07sides at the top. You know, a Leeds, a Burnley, a Sheffield United will get the job done.
14:12A whole couple of defensive slip-ups, failure to really make it count when they're 1-0 up,
14:21and they lose the game. And, you know, again, it was only last week's podcast,
14:24I was so enthused about how well they played away from home. I think they're in good shape.
14:28I think they're moving in the right direction. But I think that game was a reminder, because it
14:34was at the MKM Stadium, that they still have a bit of a mental block when it comes to playing
14:38at home. You know, they've won four games under Sayers, only the first of them was at home. I
14:42think they've only won two games at home all season, 15 points at home in the last 12 months.
14:50Yeah. It's letting them down, you know, and when you do, because I was talking to Sayers about it
14:57and saying, well, you know, is there a sort of lack of ruthlessness in front of goal? And then
15:03he said, well, we scored three at home to Leeds United. And that's the frustration, you know,
15:08it's there, it's in them, but you just, I think possibly the significant thing about them scoring
15:14three against Leeds United is that they were three-one down. And it was spit or bust time.
15:20I said spit there. And yeah, that's, and you've kind of got no choice, but when you're in a
15:28position to actually win the game, maybe that's when just the odd doubt creeps in, because it's
15:33not just been a problem under Sayers. It was particularly a problem under Liam Rossinia.
15:38Let's face it, under Baltzer, they struggled to win home or away, so you can't read too much into
15:42that, but it's been an underlying problem for them. And I think it's just a psychological
15:47hurdle for them to get past because it's not stopping them playing well. You know,
15:53maybe talk a bit later, they've made good signings, they've got a good coach,
15:56they're generally in a good shape, you know, and if they're sort of win one, lose one from now
16:02until the end of the season, they'll be safe from allegation, but you can't put all your eggs in
16:06getting all your points away from home. They need to get over this barrier, but as soon as they do,
16:15I think they'll be in a very good place. I think, yeah, you made some good points there,
16:19Stuart. You've seen Hull a lot more than I have. It's almost as if they sort of need to sort of
16:26grind out a win and it be tight and get over the line, but they also need to sort of,
16:31they need that sort of 90 minute performance as well. They sort of need both of them really,
16:36don't they? And yeah, I think there's a few things that are obviously coming into play there. I think
16:41there's a psychological aspect, clearly. You know, there's some of the longer established
16:46players have been part of these sort of, you know, poor runs at home before. I think there's probably
16:52a details thing, stuff about, you know, set pieces, set plays, that comes into it, lack of
16:59concentration at times. And I think also probably another factor, I mean, I spoke to
17:05Sellers this week is the pitch as well. I mean, it's, to be fair, it's a time of year where,
17:12you know, a lot of pitches around the country are showing a bit of wear and tear and
17:17obviously in Hull's case, they've got the rugby there as well. So I think that's another added
17:23added sort of factor in the pot, if you like, regarding Hull's issues at home. But we've
17:30touched on it before, they've got some big games before the end of the season on home
17:35soil and they, you know, they really do need to sort it out if they're going to have a,
17:41you know, pull out of trouble and not have a really, really fraught and tense end to the
17:46season. They'll probably be, I think they've got three out of four away now, haven't they?
17:49They'll probably be quite happy about that fact because they've been quite handy on the travels
17:56of late. But, you know, that's not, you can't just count on your, when you're a side out at
18:00the bottom, you just can't count on your away form, can you? You've got to pull out some
18:06wins at home at some stage and yeah, it's something they've wrestled with pretty much
18:11all season, isn't it? And they've got to assimilate a lot of these new players as well. So, yeah,
18:17there's a fair bit to do in Sellars' entry there, isn't there?
18:22Not only can you not count, just counter the away form, you don't want to, you know,
18:27you've got a thousand, a couple of thousand watching you away from home. You've got 20,000
18:31watching you at home. You want to put on a show for them. You want to send them home happy. And
18:36I think that's significant too. You know, Leon talks about the psychology of it. You've got a
18:40few players who've been through this bad rum. Well, to be honest, if they've got 11 new players
18:45and a new coaching staff, they've still got 20,000 people in the stand who've definitely
18:48been through this bad run. And, you know, that sort of nervousness can creep in. You know,
18:54there's always that feeling. I watched the whole play and they really were really good in the first
19:01half. But you think, you know, it's getting near halftime and you're thinking it's only 1-0.
19:06You know, we've all been there before. It's only 1-0. And then I think it was the
19:1043rd minute. I think it looked like too much space equalises and you just can't help but think,
19:17I know how this ends, you know. And as I say, they did play well second half. It wasn't like
19:23that goal destroyed them. They continued to play well, but it just takes away that belief,
19:30doesn't it, in the stands and on the pitch that you can get the job done. And so it proved to be.
19:37So I think it'll be a significant day if they can just rack up a home win pretty quickly,
19:42whether it be the spawniest win ever or whether it be a 7-0 or whatever. Just get the job done.
19:48Get that monkey off your back. That could make a big difference to them.
19:53I think the fans have been pretty good. Not that I'm too much, but, you know, that nervousness,
20:00if they don't sort this out and then when you go in into the real crunch time in,
20:05you know, second half of March, April, fans get nervous, don't they?
20:09Mostly they're human, yeah.
20:11You know, and that's why they really need to get a couple of wins before then.
20:15It's not that they don't want to support the team or anything like that. It's just a natural
20:19reaction, isn't it? You know, you see those chances go and you can't help but, you know,
20:24let out a groan and just be worried about it. So, yeah, it would be nice to see their minds put at
20:32rest.
20:33Yeah, yeah. And now we turn to the EFL Trophy clash between Rotherham United and Bradford City,
20:39which saw the Bantams leave as the victors and progress to the next stage of the competition
20:44with a 1-0 victory. Now, what did you make of the performances from both sides, Stuart?
20:51I think what it boiled down to, in my eyes, Bradford looked really hungry to win that.
20:56Rotherham didn't. You know, we talked before Leon made the point about Leeds
21:03ticking off those lesser games. It's those games that are letting Rotherham down,
21:08continue to. You know, Paul Reynon came out afterwards and he was talking about
21:12Cheltenham and games like that, where Rotherham just haven't quite been at it.
21:18You know, had plenty of the ball for probably the first half hour and the last half hour.
21:26Weren't really forcing the issue. It was more sort of comfortable possession. There didn't seem to
21:31be that desperation to score. You know, I'm sitting there and I'm thinking of the old Rotherham
21:36manager, Neil Warnock, talking about, you've got to die for the three points. You know, there wasn't
21:41that feeling about it. And, you know, Bradford were under the cosh for the first half hour and
21:47it seemed as though it got to the stage where they realised, hang on, Rotherham had all of this ball
21:52and they're not hurting us. So why don't we throw a few clenches? And they did. And they
21:56made some really, I mean, they were pre-planned apparently, but they made some really positive
22:01half-time substitutions, bringing on Jamie Walker and Anthony Stasovic. Again, go back to what we
22:08were saying before with Leeds. Walker's in the same position as a Nonto and a Ramazzani. He's
22:13not been getting the starts. Come on then, let's see what you can do sort of thing. And he came on
22:18and he really, he really pushed them on. And honestly, I mean, A. Graham Alexander was so
22:25frustrated. They had three, Bradford had three penalty appeals and it took until the third one
22:30for them to get a penalty. And, you know, he said to us afterwards, he said, if I hadn't got that,
22:34I'd have probably gone home. He was really getting wound up about it, you know, and it's good to see
22:40people getting wound up about a full league trophy game in front of a crowd of 3,000, you know,
22:46over a thousand of them were Bradford fans. It really mattered to him. You could see it really
22:50mattered to the club. And with good reason, I've talked about this competition before,
22:54they're a game away from Wembley. And I hope, I hope if Bradford do get to Wembley, I hope some
23:00of the Rotherham players flick that final on the TV and think that could have been us, you know,
23:06because, you know, the game itself, a fairly nothing game, but the prize at the end of it,
23:13well worth the effort. And I say, Alexander was delighted with the application of his team.
23:19He was delighted with the impact his subs had made and the fact that he had five cut-side players
23:26who were all in the dressing room before and afterwards, willing them on. And he kept saying,
23:30kept saying what a squad effort this is going to be. They've really made a big effort this January
23:35to build a big squad. And now, again, as with Leeds, you've got this big squad, use it, you
23:43know, make sure everyone plays a part, whether they be playing or not, make sure your substitutes
23:48are really on it when they come off the bench. And from that respect, they ticked an awful lot
23:51of boxes. As you said in the intro, they slipped up at Wimbledon, they'd lost a tight game 1-0
23:58and that ended their losing streak. But this was a great way to bounce back and to really show that
24:04they mean business this season. Yeah, it was encouraging to see from their perspective.
24:11I think Bradford had an incentive from last year as well. I mean, I can't remember,
24:16I think you might have done the games too when they played Wickham. I know I watched it on the
24:21television in the semi-final, wasn't it? It was roughly this time last year and Bradford were
24:30brilliant on the night and it was a pudding of a pitch. But they were so desperately unlucky,
24:36weren't they? It was a real smashing grab raid from Wickham at the end and they didn't deserve
24:40that, Bradford. I think even the Wickham manager said that as well. So it was a sort of like
24:48settling a score a little bit of that aspect. And yeah, I mean, I think it's the first win at the
24:54New York Stadium for Bradford as well. That's a nice one to tick off, as you've said, a big
25:00travelling support for the competition and it'll be nice to, they'll have felt good coming home
25:06from Rotherham for once. But yeah, I think very disappointing for Rotherham. It's the only EFL
25:12trophy but they've got history in this competition as well. They won it a few years ago. Yeah,
25:17they know what it's like. Yeah, and I know for a fact that Tony Stewart likes a day out. He likes
25:23to get a new outfit and he'll like the bank balance as well. So I know deep down he'll be
25:29very disappointed about what's happened. And yeah, obviously Paul Rayner spoke afterwards and
25:37you can bet your bottom dollar that Steve Evans would have been the one coming up to do the press
25:42if they'd have won. So that suggests to me that I think they might subsequently downplay. But I
25:49think there'll be a fair bit of disappointment there because, you know, let's face it, it's not
25:56been a great season for Rotherham, hasn't it? They've picked up a little bit since Christmas.
26:00But this was something to potentially salvage from a tough season and it's been taken away
26:07from them. And you sort of look at them, you look at them now, they've got a little,
26:12I think we spoke about all the divisions, haven't we, that there's a couple of playoff spots
26:18available for any teams that sort of finishes with a wet cell potentially and gets into the
26:23playoffs. That's probably more so because there's not been that much consistency from a few other
26:30teams in the league. But yeah, for Rotherham, they've got to get back on the horse and if they
26:35don't get a few wins sort of pretty much straight away and get over this, the season's pretty much
26:39done, isn't it? And I think they've got a little luck. They've got Sousa this week and then they've
26:45got some, you look at the teams they've got to play, they've got to go to Blackpool, they've got
26:50to play Reading, they've got to derby against Barnsley. If they win them or they get a decent
26:55return, six, seven out of nine, then they're in there still and they've got that little bit of a
27:00snip. But if they don't, then it's pretty much season over, isn't it? And I'm sure they'll be
27:09ranker and they'll be talking about Evans, this, that and the other. Hopefully,
27:13from a positive side, it won't happen for Rotherham in that perspective. But I think the
27:20bottom line is they've got to get over it very, very quickly or else the season's pretty much
27:24done, isn't it? Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I'd say they've been in decent form since
27:31Christmas, but they're chucking in too many of these games, aren't they, to really get ahead
27:37of steam? I mean, Leon mentioned the Pound, Shilling and Pence, which is very important,
27:44the sort of prestige of going out of Wembley. Also, Wembley is their big aim now, the player
27:49final. It would be handy for those members of the squad who weren't involved a couple of years ago
27:55to have played in the Football League trophy final and therefore Wembley not be new to them.
28:00We know what a big deal it is in players' minds. These things all help. But more than anything,
28:06it just disrupts that momentum that it felt like they've been building at Christmas. You could
28:11write off Birmingham in the sense that they played well. Steve Evans was pointing at refereeing
28:18decisions and all this sort of thing. It was an honourable defeat at the very least. It's not
28:23something that knackers your season or anything like that. Suddenly, if you follow it up with
28:29defeat and that's three defeats in four games, it's just taken the air out of the balloon,
28:34hasn't it? Given that they're playing catch-up with those play-off places available, you really
28:41need to get ahead of Steve. Again, to refer back to what I've said, to make other teams
28:46nervous about Rotherham coming and Rotherham's record and Steve Evans' record and all this sort
28:52of thing. That's the only card they've got to play now, really. Frustrating from their point
28:59of view. They just didn't seem to be up for it enough. That's not anything you ever once said
29:08about you as a professional footballer. I suppose Bradford getting used to Wembley as well. Let's
29:12hope they can get on top today. That's true. Next, I wanted to ask you both a question about
29:21the transfer window and who you thought had a good window and who had a bad window this past month.
29:27What did you make of the January transfer business of our clubs this year, Leon?
29:35Some sort of good, some not so good. I think Sheffield United have covered the bases, haven't
29:40they? Chris Wilder, he made no secret of the fact that he wanted quite a bit of business. He's spoken
29:48consistently about the bench, the numbers of kids on that in the first half of the season,
29:54the academy players. One or two have had little sniffs, but he was saying it's detrimental for
30:00them to actually bring them on. He has to put them on to flesh you out a bench and maybe give
30:05them the experience of being around the group, but a bit unfair to throw a few of them on.
30:13They've ticked quite a few boxes. They've had some good signings, Clark and Holden. They know
30:19about Brayton Diaz. Cannon's got a very good record at this level, the boost of the firepower.
30:26Trowder is someone who Wilder has liked for donkey's years by the sound of it, so they've
30:31got to be pretty happy with things. Huddersfield have made some good moves as well,
30:39but unfortunately the thing that's sort of stalked them this season is luck on the injury front,
30:43isn't it? Desperately unfortunate for Joe Taylor to injure his hamstring and be out for 45 weeks,
30:52but I think that's the way that the cookie sort of crumbles really or has done for them this season.
30:58I think Hull have made some astute signings, some championship ready, some players who can
31:06know the level and who can affect games and maybe contributions to sort of nicks and wins.
31:13Likes of Matt Crooks and Geldhardt and I'd be interested to see how Joseph gets up to
31:19speed quickly and obviously John Egan at the back as well. They can keep him
31:23fit. He's the sort who knows the level and can sort of organise defences. Bradford have done
31:30some good work and I think Stuart might mention it as well with Leeds. They've not done anything,
31:35but I think that's just a positive sign of their squad depth really, isn't it? You touched on it
31:41earlier that they've got some gun players from the bench who can come on and impact football
31:47matches when they're sort of tight. The likes of Gonto and Joseph, others too. They'd walk into
31:56virtually all championship sides and serious ones as well. I think the one disappointment for me is
32:03it's probably Barnsley. Darrell Clarke said it consistently. Judges at the end of the window,
32:13well you sort of look at them and they've sort of brought a goalkeeper in on loan,
32:18but they've sort of lost one in selling. Ben Killip and obviously his position looked a
32:24little bit fraught, didn't it? After Clarke basically said that the new loan keeper,
32:30Gouchy, would be his number one last Thursday. To be fair to Killip, he's done pretty well,
32:36hasn't he? Since he's come into the side. So, a penny for his thoughts there. He wanted two
32:42strikers in. They've just brought one in, a French striker who's pretty unproven. Well,
32:49he's unproven in England. He's come from a few tiers down in France and there's a lot of pressure
32:58on his shoulders straight away. It's okay bringing him in. There's obviously seen potential there,
33:08but they really needed someone who knows the level, who's experienced. He needed, for me,
33:14to come in as a second striker. So, he's got a load of pressure on his shoulders straight away.
33:20Yeah, looking at the sides who I think could have done better, it's fair to say that I think
33:27Barnsley are high on that list. Yeah, it felt like Barnsley needed, if not quite a whole level
33:34window, then certainly heading in that direction. Plenty in, plenty out, because it was clear that
33:39Daryl Clarke had spent the first half of the season assessing the characters as much as
33:44anything, and there were quite a few he wasn't sold on. The other one that disappointed me was
33:52Sheffield Wednesday. Obviously, getting Shade Charles back, that was brilliant. Well done to
33:58them for pushing the boat out on that, but you felt the missing opportunity at centre-back and
34:04at centre-forward, and in their case, and maybe to a degree in Barnsley's case, their own fault.
34:11Sheffield Wednesday can't keep going down this route where they turn a, whatever it was,
34:1535-day window into a five-day window, because they don't talk to each other for the first three
34:20weeks. And Barnsley, you know, a bit of a splurge on the evening, certainly get the
34:25on-beat busy-rocking hours, the wins and outs on the night. Happened before though, wasn't it?
34:31It has happened before, but it's happened so often that you just get frustrated that clubs
34:37you know, fall for that trap again. You know, you look at Huddersfield, they did their business
34:42early. I mean, okay, everyone's got different budgets, everyone's got different needs,
34:47but you know, Huddersfield, as I say, they then had to dip back in because of Joe Taylor's injury,
34:53but they were kind of in a position really with a week to go where, well certainly before Taylor's
34:58injury, where you felt they were happy with what they'd done, whereas Barnsley, it was left very
35:04late, too late. Sheffield Wednesday the same. I mean, Sheffield Wednesday got a couple of players
35:08in, you know, Armstrong looks a good decision, Sissoko an exciting winger, but it seems like
35:17a little bit of a luxury when you've already got Masaba and Gassama. Not a bad signing by any means,
35:22but just other areas that they needed to look at more. So yeah, that's kind of my feeling on those
35:28two, that they've kind of paid the price for leaving it a bit. Leeds, you know, we'll only
35:33know at the end, but I'm kind of in Leon's camp and certainly in Daniel Farker's camp that, yes,
35:40I'm sure they could have got another number 10 who would have given Brendan
35:45Arrington a bit of competition, another number nine option, but at what cost, you know, what
35:51might it do for the dressing room? You know, people of our age sort of remember Aspria coming
35:58into the Newcastle United squad when they were absolutely flying and suddenly upset the balance
36:04of that title challenge in the Premier League because they're suddenly trying to work away
36:09in from, you know, you've got some really good players, as we already mentioned, who are not
36:13playing really enough game time for where they need to be in their careers. You push them one
36:17further down the pecking order, you risk having an unhappy camp and not having that togetherness
36:22you need. So it was cautious from Leeds, but I personally think it was the right decision.
36:28But whatever you think, you'll either be proven right or wrong. It's as simple as that.
36:34Because the thing is, we discussed this a couple of weeks ago in terms of Leeds and their transfer
36:39business, because we discussed the whole idea of, do they really need to be getting many players in
36:45because you run the risk of sort of, well, we'll get this guy in and we'll try and shoehorn him
36:50into the squad. Because then, as you said, it could disrupt the chemistry, disrupt the balance,
36:56and then you're just going to have a fair few of really unhappy players thinking, hang on,
37:00he's just come in and now you want us to give him our position for every week. I mean, of course,
37:08it's not going to be a happy time. No, I agree with you, Mark. I mean, it's one of those,
37:13the level of player that Leeds are going to bring in, say, someone from a Premier League club who's
37:18got a pedigree at this level, Cameron Archer, they're obviously wanting to bring him in.
37:22He's going to want to go to Leeds, he's going to want to be playing every week, isn't he, really?
37:26Of course he is, yeah.
37:27He can't, what can Farquhar, he can't say that, you know, he can't...
37:30Well, Joe Burrow's scoring goals as he is, isn't he?
37:33He can't do anything, can he? Farquhar can't. He's not that sore anyway, isn't he? He's a fair
37:38manager in that regard, so I think that's a big thing that came into it. I'll just quickly touch
37:43on Middlesbrough. I thought it was a weird window, wasn't it, really? They brought in a big name in
37:50the division in Morgan Whittaker. Ian Hatcho should be, you'd look on paper, he'd probably
37:56be a decent, he's got pedigree, a good replacement for Lattie Laff, but this just seems so, you know,
38:02they sold Matt Clarke to Derby, okay, not the first choice, centre-half for Middlesbrough,
38:06but a decent enough player at the level, and their problems have all been defensively,
38:12haven't they? To be fair, they've brought Travers in as a goalkeeping option, but they still look,
38:19they've, you know, brought players in, sort of looking, sort of going towards one goal,
38:26but they haven't, to me, they haven't done enough in the other respect, and I think,
38:32just quickly as well, sort of Barnsley and Rotherham, it's a sort of interesting one,
38:36isn't it, really? They're probably sort of thinking, well, you know, we've got Birmingham
38:42are going to go, probably going to win the league, Wrexham are throwing the money,
38:45they're probably going to, it's them or Huddersfield who are probably going to finish
38:48second, maybe Wickham as well, just respect that. Do we put all this money in to try and get in the
38:54playoffs to potentially have a go and go up this season, or do we sort of keep a little bit back
39:00for the summer? So, I think there's sort of maybe that aspect of it as well may, you know,
39:07come into play, and obviously Rotherham have still got rid of one or two players, but
39:12they've still got some players there on Championship money, big money for the level,
39:17the likes of, you know, Jordan Hugel, so there's that little side of it as well, and,
39:25you know, ultimately, there's a big prize at the end of it if you do go up, isn't it, from the
39:29league one to the Championship, but I think the Sheffield Wednesday one, as Stuart said,
39:33I think that one is a little bit more reprehensible, because I think there's a real
39:36chance for a couple of teams to get in the playoffs, and okay, the smart money would be on
39:43whoever's, you know, there's four going for two places, you know, the two who miss out,
39:48I think they'll still have a strong chance of getting to the final, but daft things happen,
39:52don't they? You know, I think I probably mentioned last week, you know, a side could be going for
39:57second, it could be two who are going for that second automatic slot, say, they both miss out,
40:02it's, oh God, we're in the playoffs. Some teams, Sheffield Wednesday are eighth, they win on the
40:07last day, getting to sixth, they've got all the momentum, haven't they? So that's the one I sort
40:15of didn't, you're sort of thinking of sides not pushing that bit more in the window, that's the
40:21one that I can't sort of understand. Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, I have a little bit of sympathy
40:26with Middlesbrough, I think they're another one who you think you feel like they could have just
40:30gone with another three, four, five days, and who knows, maybe they might have said,
40:34their issue really, was that Emmanuel Atilaf, that deal didn't go through till after the
40:39English window had closed, which is just unfortunate, really, because, you know,
40:45you often have these discussions about, well, why aren't everyone's windows aligned? But of course,
40:49the American season doesn't start to the end of February, you can, you kind of understand it,
40:53but it really put Middlesbrough in a difficult position, because you just wonder, and we will
40:58never know, because he certainly won't tell us, but you just wonder if he'd had a few more days,
41:02if Michael Carrick might then have gone out and signed another defender and address that thing,
41:07maybe he wouldn't, but it would have been a difficult position, scrabbling around. And that's
41:12a, that's a pity for them. But at least they got Ian Atcher in so that they had a replacement
41:17for Atilaf. But as, as Leon says, it does feel like they've been too fixated on one end of the
41:23field. Yeah. Yeah. And finally, for this week, I will turn to Stuart for his team of the week
41:28before turning to Leon for his player of the week. So, Stuart, who has made your team of the week
41:36nomination this week? Well, this might be the easiest team of the week. I suppose I'll, I'll
41:43dance the dance by, you know, pointing out how, you know, Sheffield United have kept the pot
41:50boiling well and all that sort of thing. But let's be honest, there's only one team it can be.
41:56Nine goals scored, none conceded. It's got to be Leeds United for all the reasons we've talked
42:01about. I won't, I won't waste any more time on that. Yeah. And Leon, your player of the week
42:06nomination? Well, I've, I'm singing from, we're in the same pulpit at the church and we're singing
42:14from the same hymn sheet. You can't, you can't avoid Leeds United, can you? I think at one point
42:19when they got the second goal at Coventry, it was seven goals in, what was it, something like 72
42:25minutes, something like that. You know, it's an hour and a, seven goals in an hour and a quarter
42:29and they probably, and there should have been more really. So, you know, it's got to be a,
42:33got to be a Leeds player. I mean, I've been, I've been, you know, lucky in the respect that,
42:38that I've been, been at them both, I suppose, but there's been, been a few contenders.
42:44Solomon, he's obviously, he was, he was, he's been really good in both the games.
42:51Isis looking lively, really up for it, you know, really, really good signing for Leeds. Dan James,
42:56although being picky, he should have scored at least one at Coventry. Everything else,
43:02he was brilliant, you know, he's sensational pace. He's got a real hunger and drive about him,
43:08but just sometimes that final, final option, although in fairness, he was very unselfish on
43:14Saturday in setting a few chances up, but he probably could have been a little bit more
43:19selfish with at least one at Coventry. You know, Tanaka, Stewart's seen more of him over the season
43:25than me. He's a really nice, he's a really nice footballer, isn't he? You know, he's,
43:29his positional sense is great. He looks after the football really nicely. Joe Perrault, he,
43:36he probably would have been a real contender if he hadn't messed up with a chance at Coventry,
43:43a real, really casual at the end, and he should have scored that. And I can,
43:46the first thing I thought, I could imagine Farka on the bench going absolutely berserk
43:51because, you know, he was just a real casual flick of the foot. He was, all he had to do was
43:55just stroke it in the net and he went for the Hollywood finish. But he's, he's been, you know,
44:01that side he's been, he's been really good. But I think the one I'm going to go for is Firpo
44:06because he was, you know, they all sing his name, a bit of a cult hero, but he's actually,
44:12you know, he's a pretty good player, isn't he? And he, you know, he sets up three goals against
44:16Cardiff, you know, some really good pinpoint crosses. He did some good work at Coventry as
44:24well. I mean, sometimes, Stewart again, he's probably better versed talking about him, but
44:30sometimes you just think, what is he doing? He just wanders up the other end of the pitch and
44:34just sort of does his own thing and, and goes rogue a little bit. But, yeah, he does impact
44:42gains and, you know, he's clearly, you know, an adventurous fullback. He just loves getting
44:49forward and contributing, doesn't he? And, yeah, he's had a lot of trials and tribulations in his
44:55time at Leeds, but he's still there and he's putting his hand up and he's having a great time.
45:02Nine goals in a week and you go for a left-back. Brilliant. Just shows,
45:07you know, how the goals are coming from everywhere for Leeds at the moment, isn't it?
45:10Yes, absolutely.
45:26for more discussions on the Yorkshire football scene.
45:30But don't forget, you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond
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45:52at yp.sport at nationalworld.com. As ever, many thanks for listening.
45:57Look after yourselves and bye for now.