- 4 months ago
On this week’s show host Phil harrison is joined by Yorkshire Post football writers Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall.
They reflect on Leeds United’s positive return to the Premier League with victory over Everton at Elland Road, while contrasting the early Championship fortunes of troubled Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday with those of unbeaten Middlesbrough and Hull City.
They reflect on Leeds United’s positive return to the Premier League with victory over Everton at Elland Road, while contrasting the early Championship fortunes of troubled Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday with those of unbeaten Middlesbrough and Hull City.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk, the Yorkshire Post football
00:18podcast covering everything from Leeds United in the Premier League down to Harrogate Town
00:22in League Two and occasionally also dipping its toe into the National League. On this
00:27week's show I'll be joined by the YP football writing team of Stuart Rayner and Liam Wobshall
00:31as we cast our eye over Leeds' perfect start to their top flight return with a 1-0 victory
00:36over Everton at Ellen Road on Monday evening. We'll then switch to Championship mode and
00:41see if there's any end to the miserable start to the season being enjoyed by both Sheffield
00:44United and near neighbours Sheffield Wednesday before looking at the contrasting promise
00:48shown by Middlesbrough and Hull in their respective campaigns. If you want to get in touch with
00:53us at the YP on any football related matter drop us an email at yp.sport at ypn.co.uk
01:00or give us a shout or reply on Twitter via at ypsport or you can go direct to Stuart and
01:05Leon's own accounts. We're also on Facebook offering several club specific pages which
01:10bring you the latest football news from around and wide roads. You're listening to Football
01:15Talk from the Yorkshire Post. Yorkshirepost.co.uk
01:18Right, as mentioned, we're joined once again by the YP's football writing team of Leon
01:25Wobshall and Stuart Rayner. We're going to talk Premier League and Championship on this
01:31week's show, or that's what we're going to concentrate on. I'm going to start off at the
01:35very top. Stuart seems to have been coming for ages compared to, well, particularly with
01:41all our other teams having got started early. But Leeds United finally returned to action
01:46on Monday night at Ellen Road. And it was a joyous occasion eventually, although they
01:51did have to wait a while for the magic moment to arrive. And for some people in somewhat
01:56controversial circumstances, yeah?
01:58Yeah, I mean, it certainly felt like it had been a long way just in terms of their built-up
02:04anticipation at Ellen Road on the night. It was absolutely banging on the night. And yeah,
02:10a really good performance with one sort of caveat in that they absolutely dominated an
02:18Everton team with loads of Premier League experience, but didn't put them away until a penalty in
02:24the 84th minute, which as you said, it was a bit of controversy around. So that was the
02:28one niggle. But, you know, as a newly promoted team, to start with a win and a really good performance and
02:35something to work on, I think that ticks a lot of boxes. I thought they were outstanding in the way
02:40they dominated, particularly the first half, but, you know, the game as a whole. The new midfield three
02:49worked brilliantly. I thought Gabriel Goodmanson was excellent at left back, getting forward and
02:55doing what a little bit of defending he had to do. And yeah, there was a real intensity about
03:01Leeds' football, about their pressing, the sort of thing that you would struggle to replicate
03:08Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday in the championship over four to six games, but in the
03:14more week to week Premier League, you know, something that perhaps is a bit more achievable
03:20on a regular basis. And say if they play like that over the whole season, they won't have any,
03:26they won't have any problems. They were very good. I say it did give Daniel Farker that sort of little
03:34bit of leverage with the board to say, when I keep saying about these attacking reinforcements,
03:39I do really need them. But as a performance as a whole, I thought they were absolutely excellent.
03:45Yeah, there's obviously a lot of controversy about the penalty. I think, you know, he obviously
03:53made a movement. His arms were next to him, but he did make a sort of leap, he lent into the ball.
03:58But I think it's fair to say that Leeds will probably get, they'll come on the wrong end of
04:02a few of these in the season ahead. So I suppose there's an argument to say that these things will
04:08even themselves out at some point. Stuart's right to say, you know, over the course of the piece,
04:13Leeds deserve to win. And, you know, it's quite interesting that after they scored,
04:17they had to finish quite strong. There's no real onslaught from Everton. Yeah, I just agree with
04:24what Stuart said, really. It's, you know, August particularly well, the midfield three played well,
04:29the game management was good, wasn't it? And, you know, the Philip of a clean sheet as well,
04:35you know, showing how to manage games. Leeds are going to have to do that this season if they're going to,
04:39if they're going to, you know, successfully achieve their aim. So it was a good step in
04:44in the right direction. It was, Stuart's mentioning one or two of the new signings,
04:49I thought some of the, you know, the cast already on deck played very well. I thought Ampadu had an
04:53excellent game. Obviously they were strong and orderly at the, at the back. Tanaka had some good
05:01contribution. There were some nice passages of play, especially in the, in the first half from,
05:05from what I saw. So, yeah, I mean, I think it's just good for the league as well, isn't it? I mean,
05:10two promoted teams, you know, winning first up. I can't remember off the top of my head when,
05:15when any of the, obviously the three teams who got promoted when they first won last,
05:21last season. But so it was, you know, a positive sign in that regard, obviously Leeds winning,
05:26Sumberland winning. That was good. A clean sheet, ticked a box, three points.
05:31Um, to get them off the board and get them off the board at Ellum Road as well. I think psychologically
05:36that's, um, that's, that's important. And, um, yeah, I mean, like I said, the penalty was,
05:42was contentious. I think there'd have been a, a lot of error if it had gone at the other end of the
05:47pitch for sure. But what I would say is I think these will even themselves out of the, you know,
05:52over the course of the season. Leeds are bound to get one or two of the funds along the way. So I don't
05:56think they'll be making any, um, any apologies for what happened last night.
06:00Yeah. I mean, I, I thought it probably was a penalty because of the fact that he leant
06:04into the ball, as Leon mentioned, but his arms were by his side. It was, it was one of those that
06:09really could have gone either way. And, and once the referee was trying to stop it with his midriff,
06:14wasn't he really? Because if his arms are by his side, so what can you do as a defender? Can
06:20you move towards the ball? Yeah. I mean, the handball is a nightmare now for defenders. You
06:25just don't know what you can and can't do, don't you? As Leon says, there'll be, there'll be more
06:30of these controversies to come and some will go against Leeds. But I think, I think the important
06:35thing, we know it's going to be difficult for Leeds this season. Um, you know, you, you don't need to
06:39know much about the recent history of the Premier League and Championship to know that. So really
06:43important for them and for Sunderland to get off to a, to get off to a good start, um, just to fill in the
06:49the gaps when Liam was saying about when they, when their last one last year, I think one of the
06:53teams didn't get the first win till October, the other two till November. Um, so yeah, to, to get,
06:59to just continue that momentum from last season and that positivity, huge, because if they'd gone
07:04into games against Arsenal and Newcastle without it, you worry about it. And, you know, there's also
07:09a stat doing the rounds. I think it's, um, any team, any newly promoted team that's got 10 points
07:14after the first 10 games has stayed up. Yeah. Those that haven't, uh, have gone down. So again,
07:20it shows the importance of hitting the ground running and, and building on that positivity.
07:25And really I say for all that it wasn't perfect as a Leeds fan, I don't think it could be anything
07:30but positive coming away from the ground, um, after that performance. Yeah. I mean, they've got to,
07:35they've got to show that platform first of all, and be solid and, and hard to beat. And,
07:39you know, you look at Everton, I think there was only that chance, wasn't there? In the,
07:42in the second half at the near post, it was the only, the only real save that the goalkeeper
07:46had to, had to make. So from a defensive point of view, it was, you know, it was a strong performance.
07:51And, you know, Farkas, obviously, I think the priority before the end of the window will be
07:55bringing in a, a couple of strikers, which is, uh, well, it's the hardest thing to do, isn't it?
08:00They're the ones who cost the most, um, dollars. They've obviously got Calvert-Lewin to, uh, to come in.
08:05But I think in terms of team-wise, defensively, collectively, it was a, it was a step in the right
08:11direction. It looked, looked to be on the night that Everton had more issues than Leeds.
08:15Yeah. I mean, Daniel Fark made it a lot before the, well, before the start of the season,
08:19throughout the summer, that he wanted to sort of, he wanted his team to, to maintain that positive
08:23approach that they'd shown in the championship. Obviously, it has to be countered by a more
08:28defensive approach generally, but did you see plenty of, of, of that approach, that positive of
08:33getting on the front foot? And perhaps, was it easier against a team like Everton, who had plenty
08:37of struggles last season? Yeah, it, it was easier against Everton. Everton were poor,
08:41but you don't, you don't get fewer points for beating a poor team. And when all said and done,
08:45it's just about getting the job done and, uh, and getting on with it. But yes, there was a lot of
08:51positivity in the, in the way that they pressed, in the way that they dominated the ball, in the way that
08:56they looked to, looked to get forward. You know, Leon and I've talked about it many times on this, uh,
09:03podcast. It's, it's about having that platform first and foremost. And, and that was there, you know,
09:08you, you never felt all night they're in any danger of conceding and that allowed them to play
09:13in that, in that positive way and say, if they can, if they can add those bits, you know, uh, a winger
09:20is a, is a, is a high priority for him as well as another centre forward, then that can really take them
09:26on another level. But it's just about making that first step and establishing yourself, getting that first
09:32win on the board, getting some positivity, continuing the momentum. They're, you know,
09:37a few steps down the road of where they need to be. And now it's just adding the rest, really.
09:41I think that's the way, that's how they're going to achieve the Raves this season. They're not,
09:44with the greatest respect, they're not going to stay up by smashing teams, are they?
09:47It's going to be about managing periods of games when they're under, under pressure,
09:53you know, that sort of collective unity, discipline. And, uh, yeah, it was a good step in,
09:57in the right direction, I thought. Particularly with, um, games against, well, trip to Arsenal,
10:03then Newcastle at home coming up. I mean, you know, we could be, we could have, you know,
10:07it could have, could have, could have, should have, would have, you could, you could easily be
10:10looking at a situation if they'd not got that win last night, where three games in and they've
10:14not got a point. So it was perhaps even more crucial to, to get that first win on the board,
10:17like you say. Yeah. I mean, let's be honest, look, look comes into it. And, you know,
10:22you know, Sunderland were lucky to get West Ham at home on the first day of the season. Leeds were
10:26lucky to get Everton. There was luck around the penalty, but you've just got to take advantage
10:29of it. Cause as Leon says, there'll be enough moments when you have bad luck as well.
10:33Yeah, definitely. Um, okay. Let's turn to the championship. Um, and we'll start, uh,
10:38we'll start in Sheffield, uh, cause that's where it all seems to be, well, not happening in, in many,
10:43in many senses. Um, Leon, um, Sheffield Wednesday and, uh, Sheffield United, obviously both struggling.
10:48You were at Hillsborough on Saturday, uh, 3-0 defeat at the hands of Stoke City, uh, protests
10:54from the fans against Desmond and Genesiri. Um, do you see any end in sight for the sort of
11:02club's woes and, and that of the long suffering fans? No, no, sadly not, not particularly really.
11:08I mean, you can't imagine Tansu wanting to do anything until the transfer win is out of the way.
11:11He'll probably just want to pocket a little bit of himself if they, if they, if they do sell it
11:16in the autumn. But in, in terms of on the, on the pitch, yeah, there was, there was obviously the
11:20protest before, before the game. There was varying estimates how many there. There was a,
11:26it was decent, shall I say, and they made the feelings heard. Obviously the, the mock funeral
11:31procession from Hillsborough Park to the stadium. There was a little bit of disruption when the game
11:37got away with the, with the shrills, with the whistles. It, it did sort of, it did sort of die down a little bit.
11:42Um, after that, it was, um, yeah, it was funny. There was the chorus of Wednesday till I die.
11:49Then there was a few whistles. Then there was the announcement on the Tannoy telling the supporters
11:54to, to Sticks and stop it. And then about 10 seconds later, Stokes scored. So it was, um,
12:00yeah, it was funny. It was, it was, it was just a sort of, I mean, obviously,
12:04it was the opening game. It, it just stuck to me that it's the sort of game, unless
12:11things dramatically alter and they can get some, some players in and some, you know, experienced
12:17players. There's got, you're going to see a lot of those sort of games this season. I think,
12:21you know, I look at Wednesday and you just think how, how can they try, how can they win games at
12:25this level? And I don't know what Stuart thinks. I just think they're just going to try and stay in
12:29games as long as possible. Yeah. Nick, Nick a goal and then, then defend with it,
12:35with their lives really. And the other, obviously, sides at the bottom don't get,
12:41don't get much luck and they've had no luck at all this summer. You know, you wanted to stay in the
12:45game, keep it, keep it tight, call it what you will. And they concede a goal after 59 seconds.
12:51And, um, obviously they have the team talk at half time, maybe tweak, address one or two things,
12:56and then 27 minutes, 27 minutes, 27 seconds into the second half. They concede a second and there's,
13:05the game was pretty much over by then. They had a little, a little bit of a flurry, a couple of,
13:11a couple of chances. Unfortunately, they came up against a very good goalkeeper on, on the day in,
13:15in Johansson. We know a lot about him from his time at Rotherham. He didn't have loads to do, but what
13:20he did, he, he did extremely well. And it's, it's easy to see why one or two Premier League teams are
13:26looking at him. And straight away after that, Stoke got a third goal and, and that was that.
13:31I mean, you just look at the bench, you just can't, with the greatest respect in the world
13:35to what he's got there, he can't change anything, can he really? You know, he can, he can change it to
13:40sort of fresh, freshen things up in terms of energy, but in terms of being proactive and making a couple of
13:46bold substitutions to, to win games, there's not a great deal he can, he can do at the minute.
13:52And one or two of the, I mean, there was nothing wrong with the, with the, the heart and endeavour
13:57and their effort. You know, there's certainly tick boxes there. There's no lack of application,
14:03but you just look at them in, you know, in a few, in a few areas that they've been playing,
14:08there's players there who have just been thrown, they've thrown in before they're ready, really.
14:11It's because of the situation. You know, the lad in midfield, Fusier, he, he, he didn't,
14:17play particularly badly over the course of the piece. But, you know, for the first goal,
14:21it was him and, and the other young lad at the back, they showed their inexperience and Stoke scored.
14:28And yeah, I just sort of met, said in my match report, I mean, Stoke had Sober Thomas, who,
14:35he's probably their, arguably their best player on, on the day. And obviously a winger,
14:38he's come from Huddersfield or in League One, he's exactly the sort of player that you think
14:43under normal circumstances, Wednesday should be going for, really.
14:46You know, a championship savvy player who can make a difference.
14:49You know, that's what he did. He was involved with, with all the goals. And yeah, sadly,
14:55there was no lack of effort. There was, you know, the applause at the end was,
14:59was heartfelt and genuine from, from players to supporters and from supporters to players.
15:04You know, they are all sort of in it together. But yeah, in terms of how home games will pan out,
15:12unless somehow they can get those sort of experienced bodies in to provide some covering
15:18across the squad. I think there's sadly going to be a lot of games like that. And I suppose the only
15:23positive is that nobody got injured.
15:26Yeah. I mean, as Leon says, I was at, I was at the Leicester game and the, the spirit and the heart
15:31and everything was brilliant for 75 minutes. But the, you know, the worry about Sheffield Wednesday
15:37is maintaining it. You know, it's, it's the 2020s and for right or wrong, you get, you get five
15:44substitutes in a game. You need that infusion of energy from the bench. And you just look at
15:49Wednesday's bench now, you know, nevermind, you know, a couple of months down the line, if this
15:53is to continue and you just think there's nothing there, you know, they're really, they're really
15:58struggling to persuade the Football League to allow them to sign new players. You know, they've,
16:03they've identified players. They want, but Football League are in a really difficult
16:08position. They're trying to ride two horses. On the one hand, like everyone in football,
16:12they want Chan-Ciri out of that club and they want to do what they can to, to help with that.
16:18On the other hand, they don't want Sheffield Wednesday to go, to go bust. So they, you know,
16:25they can't, they can't sort of let them spend money. They can't have, on the other hand,
16:29you don't want the sort of situation you have with Salford in the Rugby League where
16:33one team is just a free six points for someone and it's just the luck of the fixture. So
16:37they've got, they've got to avoid that. But I mean, one of the big worries for me,
16:42Leon mentions, you know, Chan-Ciri holding on till after the transfer window.
16:47Piers Charles has been outstanding in the, in, in the first couple of games. I don't know how he
16:51was against Stoke, but there's a wage bill coming up. The temptation is there to cash in. I just
16:59look at Piers Charles and I look at James Trafford and, you know, in the last couple of years,
17:04Man City have sold him for 20 million and bought him back for 27 million. I think if Charles had
17:08a full season of championship football, I don't think he'd quite get to that 20 million valuation,
17:13but he'd be heading in that direction. If he gets sold now by a desperate Sheffield Wednesday
17:18to pay the bills and to get the money up front, then it's going to be like the
17:21Gossama and Musaba sale. It's going to be massively reduced. And you just, you just fear that they're
17:31going to, you know, end up selling the family silver for buttons really. And it would be,
17:36it would be a real shame because, you know, like everyone else at that club, Charles has had,
17:42you know, opportunity to walk out and go elsewhere. He clearly doesn't want to, but if it comes to a
17:47situation where he has to be sold, I think it will just damage Wednesday even further. And you know,
17:53he's the only senior goalkeeper there. So they really are going to need to, to get some signings
17:58in if he goes, but it's such a desperate situation and it does, it does need to resolve it. But
18:05unfortunately it all hands, hangs on one man's ego and how much he's prepared to, to sell the
18:10football club for. It's as simple as that really. And even the grass was too dry on Saturday as well.
18:15Well, there were no sprinkles, there were no sprinklers on it at half time. If that doesn't
18:19sum things up, nothing, nothing does really. They've just got to be grateful for, for small
18:24mercies. I suppose this week, there's no, there's no midweek game. I suppose that is something,
18:28isn't there? And the go to, to Wrexham on Saturday. And after all the hype about Wrexham,
18:34they've obviously kicked off with two defeats. So maybe there'll be a little bit of,
18:38a bit of pressure there, but you sort of do especially fear for them when the season kicks in
18:44and you get the three game weeks, that's going to really, that's going to be so, so hard for,
18:51as it stands for Wednesday to somehow cope with that. It's almost cruel really, isn't it?
18:54You know, if you have to factor in, you know, they might get a Wednesday night game and have
18:59to back up on, on the Saturday. I mean, it's, it looks the hardest job in management having to
19:05sort of do that as things stand for sure.
19:08And while the times are dark at Hillsborough, no doubt, Leon, I gather some light relief came
19:14by way of the match day playlist with a couple of songs that were played.
19:18Yes, it was quite, it was quite brazen.
19:21Someone, someone was having a bit of a joke at some expense.
19:24Yes, I do like to get, it must be the old musical heading me, I like to get a few into
19:29the odd match report. So there's a little bit of a brazen cheekiness there, which,
19:36which I don't mind in the circumstances. There was, yeah, they had money, money too tight to mention.
19:41What else did they have? They had a live and kicking as well before that. So we sort of build
19:45it up really.
19:46Yeah.
19:49Yes, we had that at half time. So it's, it's amused. It can, it can amuse
19:54some of us sort of colouring up match report writers. But yeah, I mean, I mean, as you said
20:01as well, Phil Sheffield United as well, it's not a good, I know it's only two games in, but
20:07yeah, it's not a, it's not a great look for the Steel City, that, that league table at the
20:10minute, is it? So I think they've got a few worries as, as well, Sheffield United. I don't
20:16know what Stewart thinks, but it just, it just doesn't smell right there, does it at the minute?
20:20Yeah. For all manner of reasons. You know, they, they obviously need to get players,
20:25desperately need to get, well, it's not as desperate as Sheffield Wednesday, but sort of,
20:31there's a real keenness for them to do some, some important business if they're going to,
20:36you know, consult, you know, they want to be amongst the players this season in the
20:41championship, they need work to do. And they'd obviously been, you know, he spoke last week,
20:46Ruben Sellers, he was quite candid saying, you know, it's not been good enough,
20:49the recruitment safari included himself and included everyone really. And yeah,
20:54he's had to lament on a poor performance at the weekend as well, which he said wasn't good enough.
20:59So it looks like a big game for them against Millwall this weekend.
21:02Yeah. The balance just doesn't, doesn't feel right there. It's created by poor recruitment.
21:10But yeah, I saw them against Bristol City on the, on the opening day of the season,
21:15and the midfield was just left wide open. They had Sidipek, who's not really a holding midfielder,
21:21as the one holding midfielder and, and, and Hamer and Calum O'Hare as number eights,
21:27they like to call them in the modern parlance. And they were just swamped in midfield, you know,
21:31say as, for all, I'm a, I'm a big fan of, uh, of what he did at Hull.
21:36Well, say a big fan, he did a good job at Hull. Yeah. I wouldn't go overboard about it. He did a good job at Hull,
21:41but, um, he just couldn't, he just couldn't find the right formula that day, you know,
21:47whether it be getting the full backs to help out or asking the midfielders to do more work or whatever,
21:53they were just, the balance was just all wrong. And then, you know, by all accounts at Swansea,
21:57the attacking side of the play, which was the, the positive side against Bristol City,
22:02that went missing as well. So, um, they're really, they're really searching for something,
22:06but, but I think the answer lies in, in more bodies and, and, and bodies in the right position,
22:11because as I say, anybody would struggle to, to make a, a good team out of that, out of that collection of players.
22:19So having got the money in for Anil Akhmed Hozic in particular, they need to start spending it
22:24because it's all well and good buying these artificial intelligence players,
22:29one of whom's already been shown the door, but, um, their signings for tomorrow.
22:34This is Sheffield United's last season with parachute payments. You know,
22:37it sounds a bit overdramatic when we've just been talking about Sheffield Wednesday to say that they
22:41need to go up this season, but in a footballing sense, they really do need to do it this season.
22:46They can't be, they can't be just thinking about the long term, unfortunately.
22:50I think the players need, the senior players need something to buy into, don't they?
22:53They need to go out and buy two or three proper players, if you like.
22:59Obviously they've lost, they've lost Armin Hodges, they've lost, they've lost more,
23:03you know, big, probably big voices in the dressing room and, you know, big championship ready players.
23:09And yeah, I mean, you sort of look at the first game, I sort of watched bits of that.
23:13And obviously Norrington Davis got a lot of stick of it, but he's basically a left back who was,
23:17who was asked to play in the, in the centre, wasn't he? And obviously the lad on loan, Binden,
23:22he's, he's only, he's only a young boy, isn't he really? And he's just starting out in the championship.
23:26And, you know, they desperately need another, another, another senior proper sort of centre half.
23:33Obviously they've been after, after quite a few, linked with Bobby Thomas, but it, it looks like there's one or two others that were
23:40sniffing around him, potentially in the Premier League as, as well, and linked with a couple of other players as well.
23:48Ben Godfist of this world, there's a, there's a Swedish lad as well. They desperately need a couple in, in, in that part of the pitch for me.
23:54Yeah. I mean, you know, they've got nine months to turn the results around, but if they don't convince the senior players in the next couple of weeks,
24:01then, you know, the likes of Hamer, the likes of Cooper, there'll be good offers for them.
24:06They'll suddenly be thinking, well, I'm not sure I should be hanging around for this. And then the damage is done.
24:11So it is actually quite urgent that they, you know, make some statements on and off the field that, that they are going to sort this out.
24:21I mean, Sellers spoke afterwards, I think on Saturday, that he said he would perfectly understand if the fans started to turn him.
24:26Is it a touch early for that?
24:29Well, it is. But as I said, you know, this is, this is the reality of the situation.
24:34You've got the ticking clock of the transfer window. Something needs to be sorted. Of course, of course, he needs patience.
24:40Of course he does. But one of, Sayers is very good at crisis management, because that's all he's ever had to do in his career.
24:46And, and, and one of his big strategies is just to pile all the responsibility on himself and all the, all the blame on himself.
24:54So I think, I think that's part of it.
24:55Sheffield United fans aren't stupid. They're not, they're not going to, you know, force him out of the, out of the club on the, on the, on the basis of a, of a couple of, a couple of results when they can see the wider problems.
25:07But, as I keep saying, there's, there's no time to faff about. They really need to, need to get on and address this very quickly.
25:15So, there's an appreciation of what happened at Leeds last season. They were in exactly the same boat. They lost the playoff final.
25:22Sheffield United were probably a bit more unlucky on the day, weren't they, really, in their particular playoff final.
25:27You know, Chris Wilder speaking afterwards about, about the fact that you've got to take inspiration from Leeds.
25:31And, see, Leeds did follow, follow up, had an outstanding following season and obviously won the title.
25:37And, you know, that'll be in the, a lot of the back of the, the Blaze supporters mind, you know, trying to emulate that.
25:43But, you know, the first couple of weeks of the season, they just look nowhere near that.
25:47And, obviously, got big, big issues with, with the squad.
25:50So, you know, that's sort of carrying against Sellers a little bit as well.
25:55By contrast, our other two teams in the Championship are currently unbeaten.
26:00Only two games in, I know, I know.
26:02But, Middlesbrough, where sort of had a sort of tame summer in terms of recruitment, I think,
26:09in terms of how their fans will feel about what business was or wasn't done.
26:14They've made a promising start, obviously, you know, League Cup hammering by Doncaster Road as a side.
26:20They've had two decent swims, two decent wins.
26:24And it's looking pretty positive up in the North East, isn't it, Leo?
26:31Yeah, I mean, obviously, the Cup defeat against Doncaster was an undeniably tough night.
26:38They were mauled against it.
26:39It was pretty much a second string Doncaster team as well.
26:43And, you know, they made, they made a few changes, but it wasn't that many.
26:46They only made sort of five, five or six changes.
26:49But I think if you look over the, you know, if you'd have said three games in, you know,
26:54which two games would you have wanted to win as a new manager?
26:58You know, you'd have certainly picked the, you know, ideally.
27:01You don't want to lose to a low-division team at home, and especially so badly.
27:05But, you know, the league, the two-league wins obviously takes pre-eminence, doesn't it?
27:10And I think the encouraging thing is the defensive result has shown two clean sheets.
27:17They didn't concede too many chances against Swansea on the opening day.
27:21And they looked pretty, pretty solid against Millwall a couple of moments.
27:26Luke Hayley had to make an important goal line clearance in the first half.
27:31And, you know, the ex-Borough player, Kobe, he was a little bit unlucky in hitting both poles.
27:37But he probably should have scored in the second half.
27:39But they've been, you know, considering some of the awful concessions they made in the second half of last season,
27:47self-inflicted ones, and that inability to cope with pressure.
27:52You know, the signs in that regard are defensively a positive.
27:55He's made a good start to his middles of the career.
27:58Alfie Jones is obviously coming from Hull.
28:02He's been pretty solid in his first two league games.
28:05Luke Hayley, as well, he's actually, I thought, even in the game against Doncaster,
28:11he was one of the few players who put his hand up and, you know, showed a lot of pride in his performance.
28:18He's still shown that he's going to be an important player for Borough at the, even though he's at a senior age.
28:26And, yeah, there was a little bit of a, I think they needed it after the Doncaster game
28:31and a little bit of a, I suppose, a feel-good factor back.
28:35They've made a couple of signings as well.
28:36And by all accounts, they're going to make a few more.
28:40I suppose the big thing is what happens with Hayden Hackney is, you know,
28:44he's a player who looks to me as he's, you know,
28:46he's one of the top operators in his position in the championship, a division.
28:51He's, you know, perhaps got the measure off.
28:53And he certainly showed his importance against...
28:56Against Millwall, he, you know, in the second half, he was dropped back a little bit.
29:02They brought Kanté in, defensive midfielder from French football,
29:07still a little bit inexperienced.
29:09They brought one of the new signings home, Hans Hanson on,
29:12who was in an advanced midfield role.
29:14And he actually looked the part and I think he changed it a little bit at Millwall.
29:19Hackney slotted back and was given a little bit more room to pull the strings and dictate.
29:25And he scored an excellent goal.
29:26And, you know, Finna Zas as well, he was a big player in most of the good things that Borough did last season.
29:33He made his comeback from the bench.
29:35And, yeah, it was a damn good team performance, wasn't it?
29:38I don't think many people would have had it down for an away win.
29:43Millwall obviously started well beating Norwich.
29:45Beating Norwich, but, yeah, I mean, they got, hopefully got the Doncaster wobble out of the system.
29:51And, you know, two wins out of two and two in clean sheets for a new manager is just a ticket.
29:57But they've obviously got a hard game coming up this weekend at Norwich.
30:01Yeah, I mean, Hackney will be crucial, as we've known all summer, really.
30:06If, you know, if he has to go, it'll be very, very sad to see him go.
30:11But the important thing is that he goes early enough that Middlesbrough can spend the money well.
30:18Say, if he stays, that's brilliant.
30:20That's almost the ideal situation.
30:22But Middlesbrough just need to know where they stand.
30:24They don't want a repeat of Hull a few years ago with Jared Bowen,
30:28where the sale didn't go through till after the deadline.
30:31So they had no chance to spend the money.
30:33And that was the start of Hulls to climb into League One.
30:36Maybe one or two teams, that, isn't it?
30:38Losing players, right?
30:39So, yeah, they just need to know where they stand with that.
30:43Let's say, Hackney showed against Millwall how important he is to them.
30:46And you would love to keep them.
30:48But the reality is, if you keep missing the both of the Premier League,
30:51at some point these guys are going to outgrow you.
30:54And you just have to accept that.
30:56And as I say, spend the money wisely.
30:58But, you know, on the whole, I think it's just a good coach
31:01doing what good coaches do.
31:02Sourcing out the back first, building from there.
31:05Built a lot of bridges with the supporters, by all accounts,
31:08which is a very, very clever move.
31:11And then, I'd say, hopefully, if they get the Hackney money,
31:14it's then about addressing what I think Leon referred to in the last podcast.
31:19They still have not really properly replaced this.
31:22Replace Latte Laff.
31:23They still sort of have this addiction for signing number 10s
31:26when they need a number nine, sort of thing.
31:28You know, get that right.
31:31But a good platform to come from.
31:33And, you know, the reverse of Sheffield United,
31:35it's easier to attract these players if you've got that sort of start
31:39and you can say, look, there's something worth getting on board with here.
31:42Yeah, I mean, from listening to Edwards,
31:46he sounds reasonably confident regarding getting the work done
31:50in the window before the end, doesn't he?
31:52It's probably in a little bit of a contrast to Sellers,
31:56who, you know, he does sound a little bit more worried, doesn't he?
31:58They're obviously bringing a lad in from Manchester City as well on loan.
32:02Highly rated Norwegian who's just signed for them,
32:04who's going to be loaned straight back out.
32:06He sounds an exciting proposition.
32:10So, yeah, I mean, it does sound like if the worst comes to the worst
32:13and it does go, there'll be one or two there that they've got the ducks
32:17in their own lined up to hopefully come in and start to the beach.
32:22Of course, in Edwards, you know, he's a savvy operator at this level.
32:24He's got form for getting out of this league as well.
32:26So, there's a lot of optimism around him as well, presumably.
32:31Yeah, I mean, he's just got to be a little bit patient, Phil.
32:35I think there's a little bit of a tweak in a few things from Carrick Ball almost.
32:41You know, he's said that he wants to be a little bit more, you know,
32:44high pressing and he's less obsessed with playing out from the back
32:47and getting it forward a little bit quicker and being a bit more front foot.
32:51So, yeah, there probably will be some, a lot of championship teams,
32:55there will be some bumps in the road, but, you know, it's important coming in.
32:59As Stuart said, he's coming and he's tried to really connect with the supporters.
33:03He's gone out to see them at fan engagements and, you know,
33:08he's someone who really wanted the job, didn't he?
33:12Obviously, he lost out to Carrick first time around.
33:16He was obviously interviewed for the Bristol City's job
33:19and well in the thoughts of that club, but, you know, by all accounts,
33:23the Middlesbrough was the one he wanted.
33:25This is the job that he feels is made for him.
33:28He did a, by all accounts, he did a really strong presentation
33:31when he actually got the job and convinced the Borough hierarchy
33:35that he was the man.
33:37So, yeah, he's desperate to do well and, you know,
33:40but all new managers need that little bit of a,
33:43provide that little bit of hope in terms of results,
33:45first of all, to supporters.
33:47And he's, you know, he's done that early on, very early days.
33:50There's a few, a few new signings will take a little bit of time to bed in
33:55and he's got to toughen them up defensively consistently.
33:58It's a decent start in that regard, but still a lot more to do.
34:02But, yeah, he's certainly got off first base, hasn't he?
34:07Definitely.
34:07We'll finish off this week on the east of the county.
34:13Stuart, you were over in Hull at the weekend on Sunday.
34:17Yeah.
34:17Witnessed a confidence-boosting win for Hull City,
34:19another team of ours who've had a troubled summer, shall we say,
34:23but they do seem to be emerging from the shadows, as it were,
34:25and a goalless draw at, you know, a good Coventry team,
34:30followed by a 3-2 win, courtesy of Olly McBurney,
34:33and his late winner on Sunday, again, it's promising signs
34:38for the new manager, isn't it?
34:40Yeah, they seem to have had quite a good crisis this summer, really.
34:44You know, one of the earlier podcasts in the summer,
34:48I was pretty gloomy about Hull's prospects.
34:50I hope it's not too knee-jerk off the back of a couple of results,
34:53but I'm much more encouraged by what I've seen since.
34:59I mean, they've been restricted to free transfers and free loans this summer
35:04because of not being on time with various payments to various people,
35:11but maybe it's just forced them to think a little bit more cleverly
35:17about their recruitment.
35:19You know, they're into double figures now for signings,
35:20and there's some good ones in there.
35:22I mean, you obviously mentioned McBurney.
35:24He's a sort of standout after two starts, two goals, two assists.
35:28That's not a bad way to start off.
35:31Joe Gellhart, I think every Hull City fan knew that would be a good signing,
35:35but they've been able to make it happen.
35:38They've obviously been able to persuade the Football League
35:41that they could afford the wages and that sort of thing.
35:46So, yeah, I think it's worked quite well for them.
35:49They were very entertaining in the Oxford United game that I saw at the weekend,
35:57which is, as we know, that's a big part of the brief
36:00when you're managing Rajan Ilajali.
36:02You've got to entertain as well as win.
36:04And, you know, they scored three against Wrexham as well.
36:06They were a bit worrying defensively, but, you know, as with everyone,
36:12this is the first couple of weeks of the season.
36:14They're not going to be perfect.
36:16But whereas most football clubs, as we've been saying,
36:20you build from the back, maybe with Hull you have to build from the front
36:23to earn the patience of the owner.
36:25And, yeah, I think it's been a good start.
36:30The key for them, you know, we talk about Middlesbrough with Hayden Hackney.
36:33They really, really won't want to lose Charlie Hughes,
36:37who's had an excellent sort of first 12 months as a Hull player
36:40and looks like that rarest of rarities at Hull City,
36:44a good defensive signing.
36:47So, yeah, hopefully this is a sign that they can move forward
36:52and progress as we speak.
36:53We're still waiting to hear if their appeal against the fee restrictions ban
36:57will be upheld or reduced or what have you.
37:00But after the way things have gone so far,
37:03maybe this should be appealing for it to be extended.
37:05Because, as I say, it's focusing their minds
37:08and making them think a bit more cleverly about what they do, I think.
37:12Yeah, I think it was important that a lot of the clubs in the region
37:15to have a positive start and not more so than Hull.
37:19And they've managed to do that.
37:20I mean, sort of look at the games.
37:22They're opening a sort of set of games,
37:24apart from sort of going to Coventry.
37:25They're not too nasty, really, are they?
37:28You know, you'd take Oxford at home and Blackburn at home,
37:30early season, going to Swansea.
37:33And, you know, feathering the cap for the new manager as well.
37:37He's come in and putting the juries out a little bit
37:40among the Hull City supporters.
37:42And, you know, he's set them up to get a good,
37:44you know, an excellent point, not just a good point,
37:46an excellent point at Coventry.
37:48And, you know, his first home game, first impressions
37:50and, you know, an entertaining game of football and a win.
37:55So that's a tick in the box for him.
37:57You know, you look at the Hulls sort of starting XI,
37:59they've got some pretty good players still, haven't they,
38:02at this level, the Lundstrands, the Matt Crooks,
38:05Casey Palmer, McBurney, Geldhart.
38:07You know, if they sort of all sort of come together
38:10and, you know, play well and have a good day,
38:13Hull are a decent force in this division.
38:17So, yeah, I mean, the trick is now backing it up.
38:20They've got a home game against Blackburn,
38:22which I think looks pretty handy on paper.
38:25There's a few issues there at Blackburn and, you know,
38:27try and make the most of this early season of fixture list.
38:32But, yeah, it was a good sign for Hull on Sunday,
38:36more especially given, you know,
38:38it was a lousy opening third of the season last year,
38:40wasn't it, with Tim Welter.
38:43He just never took off whatsoever.
38:45And he was just almost behind the eight ball, wasn't he?
38:48He never got, certainly never got off first base
38:51with the Hull supporters.
38:53So, hopefully it's a change in that respect.
38:57Well, I was going to mention that,
38:59obviously, as you alluded to a bit earlier about Hull Stewart,
39:01obviously, despite the transfer embargoes,
39:04they're actually seem better prepared than they were 12 months ago,
39:06where it took them forever and a day to get players in,
39:10by which time it was too late to save Tim Welter.
39:13I mean, Sergei Jekirovic seemed a pretty savvy operator
39:17in the players that have been brought in so far.
39:19Obviously, again, as we keep stressing,
39:22it is early doors.
39:23But just better placed to sort of, hopefully,
39:28avoid the kind of worries that they had last year
39:30in terms of trying to just stay in the league.
39:32Yeah, I mean, they've had a good pre-season
39:34in terms of results.
39:36You might say pre-season results, big deal.
39:38It doesn't count for anything.
39:39It doesn't count for much.
39:40But I think they lost every game under Valter last season.
39:44You know, so just on every level,
39:46they feel better prepared,
39:48even though, as you say, the circumstances,
39:50they should really be less prepared.
39:54He wants two or three more players, I think he says.
39:58But, you know, we've got used under Ile Jali
40:00to seeing, you know, five and six arriving
40:02in the last week of the transfer window.
40:04So, it's another sign that they're ahead of the game.
40:07There just seems to be some clearer thinking there.
40:10As I say, it's early days.
40:12The fixture list has been kind.
40:14We'll wait to see how things pan out.
40:15But it's optimistic.
40:18Winning at home was really important
40:20because the home formers,
40:21the home form and the home entertainment
40:23has badly let them down,
40:25you know, even in the good times under Ile Jali.
40:28So, it was just a big tick in the box.
40:31You know, it's good to see a lot of Hull fans
40:33leaving the ground feeling positive and excited
40:35after a home game,
40:37which, let's be honest,
40:38if McBurnie hadn't scored that late goal,
40:40we'd have been back to another frustrating draw
40:42when they should have outplayed,
40:43you know, should have beaten a weaker team
40:45they outplayed.
40:46But, yeah, look does come into it.
40:49You've got to make the most of it.
40:51And it feels like so far so good.
40:54They have done that.
40:55YorkshirePost.co.uk
40:57YorkshirePost.co.uk
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