- 6 weeks ago
We start this week by looking at who Sheffield Wednesday who following the news that they were facing a winding-up petition from HMRC, faced Middlesbrough and fell to a 1-0 defeat. This was then followed by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Oxford United.
We discuss the fact that the club has entered administration which normally would be a cause for sadness but due to the recent state of the club the fans were pleased with the news.
We move onto Huddersfield Town who have recorded three successive defeats after falling to a 3-0 defeat when they paid a visit to Wycombe Wanderers.
Also featured is Leeds United who took a very valuable 3 points when they hosted struggling West Ham United, and Barnsley and Rotherham United which saw the points being claimed by the Millers.
We discuss the fact that the club has entered administration which normally would be a cause for sadness but due to the recent state of the club the fans were pleased with the news.
We move onto Huddersfield Town who have recorded three successive defeats after falling to a 3-0 defeat when they paid a visit to Wycombe Wanderers.
Also featured is Leeds United who took a very valuable 3 points when they hosted struggling West Ham United, and Barnsley and Rotherham United which saw the points being claimed by the Millers.
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SportsTranscript
00:01YorkshirePost.co.uk
00:02Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post,
00:20where we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football
00:23with members of our football writing team.
00:25On this week's episode, we're joined by Chief Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner,
00:28and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Bjorn Wobshaw, to discuss all of the latest developments
00:33affecting our local clubs.
00:34Don't forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond
00:38by logging on to our website at yp.sport at nationalworld.com, as well as checking out
00:43our various Twitter feeds, the main one being at YPSport.
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01:01at yp.sport at nationalworld.com.
01:08As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by Chief Football Writer for the
01:12Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Bjorn Wobshaw.
01:15Good morning, guys.
01:17Morning.
01:17Good morning.
01:18Good morning.
01:19Right.
01:20Let's start this week by looking at Sheffield Wednesday, who, following the news that they
01:26were facing a winding-up petition from HMRC, faced Middlesbrough and fell to a 1-0 defeat.
01:33This was then followed by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Oxford United.
01:37Now, not only do I want to cover those two recent results, but I also want to acknowledge
01:42the fact that the club have entered administration, which normally would be a cause for sadness
01:49and quite severe worry, but due to the recent state of the club, the fans were actually pleased
01:56with the news.
01:57Stuart, can you shed some light on this for us?
02:01Yeah.
02:02As you say, it's very, very unusual for people to be happy at going into administration, but
02:09things had just got into such a bad way under Depom Can Siri that, frankly, any way of getting
02:19him out was sort of acceptable, really.
02:22And, you know, administration comes with a 12-point deduction, you know, which makes
02:30relegation very, very likely.
02:31But I think in all fairness, most Wednesday fans will resign to it anyway.
02:36So that element of it kind of doesn't make much of a difference.
02:44In terms of administration, it obviously just opens the market up for lots of potential
02:49buyers who have been either struggling to negotiate with Can Siri because they just couldn't
02:56get a realistic price out of him or sort of see which way the wind was blowing and waiting
03:04for this to happen.
03:06Yeah, it's an opportunity for a fresh start for a club that badly needs it.
03:10And there will be difficult times ahead, definitely.
03:14We can't underestimate that.
03:15But there was just a real feeling of optimism, probably magnified by just how miserable it
03:23was at the game Leon was at on the Wednesday night.
03:27I mean, you know, when it came to both of us doing the Sheffield Wednesday game that week,
03:32I think it's fair to say Leon got the straw so short it was probably wider than it was
03:36last.
03:37It came to the mood around the place.
03:41Wasn't it?
03:41Yeah.
03:42I mean, even just watching on television, it was depressing.
03:44It was almost a throwback to the COVID days, which, you know, just reminded you about the
03:50importance of football fans.
03:51And probably about 20,000 supporters fewer as well.
03:55Exactly.
03:56So, yeah, I'd say there's big challenges to come.
04:01There might be more points deductions to come.
04:03But in all honesty, after what I've just said about, you know, being resigned to relegation,
04:07may as well get them out of the way this season and get the decks cleared.
04:11Yeah, I think the biggest issue for them will be there was obviously this big attendance on
04:21the Saturday, half a million pounds done at the club shop, already having slashed ticket
04:27prices for the bonfire night game.
04:32They're already looking for a big crowd for that.
04:35But this momentum really needs to keep going because at the moment, that and the sort of
04:41solidarity money and football league payments they get pretty much are some of the few sources
04:46of money coming into the club.
04:48So, it's really important, you know, you can understand why as things go on and the nights
04:54draw in and the days get colder, why it might be hard to sort of motivate yourself to go and
04:59watch a team that's going to get relegated anyway, you know, play a humdrum league match
05:04against whoever, but really important for the club's existence that people do keep this
05:13momentum up, really, to give the administrators something to work with until they can pass
05:19the club on.
05:19I mean, yeah, they've just got to, there's a lot of euphoria, they've basically, you know,
05:26it's been a loveless marriage, hasn't it, the last few years, Sheffield Wednesday and
05:30Chanceli, all manner of problems, it's unedifying headlines, it's been sad to see and, you know,
05:39it's just been a drip, drip, hasn't it, really, also, you know, transfer embargoes,
05:45not wages, not being on time and, you know, it's really, it's really been a depressing,
05:51tough time to be a Sheffield Wednesday fan, so there's obviously the euphoria, it's a bit
05:54like having a bit of a divorce party, isn't it, really?
05:57Yeah, but after that, obviously, further down the line, you know, it's just so imperative
06:04that Sheffield Wednesday find the right buyers as well, I mean, obviously, Stuart spoke to
06:10the regulator and there's all this talk with fit and proper people, you know, who will
06:16display a true duty of care to a wonderful football club, there's so much work that's
06:23going to be entailed there, there's obviously issues with the ground and it really does
06:29need souping up the training ground as well, it's not going to be a quick fix there, there's
06:34a hell of a lot of potential, there'll no doubt be, and there is, you know, various names
06:40and consortiums will be linked with the club and it's, you know, it's rooting out the ones
06:46who were really serious as opposed to the ones who were just talking the talk really and
06:50it won't be a quick process, but it's just, just for this, you know, looking at Sheffield
06:55Wednesday's history over the last couple of decades, it's, you know, they really need and
07:01deserve, you know, proper people to be custodians of that football club, you know, regardless
07:08of just some people just throwing pots, you know, they really need some proper custodians
07:14because they haven't had that in the last, certainly in the last few years from a chance
07:21area, so that's my hope about the situation, but it's going to take time, isn't it, and the
07:26supporters who, you know, they've really rallied around and showed the best in football in
07:33the last week, and the people behind the scenes as well, the unsung heroes have done that for
07:40months and months and, you know, they really do deserve a change, change of fortune.
07:46Yeah, I mean, this is a real opportunity to get things right, but as Leon says, it's a
07:52big, big job and it's going to cost a lot of money, I mean, it might even be that in the
07:56shorter term, the playing budget has to take a bit of a hit, so that they can address the
08:02infrastructure things that need doing, because, I mean, you know, Leon and I have been going
08:07there for probably decades, Leon, you know, in one capacity or another, and, you know,
08:14to see the way that the place has just decayed, really, you know, in terms of the football ground
08:19and the training ground, it needs a lot of TLC, it may even need, you know, new buildings
08:26for one or the other, that's a big decision for somebody to decide, but they can't kick
08:32the can down the road, they need to get the infrastructure sorted out, so that from there,
08:37all the potential that we've seen can be released, you know, because to see, as I say, Leon saw
08:43the complete opposite side of it, the sort of fan power in action, which in itself is quite
08:49heartening to see, because normally you get apathy rather than, rather than that real
08:53sort of, and it certainly works, you know, and it's, it's one of the hardest things to
08:58do, to ask people, particularly people who bought season tickets, but any sort of diehard
09:02football fan, you know, a lot of them are basically addicts, so to say to them, can you
09:07stay away from your football club and not watch the team for the good of the long term
09:10is a, is a big, big thing to do, and, you know, even at, you know, turning the telly
09:15on at, what, 10 to 8 or whatever, I still wasn't convinced that the stands were going
09:20to be as empty as they were, and when you saw the teams walk out, it was just, it, for
09:25me anyway, I don't know how it was for Leon, it was just a wow moment, I mean, Leon obviously
09:30in his seat a bit longer, it sort of builds up bit by bit, me just switching on as, practically
09:35weird how the silver lining comes on, it's like, wow. Yeah, it just, it just felt a bit
09:39surreal really, just a little bit of a throwback to the, to the COVID era, and even, even driving
09:44into, into the area, you know, a few hours before the kickoff, it just felt so, so surreal
09:51really, and you sort of, I sort of thought something, something really was, was afoot,
09:56and it was going to go really well, because there was hardly any, any traffic on the, you
10:00know, the A61 going down, dropping down to Hillsborough, and yeah, it was, I think,
10:05surreal's the best word for it, but, yeah, I mean, just, I sort of thought about it the
10:10other day, and it's sort of Sheffield Wednesday, it's sort of, it's almost the equivalent of
10:15having a house for sale in the most, one of the most beautiful locations in the country,
10:19there's a great view, there's, lots of people want it, and you can't just go in there and
10:23just do a few decorations with it, you've got to really, you know, it's a root and branch
10:29job there, isn't it, you've got to sort out the electrics, you've got to sort out
10:32the plumbing, you've got to sort out the roof, you've got to sort it, you know, there's going
10:36to be so much to it, so it'll attract a lot of, a lot of people to talk about it, but
10:41yeah, let's get the right owners, that's, I think that's what everyone wants.
10:45I think the encouraging thing was then to see 27,000 turn out on the Saturday, all that
10:50pent up, you know, but also, you know, the football side of it as well was encouraging,
10:58you know, to concede that early against Middlesbrough, I'll be honest, I thought,
11:02well, the roof's going to come in here, you know, they deserve the point, no doubt about
11:07it, I mean, Middlesbrough, obviously, they scored the, they scored the first goal, should
11:13have, let's be honest, they should have had a, had a, had a penalty with the challenge
11:17from, from, from Lumley, but they couldn't get a second goal and it just kept Wednesday
11:22interested, didn't it, really, you know, and that's the sort of way it's, the sort
11:28of, could stay in the game with it just being a single goal and, yeah, I mean, they had a,
11:31they had a good dig in the, in the second half and, you know, for me, they, they deserved,
11:39deserved a point, so the, the sort of, the spirit and the, the togetherness and adversity
11:46that, that they're showing behind the scenes, like I say, the unsung heroes being replicated
11:50on the pitch, isn't it, really, and, you know, there's a, sometimes a really difficult situation
11:56to bring out the best in people, don't they, and a group of footballers and that's, that's
12:00clearly what's happened at Sheffield Wednesday and all, you know, all power to the, to the
12:06head, to the, to the manager, Pedersen, Barry Ballin as well, he's, he's, he and his family
12:12have come out of this with a lot of kudos, other stalwarts as well, you know, the Liam
12:15partners of this world and, you know, it's been a, amid all the, you know, the, you know,
12:22the terrible headlines and the disheartening ones, there's been a, there's been a good,
12:25a good story as well lurking there in terms of, you know, in terms of that, that togetherness
12:31and bond between the, between a group of footballers, which is, which has been heartening
12:35really when you hear a lot of stories about players in, in football and, you know, prima
12:42donners, there's that and the other, being selfish and pushing for moves and this, that
12:46and the other, you know, this is the, this is the other side of it.
12:49Yeah. Yeah. And I just want to quickly touch on a couple of things that you mentioned, Stuart,
12:55basically looking at how this situation has basically unfolded and I'm, I'm almost certain
13:03that if you asked any Sheffield Wednesday fan, if they would rather have this situation that
13:09they've got now or God forbid, they get into a position where it's, they have to become
13:15another Phoenix club. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm certain they would far sooner take this than have to
13:24start all over again, considering the amount of history that is within that club.
13:28Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I spoke to, I spoke to someone from the supporters trust in the build
13:33up to that Middlesbrough game and asked him there and then, you know, is it administration
13:37of price worth paying to get rid of, um, they, they want to interior and his, his, his instant
13:43answer was yes. You know, it's not, it's not something you want to go through, but because
13:48of the spirit Leon's just outlined on and off the field, you do know that Sheffield Wednesday
13:53will not die, you know, no matter, no matter the problems, there will still be a Sheffield
13:58Wednesday football club because there's, there's too many people there who just want to allow
14:03that not to happen. And that, that's, that's kind of, that and the history are kind of the
14:08selling points to, to would be buyers, you know, to offset that, that, that long list
14:15of problems that, that need to be addressed. But I don't think, I mean, sometimes I don't
14:21know if complacency is the right word, but normally when a football club gets into trouble,
14:25you kind of think, well, there's all, there'll always be someone to come and save them. Um,
14:31but it, it, it, it generally does pan out that way. You know, we've seen, we've seen a lot
14:37of Yorkshire football clubs come very close to the brink at various times in their history.
14:42And somebody always, or almost always anyway, comes, comes to the rescue because it is such
14:48an important institution. And there are so many people who are just, you know, determined
14:53to keep it going. And one last thing, um, regarding this, um, you mentioned the, uh, the regulator.
14:59I think this is possibly, I hate to say this, but it's possibly the best time for this to
15:08happen for the regulator, because now they really can show whether, uh, them being involved
15:16in football is worth it or not, considering so many owners basically said no to this.
15:21Yeah. Um, yeah, I think the best time would actually be a couple of months down the line
15:28because there's kind of this race on at the moment where the regulator's got powers coming
15:34through parliament, um, which aren't expected to come through till later this year. So it
15:41might be that a buyer comes in and passes the AFL test before that test comes in. Then you
15:47don't have the, you know, the checks, the necessary checks or the level of checks that
15:51Leon was talking about flip side. It's delayed and it, and it does go through the regulator.
15:58Then by the time it gets sorted out, you might have the January window or before it gets sorted
16:03out, you might have the January window open. So it's, it's, it's not quite ideal, but I
16:07think probably the threat of that has been one extra thing in the pot to just put the pressure
16:13on chance here to get to this point. So I wouldn't say it's been a bad thing or badly timed, but it's,
16:17it's just not quite perfect. There's this kind of situation where, as Leon says, it's,
16:23it's absolutely imperative that you get the right person, but you don't want to hang about either.
16:29Exactly. And it's striking that right balance. Yeah. Yeah. And let's now have a look at Huddersfield
16:35Town who have recorded three successive defeats after falling to a 3-0 defeat when they paid a
16:41visit to Wickham Wanderers. This now means that the Terriers have not recorded a victory across
16:46all competitions since their 1-0 victory over Exeter City on the 27th of September. Now, Leon,
16:53is it reasonable to say that there is possibly a slight crisis building at Huddersfield Town at the
17:00moment? No, I think that's, I think that's fair to say, Mark. There's, there's, there's storm
17:06conditions here, aren't there, really? There's, throw a few factors in, there's, there's sort of the
17:12expectation that was generated at the, at the start of the season, spent a few quid Huddersfield. He,
17:18he certainly, uh, about the new manager, Kevin Nagel, there's that side of it. There's, um,
17:25the support has basically been, uh, grumpy for seven, seven seasons in the last day. I mean,
17:31I think the only real outlier is the, the season they got to the playoff final. So there,
17:35it's not going to take much to, uh, to get them agitated and unhappy. And obviously that's,
17:41that's been the case in, in, in the last few weeks. There's, there's a new manager sort of,
17:46uh, after some initial optimism, he's, he's finding, really is finding out what management is,
17:50is, um, is about, isn't he? And, um, there's issues with his tactics. Is he, is he welded to a 4-2-3-1?
17:57Can he change it? There's lots of different other things. You know, there's, there's, there's injuries
18:01as well, which we had, you know, depressingly familiar when you talk about Huddersfield. Um,
18:06not too many clubs have, have suffered on that, on that front as much in, in, in recent years. And yeah,
18:12it's, it's a, it's a tough, tough gig at the minute. I mean, it culminated in, um,
18:18you know, in, in a rotten day, it's, uh, at Wickham, obviously Alfie May, the big, uh, the big
18:24marquee summer signing. I think it's probably his fortunes have been a little bit emblematic of the
18:30way it's gone for Huddersfield, really. He's, uh, he's not got going. He's been played in different
18:35positions. Um, yeah, he's got a, got a penalty on the opening bay, but he's, he's having,
18:41he's doing it tough, tough as a, as a lot of the players are. And, uh, you know, ascending
18:46off, he walked off and, uh, booted a gate. And, uh, I think most of the Huddersfield supporters
18:52wanted to, wanted to, uh, to join, to join in really. So yeah, it's, um, depressing and worrying
18:59times. Um, the town obviously got a cup game on, on, uh, on, on Saturday at Bolton, you know,
19:07the team who beat them, um, less than a fortnight ago with, and Stuart did the game. And, um,
19:13that was just, you know, it was such a punishing, punishing finish, wasn't it? But let's face it
19:20from what, from what I saw, they got what they deserved really, didn't they? You know, they
19:23hung on and they just, um, you know, they paid the price at the, uh, at the end. I mean,
19:29obviously there's, there's questions of, um, there's questions of ground. Well, I
19:33think as we touched on last week, there's, there's, there's some, there's some senior
19:38players there who played at decent levels, certainly, you know, in the championship,
19:41not just in league one. And, uh, you know, and the owner, and they're not getting bang for
19:46the buck there, are they really? They've obviously got injuries, but there's a lot of players there
19:49who were, who were, you know, underperforming, you know, decent players on, on, uh, on paper
19:55and sleep grand can't get a, get a tune out of them. But yeah, it's, it is, it's, I mean,
20:01the bottom line is it's just worrying times and it's, it's sadly, it's, it's familiar at, um,
20:07Huddersfield at the minute. I mean, it meant, made a lot of, I mean, we were sort of touchy,
20:12was sort of speaking the other, other day, myself and Stuart. And, um, you know, there's
20:16been a lot of big, um, big clubs and with respect, bigger clubs than Huddersfield who've
20:22dropped into this level and struggled, you know, you think of, you think of Sunderland,
20:26you think of Wolves, you think of Leeds United, you know, Forest, Derby, you know, with respect,
20:33big, others who are a big club, but they're, you know, they're not as big as those clubs,
20:36um, that we've mentioned. And, uh, you've, you've got to get to grips with league, league
20:42one in every way. You've got to just have that, that right mentality. You've got to be humble.
20:45You've got to, you've got to fully respect it. And, uh, because if you don't, you know,
20:50every week, if you, if you just sort of, you turn up expecting things to happen, you're going to get
20:55a punch on the nose and you're going to get it, um, you're going to get it quite regularly. And
20:59that's what's sort of happening to, um, to Huddersfield at the minute. They sort of talk,
21:03they talk in the summer, didn't they? And, uh, you know, I think there was a little bit of
21:07subconsciously, a bit of a feeling where we've got a lot of, a lot of the players out from,
21:12from the, you know, who'd struggled in the previous few years. They had a near allegation,
21:17the great escape on the near one. And then the year after, obviously they went down,
21:21it was a dance, dance squib. We've sort of moved on those players. We've had a clear out. We've got
21:25these, you know, we've got all these new players in, you know, some, some marquee names, everything's
21:30going to be all right. And, uh, obviously the start of the season, um, you know, suggested there was
21:37going to be a real change of the narrative, but, you know, it proved recent events have proved that
21:42they've still got a hell of a long way to, to, to go Huddersfield and, uh, yeah, it's, uh,
21:48critical time for Lee Grant and, uh, you know, critical time for, for Huddersfield. They're
21:52just going to have to dig in somehow and it's difficult. They've got a lot of injuries, form isn't
21:58great, perfect storm conditions, but, uh, you know, it's, uh, it is, I think it's fair to say,
22:04Mark. I know, you know, it is a, it's a bit of a crisis at the minute.
22:07Yeah. I think, I think it's, it's kind of exacerbated by the fact that they've, they've
22:13really gone all in on, on Lee Grant here. They've given him the keys, you know, they've
22:18let him make football. No director of football, exactly. He's basically had all the, all the
22:23power he could possibly have sort of thing. So that, I think that kind of, to a degree,
22:29backs you into a corner where you're almost obliged to back him a bit more than, than you might
22:36ordinarily. I don't, I don't know. I mean, it's, it's a difficult one because, you know,
22:41you can get into a situation in Huddersfield. They're in this situation. Now they're in this
22:45situation in March, as, as it says, it's kind of rinse and repeat where you might believe in the,
22:52in the manager, but the fans clearly aren't having it. And it's, it's kind of who blinks first. And
22:58you know, we've, we've seen with Kevin Nagel a lot of the time, he's very quick to, to react to how,
23:03how the fans are. But we've, he did an interview with one of our colleagues the other week,
23:08last week, talking about how he was, was standing by Grant. We've heard very little from him since,
23:12even though he's in the country at the moment, which is not, not the, I wouldn't say it's the
23:17most encouraging if you were Lee Grant. Goodness knows what's been said behind the scenes. He may,
23:21he may well have had, had assurances or conversations or whatever, but yeah, there's that difficult period.
23:29How, how far do you sort of stick it out and grit it out? But I mean, we've talked in the past on this
23:35podcast about examples of managers being given time and turning it around, but it's not just a
23:42magic thing. It doesn't automatically happen. He's, you know, he and his players have got to do their
23:47bit as well. And, and, and Grant likes to talk an awful lot about lessons and learning from this and
23:52that he's, he's got to show that he's, he's learning from this. And as, as Leon said, you know,
23:58one of the things that maybe he needs to show is that he's not wedded to this formation and,
24:02you know, he's prepared to think a, think a bit differently. I mean, in fairness to him,
24:07I think at Wickham the other week, he, he moved Lindner Gooch from right back to, to left wing. So
24:13there was a, you know, there was a bit of flexibility there. That was, that was a tiny modicum of
24:18thinking a bit differently, but clearly it needs to go a lot further than that. And as I said on
24:23last week's podcast, the fact that they're, they've got Bolton in the cup this week, the fact
24:27that they're in, in the trophy after that, there is an opportunity, I think, to maybe just take a
24:32look at a few different things, but you know, however he does it, whether it's with the same
24:36formation or not, he does have to show he's, he's learning the lessons and, and, and give Kevin
24:43Nagel almost the excuse to, to stand by him. Because if you, if you're getting nothing back as a
24:48chairman, there's only, there's only so long you can wait, particularly when he,
24:53Nagel and Grant and everyone else have raised expectations so, so high in this division.
24:59Um, yeah, it's, it's, it's a critical, it's a critical couple of weeks and, uh, it'll be
25:04fascinating to see how it pans out. Yeah. I think one of the things that, yeah, I'd agree with all
25:09that. One of the things you could perhaps point to is obviously Grant, he'd done some,
25:13some, he'd done some great work by all accounts at, at Ipswich, a really talented,
25:18innovative young coach, but I was, I'm sorry I'm saying it with hindsight, but I was actually at the
25:24time, I was surprised that, you know, obviously they were giving him a chance, they didn't bring
25:28an experienced sort of, um, figure alongside him really. Someone who's sort of experienced these
25:33times in football because Grant might have, he's probably had one or two issues as a player in
25:39these times. It's a whole different thing, is it, being a manager and you, you go into bed and you've
25:43got the worries of the world on, on your shoulders and, uh, uh, personally, I think that, that, that,
25:48that, that missed a bit of a, a bit of a trick there, Huddersfield. And so look at the recruitment
25:52as well. They've signed, you know, on paper, they signed some decent enough players, but
25:56they just like to, uh, not just this city, but like to, uh, you know, a big, a big target man,
26:01someone to sort of, um, fight it out with the centre, with the centre backs. I think that's one
26:06deficiency that, um, that hasn't been addressed, but, uh, yeah, I mean, he's clearly,
26:11there you go, wants to back him, but you know, you're going to have sort of scoreboard pressure
26:16if you're not careful with the table, you know, tables are starting to develop. They're probably
26:20about, it's not critical at the minute, but they're probably half a dozen, about half a dozen
26:24points off the playoffs at the minute. And, um, you know, when that gap becomes, that becomes eight
26:30or nine points in a, in, you know, in a few weeks time, potentially, then you, you know,
26:35and the noise really does ratchet up, then, um, yeah, it'd be, it'd be difficult to, you know,
26:41to have an argument to, to, to keep Grant. So yeah, it's just, um, just such a critical time
26:47and he's, he's got to find answers. Yeah. Yeah. It boils down to the words Leon used
26:51in his first answer, humble and, and, and respect, you know, it's all well and good having your principles.
26:57Yeah. But, you know, you know, nevermind in League One, look at the way the primary
26:59league's going at the moment with long throws and big strikers and everything. You need,
27:03you need to, you need to accept that your way won't always work and you need it and you need
27:08a plan B. And I say you need that in every division, but you particularly need it in League One,
27:12where you don't have that elite quality of player that if we're on our game, nobody can stop us.
27:17You know, clearly that's not the case at League One level. And, you know, last season was a bit
27:22of an outlier in terms of some, some very big and very rich clubs running away with it,
27:26but more often than not in League One, you'll have a Stevenage or Lincoln or someone like that
27:31who just get everything out of what they've got as compared to those big clubs Leon's talked about
27:37and many more who have struggled. So you, you can't be, you can't be arrogant about it. You can't be,
27:43it's my way or no way. And, and to be fair, you know, when I, when I sort of suggested to, to,
27:50to Graham after the Bolton game, would he be doubling down? He did say, no, you know,
27:54I'll be flexible and all this sort of thing. But the issue he's getting at the moment is,
27:59he's saying all the right things, but we're not seeing them translated into actions. And that's,
28:04that's the big issue.
28:05It's about, it's about walking the walks through. Even little, even little things for me,
28:09they talk about, I'm not just picking on Huddersfield it per se, but they're talking
28:12about leadership groups.
28:13Yeah.
28:14Talk about it, some other clubs. What do they actually do?
28:16Yeah.
28:16Yeah.
28:17You know, you've got sort of, you know, there's, there's a leadership group at Huddersfield,
28:21I'm not going to go into names of individuals, but you would, you would have thought that,
28:24that they have a, you know, press conference before the, the big, you know, a cup game,
28:29it's only an FA cup game, but in the context of things, it's a big game for Huddersfield,
28:33isn't it? And Lee Grant, you know, you would expect one of the leadership group
28:36to be speaking to the press and they're not. So I just sort of, it's just, what, what does
28:43it sort of, is that just something that's a slogan that sounds good? You know, leadership,
28:48you know, if you're going to be a leader, you talk, you talk to the press, but there's
28:51none of them speaking to the press. You know, in fairness, you know, Joe Lowe, who didn't
28:58have the best game at Wickham, fair play to him. He's, he's, you know, he's the one who's
29:03obviously decided he wants to speak to the, to the press and he's happy to do it. But
29:06yeah, it's just little things, little things like that. And I just, just sort of, just
29:11quenching, questioning them, you know, the mentality a little bit. At the minute, you
29:14look at Huddersfield, they've got a bit of a target on the back. The, the manager's under
29:19pressure, they've got injuries, they've got some, you know, some key players out, Wat Moe,
29:23they've got Herbie Kane. They look to me like they're going to have to dog it out until January.
29:28Yeah. And then, you know, they have been unlucky with certain, obviously their lone players
29:32who were injured, you know, up front that, that really has hurt them. But it looks to
29:37me they're going to have to really dig in for a fair waste of time a year when clubs have to dig in,
29:43doesn't it? Whether you're at the top of the, you know, you have to grind things out and,
29:47you know, you just, you just hope that Huddersfield can summon the wherewithal somewhere
29:53to do that. But at the minute you don't really, you don't really see too much of it, but hopefully
29:58they'll surprise us. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, to me, you know, leadership groups can work. They work
30:02at some places, but it can't be used as an excuse that, oh, there's five or six of us. I'll leave
30:07it to the other five. That's the issue, isn't it? They've all got to stand up and they've all got to
30:12act as if they were, you know, the captain of the club sort of thing in terms of the amount of
30:16responsibility they take on. As Leon said, you know, today and in previous weeks, there's lots of
30:21players there who've been around the block and got the experience Grant hasn't. They really need
30:26to come to the floor and start grabbing some of the teammates and say, look, this just isn't good
30:30enough. And, and, and, and really acting like leaders in the, in the right way, because clearly,
30:37you know, no disrespect to him. He's a, he's new to the job. The manager needs them now. He just needs them.
30:44Yeah. And the goals even, even we obviously were, both of us weren't at the game at Wickham on
30:48Saturday, but the manner of the goals was appalling. If you sort of broke it, if you sort of broke it
30:54down, some of the, some of the actions of some of the players, it was just so loose. It was untrue,
30:59wasn't it really? And the red card kind of fed into that as well. It was just a naft tackle,
31:03wasn't it? You know, from a, from a player who's probably quite frustrated, but you've got all that
31:08in and you've got to channel it in the right way. Yeah, absolutely. And next we look to Leeds United,
31:14who took a very valuable three points when they hosted Struggling West Ham United. Now,
31:20I know it's very early on in the season, but how useful could a result like this be as the season
31:27goes on and we reach the, the real business end of things, Stuart? Hugely useful, Mark. Hugely useful.
31:34Yeah. I mean, there's, there's the win in its own right. And then there's the, another defeat for
31:39West Ham element of it. You know, unlike in, in the last couple of seasons where the newly promoted
31:46teams have looked around and thought, well, who can we finish above? There's quite a few candidates
31:50putting their hands in at the moment in terms of the established Premier League teams and West Ham
31:53are definitely one of them, you know, a bit like Ange Postacoglu, Nuno Santo is another sort of
31:59second manager this season who just hasn't been able to turn the tide yet. They look shambolic and they
32:06looked all over the place, but that's no concern of Leeds United. They've just got to, they can't be,
32:11they can't afford to be letting teams like that off the hook, you know, and, and to a degree Burnley
32:16don't fall into the same category. They fall into the newly promoted category, but to a degree, they
32:21sort of let Burnley off the hook in terms of, you know, not, not, not taking any, anything out of
32:26them. You can't afford to do that too often. Um, so yeah, it was a big win for Leeds and they made
32:33it more awkward than it should have been. Um, sort of 20 minutes in, you thought this could
32:37be four or five with how bad were Sam were, how clinical Leeds were at that stage, but Leeds,
32:42Leeds did set, sit back and invite pressure. Um, you know, and, and, and, and there'll be,
32:50well, there are lots of critics of Daniel Farquhar will be saying, look, we can't do this. This is
32:55going to cost us in the long run. But the fact of the matter is they won the game and end of discussion,
33:00you know, we'd been able to talk in previous games, Bournemouth and Spurs spring to mind,
33:05Fulham springs to mind about, oh, well, you know, they didn't get the result, but the performance
33:10was very good. They deserved better. I think this was a night where they just had to get,
33:14had to get the result end of, and, and they did, you know, and, and yes, it was, I say,
33:20it was a bit uncomfortable when Mateus Fernandes hit, headed that goal in, in the, in the 90th minute
33:25or 91st minute or whatever it was. Um, but they got the job done. Uh, they're pushing things up a
33:31bit. Um, they brought Ayo Tanaka back into the side because Perry came back in debut,
33:37Premier League debut for Yaka Biel. Um, yeah, there's still issues there. There'll be issues,
33:43to be honest, there'll be issues there all season because they're not, they're not so good that they
33:47can be, you know, well clear of this and, and, and everything's comfortable. But so long as they are
33:53ahead of the game, in terms of that dotted line, in terms of points for games, um, I think you've
33:58got to be happy. And, and, and let's be honest, um, you know, great as the potential is at Leeds
34:05United and all this sort of thing and the, you know, expectations and all that this season,
34:10they've just got to finish 17th or above and then build on it. That's, that's as simple as it is.
34:15And, and for every week, they're above 17th. That's a pat on the back, really.
34:20Yeah, that's Stuart's right to say that they're on course. They, they, they, they, they did the job.
34:25And I mean, the walls, the walls win earlier this season was important as, as was obviously the
34:31first game against Everton, but I think this was probably the most important, certainly in the
34:36respect of it, of it coming after, after the Burnley, uh, Burnley result, which was a, which was a bit
34:42different, deflating, relatively small, short turnaround. And, uh, Leeds got back on the horse and, uh,
34:49uh, and did, did the business, um, tremendous, having a tremendous, uh, time as well, but it's,
34:56it's probably is the right word really for the, the sides that have, that have come up. I think
35:00was it, I think I read somewhere that they, it was the first match week since November, 2020,
35:07that all the three promoted sides had won. Yeah. So, um, you know, that's a, that's a fair,
35:12year old, um, accomplishment. And, uh, I think, um, I think the fixtures look reasonably well
35:19timed for Leeds in the next few weeks. They're going, you don't get me wrong, you know, Brighton
35:23is, you know, it's a tough place, place to go and they, they'll cause teams problems, but it,
35:28you know, it's not been hunky dory for them, has it, has it so far? They've got, they've got
35:31Brighton and, uh, then they've got, they've got Forrest as well. And two teams who've made,
35:37um, you know, uh, well, Forrest have made a poor start to the season and, uh, Brighton have, um,
35:43underwhelmed it a little bit as well. So Leeds are going to those games. There's going to be
35:46quite a bit of pressure on the home teams there. And, uh, you know, if Leeds can, um, I mean,
35:52earlier this, um, earlier this season, so they went to, they went to Fulham and, um, and Wolves and
35:59they just see if they could nick something on the travels. And in the event, they nearly got
36:02a point at Fulham, very, you know, just, uh, a sort of freakish own goal really at the end,
36:07wasn't it? And, uh, so then they went to Wolves and, uh, and win. And, uh, yeah, I mean,
36:12if you, you know, it'd be nice if Leeds could eat kind of a result or two here, or maybe even nick
36:16a win, you know, that would be, that would be tremendous and set them up for the, um, for the,
36:21for the Villa game. But they'll certainly go into these two games in a lot better heart,
36:25I think, because if they'd have not, um, they'd not got a, got a result against West Ham coming
36:30off the, off the Burnley game, there'd have been, uh, well, there'd have been a lot of noise on social
36:35media for the start, but it would, uh, it would have been a, a little bit disconcerting.
36:39Yeah. I just think for all, for all the promoted teams, it's just always been about being ahead of
36:46the game. I mean, you think of the whole season under Phil Brown, where they basically, from pretty
36:50much all their points in the first half of the season, got that cushion and then really needed it.
36:54Yeah. Because there'll be, there'll be clubs, the established clubs, some of them at least
36:59will come on stronger. You know, they'll change manager, they'll get a bounce from that, they'll
37:03spend money in January and all that sort of thing. Yeah. So you've just got to stay, stay ahead of it.
37:07And that's what Leeds have done well. I mean, you know, they've got, they've got a pretty, well,
37:11very daunting run coming up after those games in terms of Villa, Chelsea, uh, what is it? Villa,
37:16Villa, Chelsea, uh, Liverpool, sorry, Villa, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool. You're not banking on many points from
37:22them. So as Leon said, if you can get something from the next couple and just give yourself that
37:27cushion, that's what it's all about. And that's what Leeds have been, Leeds have been really good
37:31at, um, so far this season, getting above that mark and then having to use up a bit of that credit.
37:38But yeah, Brighton are a team, you know, we've, we've seen over the years, they can beat the best
37:43teams in the league, but they're not consistent. And, and as Leon says, you know, Forrest are vulnerable
37:48at the moment, you know, you wonder with them at some point, if Sean Dyche is going to get to grips
37:53with them, but it's early days, good time to catch them before he, he's fully, fully got into them.
37:59Um, so yeah, um, make the most of it really. And, and, and just, just give yourself the, the,
38:06the wriggle room for those, uh, for those nasty looking games coming up.
38:10And I mean, yeah, they've given themselves a little bit more, I don't think freedom's the right word,
38:14but it's, I think there was, most people at the start of the season just thought,
38:18all right, it's just going to be a total, um, war of attrition basically for nine months.
38:22And, uh, you know, there's been, there's been chinks of light for all of them as well,
38:27hasn't it? And there's, you know, the fact there's a few more teams who were,
38:31who'd look to be in the mix. I mean, we talked about Forrest,
38:33we're on the third manager this season, aren't we?
38:35And I'm, it's a bit of an upset.
38:36Very wary, but it ends without relegation.
38:38Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, there's obviously been a lot,
38:41a lot of turnover there and we, and we know when it's sort of Christmas yet. Oh,
38:45it's so, uh, you know, it would be, I think it's fair to say now it would be,
38:50it would constitute a surprise. I think if, if all three. Yeah.
38:54Not at sides went straight back down, which is obviously what happened last year.
38:58But, you know, there's, the signs are that that shouldn't happen this season.
39:01And, uh, you know, let's hope from a Leeds perspective that they're one of them, uh,
39:05uh, that, that, that retain the place in the top line.
39:09Mm. And take your Yorkshire hat out of it.
39:11You know, it will be good for the league if two or three of those teams stay up.
39:15It needs it, frankly, because it's in danger of getting uncompetitive in that respect.
39:21So, but as Leon says, if you're, if you're a Leeds, if you're a Leeds fan,
39:25you, you definitely want to be one of them, obviously.
39:27Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, you, you mentioned there with regards to
39:31Leeds basically having to stay ahead of the game and everything. Um, and I think my, my
39:39dad and I have spoken about this for, for a number of seasons now, the way that the
39:43Premier League is divided up, you've got the top six, the middle seven, and then the bottom
39:47seven. All Leeds have to do now is just make sure that they're in the right place of that bottom
39:54seven, get the points from the games against those that are in and around them, which is
39:59going to be in the bottom seven, let's be honest. Um, as long as they do that, then safety will
40:06more or less come to them. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a big psychological thing for them that they
40:12haven't been in the relegations earlier this season. And the longer that continues, the better. I mean,
40:18there may, you know, there may be a point where they do drop in because you do get these horror
40:22runs, but, um, the longer they stay out, the more confidence they'll have. And I do think there is,
40:29there is quite a much of a much just, I mean, you look at, you look at what Nottingham Forest
40:32were doing last season and you look at the way they've been dragged into that, into that bottom
40:37group. Um, there's not much to choose between, between a lot of those teams. So if you can
40:44take advantage when, when you're having a good day, hang in there when you're having a bad day,
40:48get, get a bit of luck, you know, get ahead of the game, spend your money wisely, have all these
40:55sort of things. Um, the possibilities are there for you, but, um, but there will, you know,
41:00there will be times on this podcast over the course of the season where we're starting to get a bit
41:04twitchy because it's been a while since they've gone and all that sort of thing. And that's where
41:08you need to hang in there and really believe. Exactly. I mean, it's limiting the bad days,
41:12isn't it? I mean, even though they got beat at Burnley by all accounts, they had a hell of a lot
41:17of chances as well. Yeah. Yeah. So it wasn't, it wasn't a case of the, the sort of got battered
41:22to now. I mean, you know, I think you just got to take the, you got to take the Arsenal result out
41:26of it really, aren't you? I mean, there's, you know, there's a, there's a very good chance that
41:29they're going to last the course this year. And, uh, yeah, you know, the gap between Arsenal and, uh,
41:34with respect to the, uh, the, the, the, the leads of this world is ginormous, isn't it really? So
41:40you don't really read too much into that, but, uh, yeah, I'm not, uh, you know,
41:45they're limiting the bad days at the minute, which is good. Exactly. Exactly. And our attention
41:49now turns to the clash between Barnsley and Rotherham United, which saw the points being
41:53claimed by the Millers. This is now their third win in a row. Uh, while on the other hand,
41:59Barnsley have seen their form take somewhat of a dip in recent weeks. Um, what did you make of the,
42:05of the game, uh, overall, Leon? Well, if, if you, if you're counting the, um, EFL trophy,
42:12and I'm sure, Matt, I'm sure it will be there. It's, you know, it's a winning streak of, um,
42:17five games. I don't think that's happened for, must be, must be two and a half years,
42:22something like that, when they, um, obviously last got promoted under, under Paul Warren. Yeah,
42:27it's coming together a bit for, for Rotherham. We, we sort of talked, mentioned Huddersfield,
42:32you know, the perfect storm of things is going against them. It's sort of,
42:35uh, a few things are sort of starting to go for Rotherham, aren't they? They, they're getting a few,
42:41um, important senior players back. Obviously, Sam Nombe is, um, back on deck. Uh, hopefully, um,
42:48Tom Holmes will, will not be too long either. And, you know, suddenly he's got one or two decisions
42:52to make, hasn't he? I mean, you looked at, at the bench at Barnsley, you had like Sean Raggett was on
42:57there. There was Nombe, there was Rhys James, you know, good, good, good senior players. And, um,
43:05I think moments in, um, in games are probably going for, for Rotherham as well. And he's,
43:11he's making some smart substitutions as well. I think that's one thing that's
43:14worth saying about, um, Matt Hampshire. He did it at, um, he did it at Northampton when he,
43:20when he brought on, um, Jordan, uh, Jordan Hugel. And, um, I think again, on, on Saturday,
43:26it was a, it was a funny game at Barnsley. They were, I thought I was disappointed by Rotherham.
43:30I've got to be honest in the first half, given that, that they've been, you know, in terms of
43:35results, they've been playing, um, you know, reasonably well, they didn't bring much to the,
43:41to the party. And it just, you know, I think everyone knows about the, the narrative of
43:45Rotherham at, um, Oakwell. They've not won in, in 14 league games. They've won a cup game at the
43:51start of the seventies, but they haven't won in the league since March, 1969. And, uh, you know,
43:57real sort of, um, house of, house of pain for, for Rotherham. And they'd lost it. I think even
44:03regardless of venue that Barnsley are a bit of a bogey team that they'd won the last, uh, seven
44:08against them. And, uh, yeah, in the first half, you know, Barnsley, they were the team that were
44:11proactive, had the chances and, um, they just couldn't find that moment. David McGoldrick went close.
44:17It hit the post. Uh, Cleary looked, um, after his, his, um, wonder goal against Bradford, he was lively.
44:24Um, Luke, Luke O'Connell went close with three kick, but, uh, yeah, they just couldn't find,
44:30find a way through Barnsley. And I think halftime came at a good time. He brought on, uh, Nombe, an extra,
44:36an extra body up front. And, uh, they sort of, um, rolled with a few punches rather than waited for the
44:42moment. And, um, um, and, uh, and they took it. They went close just before the score,
44:49the shot from, uh, Dan Gore just went over the top. But, you know, the one quality,
44:53real quality moment came from, um, from Kian Spence. And, uh, obviously he started the season.
44:58He got a few injury issues. He's come into it. And, uh, what a way to score your first goal.
45:03And then, you know, and win a, win a, win a derby at Oakwell in the league for the first time in,
45:08in, in 56, um, years. And yeah, it's, it's coming to, uh, it's coming together a bit for Rotherham.
45:17But I still think it's, it's a transitional season for them. They're going to have, um,
45:22they're going to have bumps in the road, but I just think psychologically it was,
45:26it was big to the, big for them. It was good to see Tony Stewart as well stay, you know, stay in his seat,
45:31because I've done a few of these games and he, uh, he buzzes off with 20 minutes to go usually
45:36and beats the traffic in disgust. So, uh, it was pleasant for him to have his, have his moment.
45:41Matt Hamshaw as well, who's, um, who actually lives on the outskirts of Barnsley, funnily enough,
45:46even though he's a, he's a Rotherham lad, you know, you really felt he needed that. Um, they'd lost,
45:52I think, Stewart did the Doncaster game. They lost there. So that was, there was a bit of pain
45:57there for the supporters that lost in the last minute at Mansfield, which even though it's not
46:02a local derby, that, that will have hurt as well. But, uh, yeah, I mean, it's terrific, terrific.
46:07Well, I mean, it's funny, just quickly on Barnsley, it's just a bit of a, it's a little bit of a dip
46:12for them, isn't it? There was a few, obviously we mentioned Huddersfield and they started off
46:16really well. They've had a dip. Doncaster as well. And, uh, you know, Barnsley is sort of in,
46:20in danger with that as well. They've got a good point at, um,
46:23um, uh, Bradford the week before, but they couldn't, they couldn't back it up. They haven't
46:27won in the league since, um, mid, mid September. And, um, yeah, they've got another couple of,
46:33I think it's a bit of a crucial week for Barnsley. They've got a, a banana skin cup game against,
46:38against York. Um, I think the dynamics of the day will be quite interesting because there's
46:44probably going to be around 3000 York fans behind one goal and the Pontefract road at the
46:49other end will be closed. So I think in, you know, it'll feel a little bit like,
46:54if you're not careful, it could feel potentially like a home game for York, if anything.
46:58Flashback to last week for you.
46:59Yeah. Well, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then the week, then the week after they've got to go to,
47:04uh, to Doncaster and, uh, you know, that looks a big game, doesn't it really? So, um, yeah,
47:09it'd be interesting to see what he, what, uh, Jorge Hain does with it, with his lineup on,
47:14on, on Saturday. If, if you bring us a couple of Mexico to change and they do well,
47:17will he go with them for the, for the, um, for the Doncaster game? But I think first things first,
47:22it's, uh, you know, it's getting past York and it, you know, it looks a sticky game. And that one,
47:28yeah, I mean, it's, I think one issue for Barnes, if you sort of look at the minute,
47:33it's just that lack of clean sheets, isn't it? You know, we've been talking about it,
47:37um, you know, quite a lot. They've only had one in the league this season.
47:40They've only, this year they've, they've kept only two in 22 at Oakwell. And, uh,
47:45uh, I know speaking, uh, you spoke to, to Jorge Hain this week and, uh, you know,
47:50he doesn't want to really just pin it on all on the defence. He thinks that other people in front of
47:54them aren't doing their job a little bit and being a bit loose, but, um, yeah. And if, um,
48:01like a lot of teams, you need to grind out results at this time of the year,
48:04get a few scrappy one nils and, uh, you know, have Barnes got the capacity to, uh, to do that?
48:11I suppose the good thing in a way is that Mark Roberts is back at least, but they look at Timo need to,
48:16they look like they've got some goals. They've got goals in the team. They've got them at Goldricks.
48:20They've got, um, DKD and okay, things didn't quite work for them last week, but I think they've got
48:26enough in the lock to suggest that the goals will, will come on a reasonably regular basis,
48:32but I think it's at the other end where, um, where they need to keep it a little bit tighter.
48:37Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it can turn so quickly in the year for good or for bad, you know,
48:42Rotherham are a point behind Barnsley and two behind Huddersfield. And a month ago,
48:47you never have put money on that. It's a funny old game saying, but, um, yeah, it's just in those
48:53tough times, it's just about sticking to your principles and believing in yourself. And as Leon
48:57says, Mark Roberts being back will be huge. He is one of those, one of those leaders and obviously
49:03just has defensive skills as well as leadership ones to, uh, to get them through it. They do,
49:08they look like they need to become a bit tougher to beat. Rotherham just need to ride this wave,
49:13you know, three, three home games to come. The last one against Lincoln, who I've got a feeling
49:18Leon's about to tell us what a good team they are. But, um, if you go into that on a wave,
49:23you know, suddenly the world looks a different place. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
49:28quickly with Barnsley, I think they are missing Adam Phillips as well. Yes. I mean, he's one of
49:33those, he might not, he's one of those players who he might not have the best game. He's got big
49:36moments. He can, he can sort of, um, you know, he's short-footed, he can, he can, he can score big
49:42goals and I think they're missing him a little bit at the minute. Yeah. Yeah. And finally this week,
49:46we will take a look at the player and team of the week. Let's start with Stuart. Um, which team have you
49:53chosen this week, uh, to get the coveted title? Well, we've not had many, um, wins to choose from.
50:02Um, so I'll, I'll pick Leon's brains a little bit with regard to Bradford because he was at Bradford
50:06Lincoln City last night. They're, they're another team that, um, you know, having, having a dip really,
50:13but their dip has been four draws on the trot. And I think when you're not losing games, that's,
50:20that's significant. I mean, I don't, I don't know what you, what you made of them on Tuesday.
50:24Yeah. And keeping, I think keeping the home form Stuart, isn't it really? They've, um,
50:29I think they've now, it's, I think it's 13, 13 home games in all competitions have not been beaten
50:34since, um, since, um, mid March. You're going to get days like this, aren't you? You know,
50:39you're going to get days where everything doesn't sort of, you know, um, come together. You're going
50:43to get tested. The crowd, you know, an early goal doesn't come and, but yeah, it's the old sort of
50:48cliche, isn't it? If you can't, if you can't win, you know, uh, don't lose. And that's what
50:53Bradford did a good Lincoln team who, um, you know, they would have gone above Bradford, wouldn't
50:58they? If they wouldn't as well. So, you know, obviously the game before Yorkshire at home,
51:02a Yorkshire Derby against, um, against Barnaby during that. Yeah. I mean, ideally,
51:08Bradford would be looking to win that, but they've got to be context as well. And in terms of who they
51:12play, they played, they played Barnes, the Yorkshire Derby, they played Lincoln who were having a,
51:17they've been building really nicely the last few seasons, got some good players and, um,
51:22and Stevenage in between that. Yeah. And Stevenage as well. I mean,
51:25obviously they're flying, flying high at the top and it might be three draws in a row,
51:29but they've become the first team to stop, um, Stevenage winning at home. So,
51:33you know, that looks a pretty good result for me. Yeah. So I think, I think you put that Stevenage
51:37and that Lincoln team result together, even though they're both draws,
51:41they've got to be in the mix for the team and team of the week. As you said earlier, big win for Leeds.
51:46But I just think from where they've been to where they've come to, I think Rotherham have to be there,
51:52be the team of the week for me, for the way they've, uh, the way they're continuing to,
51:56to turn things around. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, Leon, who have you decided deserves the player of the week title this,
52:03this week? Well, there's been a bit, uh, one or one or two candidates, um, you know,
52:09a few sort of foremarses as well, Joe Gellhart, he, he got another, another goal and, you know,
52:15he shows he's, uh, you know, he's a championship sort of, um, a good championship operator and,
52:21you know, a couple, a couple of goals for him. You know, Stewart's mentioned Rotherham and yeah,
52:26you've got to, I've got to mention some of their players, Cam Dawson, another,
52:29another clean sheet for him. He didn't have to do loads and loads against Barnsley, but what he did,
52:35he did, he did it tidally. He made a good save from Luke O'Connell and, um, you know, his, his handling
52:40was good. Um, Zach, Zach Jules, whose partner I think gave birth on, on Thursday. So it'd been a
52:48big week for him. And, uh, he was, he, he's had a little bit of, um, a little bit of ups and downs
52:55this season, so they gave away a penalty in Oldhampton, but it really shouldn't have been a penalty
53:00on set, but he had a good performance from him, made, made, made his blocks. Um, Ian Spence as well,
53:07he was really waiting for that moment, wasn't he? You know, he had his armstring injury and I think
53:11he'd suffered, uh, some really bad blisters as well in, in, in the summer. So not waiting for that
53:18impact. He's sort of made it leads as well. Brendan, Brendan Aronson, you know, he's, uh, he's had a good
53:25start to the season and he, you know, he's won his place back in the affections of, of, um, of
53:30supporters, even though it's a losing cause. Um, uh, Callum O'Hare, you know, I did the game at, uh,
53:37Blackburn, you know, he, he sort of was the catalyst for the second half Renaissance and
53:42he got his goal against, uh, was it Watford? Wasn't it? The, the, or he, he looked good at
53:48Preston, um, linking up well there. So yeah, it's good to see him, uh, sort of back on, back on form.
53:55I think, I think the one I'm probably going to go for is, um, is, is Joe Rodon, you know,
53:59not just because he got a goal again. He's, he's had a really strong start to the, to the season.
54:04Now he showed his, he's showing his power in, in sort of both boxes and, um, yeah, another,
54:10another, another cracking header, you know, he's a real leader for leads in, uh, in that,
54:15in that back line. And, uh, you know, I think he's been pivotal to, to, to, to their sort of
54:20sound and steady start to the season. Yeah. And, and, um, um,
54:24Daniel Farquhar was talking before the West Ham game, not in quite so many words,
54:28but not far off, basically said Joe Rodon was next to useless when it came to, uh,
54:33scoring, scoring goals when I started working with him. And then he'd been really been on
54:37his case. Yeah. You, you had in Wales and that's, that's three goals. There was a lot of talk in
54:43pre-season about how important set pieces will be for leads. Obviously it's been there. It's been the,
54:48you know, the buzz topic of the Premier League this season. Um, yeah, we, we, we know they don't
54:54have the quality and, and, and cost of strikers that, that some clubs want. So you've got to chip
55:00in from everywhere, but it's not just about his goals. He's been defending very well as well. So I
55:05think, uh, I think that's, uh, as usual, a very good choice. Yeah. Yorkshirepost.co.uk
55:28Many thanks to Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobtrill, who will doubtless join us again soon for more
55:31discussions on the Yorkshire football scene. But don't forget, you can keep up to date with all
55:35the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by logging on to our website at yp.sport at
55:40nationalworld.com. Or if you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football, or even
55:44Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well. If you have any questions for our writers,
55:49you can get in touch using those various Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us directly with the
55:53subject matter as footballtalkpodcast at yp.sport at nationalworld.com. As ever, many thanks for
55:59listening, look after yourselves, and bye for now.
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