On this week’s show, YP football writers Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall join host Mark Singleton to look back on the Yorkshire derby between Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesdat at Elland Road, as well as cast an eye over their January Transfer Window activity so far and what is maybe still required.
They also assess Sheffield United’s automatic promotion chances after another positive week in the Championship and look at the business done so far by Hull City as Ruben Selles looks to plot a route away from trouble at the bottom of the second tier.
And we have the latest Player of the Week and Team of the Week.
They also assess Sheffield United’s automatic promotion chances after another positive week in the Championship and look at the business done so far by Hull City as Ruben Selles looks to plot a route away from trouble at the bottom of the second tier.
And we have the latest Player of the Week and Team of the Week.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:14we'll be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:17of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by Chief Football
00:21Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post,
00:24John Walshall, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't
00:29keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by logging onto our website
00:33at yp.sportatnationalworld.com, as well as checking out our various Twitter feeds,
00:38the main one being at YPSport. If you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football,
00:44or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well. And if you have any questions
00:48for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter or Facebook pages,
00:52or email us directly with a subject matter as Football Talk Podcast at yp.sportatnationalworld.com.
00:59As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week, we're joined by Chief Football Writer for the
01:05Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Walshall.
01:08Good morning, guys.
01:09Morning.
01:10Hello.
01:11Right. This week in the Championship, we saw Sheffield United play out a 2-1 victory when
01:16they travelled to Swansea City, and we'll be covering them later on in the show.
01:20Middlesbrough fell to a 2-1 defeat when they visited Portsmouth, which was followed by a
01:252-0 victory when they welcomed West Bromwich Albion, and Hull City claimed all three points
01:30in their 1-0 victory over Millwall before playing out a 2-1 defeat when they welcomed
01:35Queen's Park Rangers, and we'll also be looking at them later on in the show as well.
01:40In League One, Huddersfield Town had to settle for a point in their very well-fought
01:452-2 draw with Blackpool.
01:48Barsley fell to a disappointing 3-1 defeat when they paid a visit to Bristol Rovers,
01:53and Rotherham United claimed all three points in their 4-2 victory over Charlton Athletic.
02:00And in League Two, Doncaster Rovers overcame Gillingham with a 1-0 victory.
02:05Bradford City claimed all three points in their 1-0 victory over Carlisle United,
02:09and Harrogate Town claimed a much-needed 2-0 victory over Cheltenham Town.
02:14However, let's start this week with the Yorkshire clash between Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday,
02:19which saw the home side walk away as victors in a deserved 3-0 victory,
02:24which saw them return to the top of the table until Sheffield United responded in their mid-week game,
02:29which, as I mentioned earlier on, we're going to cover a little bit later on in the show.
02:34For now, though, what did you make of the performances from both Leeds United and
02:38Sheffield Wednesday, who, let's be honest, are still in the hunt for a play-off spot
02:43despite that result, Stuart?
02:45Yeah, well, I mean, you described it as a deserved win, and it definitely was,
02:50but I don't think it was a 3-0 margin. I think it sort of, like I said in my rematch report,
02:56for 85 minutes between Leeds' early goal and their second goal, it was a very tight game,
03:01but it just shows how the little details can make such a big difference at any level, really,
03:08but, you know, particularly at championship level. And that, just those extra moments of quality,
03:13those extra players of quality that Sheffield Wednesday don't really have at the moment,
03:18particularly once Shea Charles goes back from his loan spell, there'll be even fewer of that.
03:25It just shows, you know, it's unrealistic to expect Sheffield Wednesday to get to Leeds' level,
03:33quite frankly, without the parachute money that they have, but it shows what they have to
03:39strive towards and what, you know, what makes us all, I think, I think most people certainly think
03:46that Leeds have got what it takes to win automatic promotion this season. Just that little bit of
03:55ruthlessness, Daniel Farke was talking about them returning to normal service when it comes to their
04:02defensive side of the game. And as I say, just the moments that matter, you know,
04:08the depth from the bench to be able to bring on Laji Ramazani, who's starting to work back to the
04:14sort of form that we saw before he's injured. Willy Nonto can't get in the side at the moment.
04:21He's having one of those sort of lulls in performance, I would say, that, you know,
04:26you're going to get over the course of the season. But, you know, he's having that at the time when
04:31Maynard Solomon's on great form. And as I said, Ramazani too, you know, Daniel James isn't
04:36ticking over too badly either. So there's just so, so many options there that Wednesday don't
04:42have. And obviously that's the big struggle at Sheffield Wednesday at the moment. Danny
04:48Rowe's trying to add at least a few of those players and they're, you know, they're very
04:54difficult to get regardless of who your chairman is. It's difficult to entice those players away.
05:01We see it time and time again nowadays, you get a good player on a season-long loan,
05:07they have too good a first half of the season and the parent club pulls the plug and
05:12takes them away, often not even to use them, often to sell them on to someone else.
05:17It's frustrating, but, you know, that's what happens when you borrow players rather than buy
05:21them, I guess. So, yeah, certainly not too dispiriting a day for Sheffield Wednesday.
05:27They can look at the performance and say it was pretty good, but, you know, as you say,
05:34they are still in the playoff picture, but I just feel that the squad as it stands,
05:40even if you include Charles, it's just a couple of quality players light of being at that playoff
05:47level. They're not far off. I think it's bridgeable in January if the will is there to do
05:54it, but as it stands, they're just not quite at that level, I don't think.
06:00No, I think it just shows where they're at. I did a game earlier this season against
06:06Burnley at home and I thought they played reasonably well Sheffield Wednesday, but
06:12a couple of moments went away from them and they lost the game. It's just getting to that
06:17next level, isn't it? You've spoken about it consistently, Danny Roll, getting those
06:22elite players to take them on to the next level. From a tactical perspective, they look pretty good
06:31against Leeds, but Leeds have just got too much in their armoury, ultimately, haven't they? They've
06:39got a level of quality on the bench. If someone's not doing it, they've got other players who can
06:46come on and provide game-breaking moments. It's normal services resuming for Leeds. They've had
06:5614 home games in the league, they've won 11, they've only lost one. It's almost like the old
07:04days, isn't it? With Ellen Road, it's a real fortress. There's no free lunches for visiting
07:11sides. It'll just be fascinating for me to see if they do bring anybody in before the end of the
07:18window, perhaps another game-breaker. There's a lot of talk about Mundea, who obviously Farker
07:24knows well and he's worked with him successfully at Norwich. I'm a big fan of bringing in players
07:33when you're at the top. You're striving for honours and you're on good form.
07:42I think he'd be an excellent option for me. He's got real pedigree.
07:47As we've spoken about quite a few times on the podcast, he's got to make it a real
07:53tight promotion race for the two spots there. Fair play at Sunderland, they're not going away.
07:59Obviously, they've made a big signing from the consonant in the window so far.
08:07Sunderland go to Leeds next month, Leeds have got to go to Bramall Lane. It's obviously a huge game
08:12coming up at Turf Moor. These games could be decided by these real fine margins, a mistake,
08:22a moment of magic and it'll just be fascinating to see how that pans out when the table is
08:28finalised at the end of the season. Leeds are reassuringly strong, especially on home soil.
08:37There's obviously a bit of a differential between their away points and their home points. They've
08:42got about 34-35 at home and they've got something like 21 away so they need to tighten that up a
08:50little bit. They're doing the job, that's probably the best thing to say in a nutshell.
08:58I think for Leeds, it's about making the right signings. I think some of our clubs,
09:05they just need numbers, they just need to change things. I think for Leeds, if the right person
09:11doesn't come along, there's no need to sign someone for the sake of it. But if someone of
09:16the quality of Buendia comes along, then definitely, that's an option worth taking.
09:22As Leo highlighted with the away form, the fact that they're not
09:27tens of points clear, they're not a perfection, you can always improve on it. But when you've got,
09:34as I say, when you've got Nantes having a bit of a dip and you've still got all those options,
09:39when you've got Pascal Stroikow injured and you can brush it off with a clean sheet against
09:46Wednesday, when they've been shorter at left back recently and cope with it,
09:52it shows you there is a depth there, there is definite quality. But always, as Leon says,
10:00if in a position of strength you can have someone who will just take you to that next level,
10:04you'd be mad not to. But it's just not a panic situation. It's not like a situation at
10:11Hull or Rotherham or someone like that where they really need positions addressed. So it's a nice
10:19place to be in. They should have a few quid in the bank from the summer as well. So yeah, looking
10:28good for Leeds. For Sheffield Wednesday, I do think there is that need to just get that extra
10:35player or two and it'll probably be loan signings, not so much because of finance, but just because
10:40of that quality of player, it's difficult to buy when you're a mid-table championship side.
10:46But yeah, I guess it depends on what the ambitions of the club are, which is what
10:51Roel keeps talking about. Where they are now is very respectable when you consider the wage bill
10:57and everything else. But obviously, as fans, you always want to be more ambitious. And as we
11:03mentioned before, when you've got a manager who's going places, he wants to be ambitious too. So
11:09they need to decide between them where they want to go. They need to actually start
11:14acting like grown-ups and talking to each other in terms of the chair and the manager
11:18and crack on because time's ticking. I think, Kevin, you look at the table, the top four
11:27are pretty much away, aren't they? But there's a good chance there's two slots beneath them in
11:32fifth and sixth. I don't think anyone's making a massively convincing case. I mean,
11:37funnily enough, I went to Hull against Queen's Parade on Tuesday night and it's crazy to think
11:44I was looking at QPR's form and I think they were down, I don't know if you did the game,
11:50Stuart, you probably did, they lost at Leeds in early November. They were pretty much down among
11:56the dead men and I think they've gone one defeat in 13 and now they're not that far away from the
12:01playoffs themselves of only about four or five points and no one's really shown that consistency.
12:06I mean, you look at West Brom, you look at Middlesbrough, you look at Watford. It suggests
12:11to me that there could be one if not two teams. It could be determined by how the final sort of
12:18stretch and run of the season goes and see Sheffield Wednesday are in that bracket. Danny
12:22Rowley, he wants to go places fast, doesn't he really? And he's probably spied a bit of
12:27an opportunity if Wednesday do, bringing two or three of those quality players that he wants and
12:34he believes that a club of the cachet of Sheffield Wednesday can bring in. I suppose the other side
12:40will see that Wednesday did finish in the top 12. It's still been a pretty good season, hasn't it,
12:45considering where they were last season when they were scratching around all over the place and it
12:49was a bit of a right off the opening half of that season. But there is,
12:56I think the top and bottom of it, there is an opportunity for someone somewhere, isn't there?
13:02January comes into it, doesn't it? And it could well be that a couple of Srout signings here and
13:09there makes the difference for one of those aspirants, whether it's Sheffield Wednesday,
13:14whether it's West Brom, whether it's whoever really. It could be really important in that regard.
13:20Yeah, I think that's the thing. You never want to settle and there is an opportunity there. So,
13:24it's a matter of who can grasp it, whether that be Middlesbrough or whoever. As Leo's just said,
13:30it could be any number of teams and you just don't want to let these moments pass you by because you
13:34never know when the next one's going to come along. If they can get a couple of those,
13:38you look at the form and they've been pretty good at beating teams around them, haven't they really?
13:44It's just that next bracket of teams, teams around them as well, getting some big wins
13:50against those and the hand will be strengthened by a few more quality signings. So, over to you,
13:59Mr Chan-Siri. And certainly with Shea Charles going, the last thing any team wants in any
14:05transfer window is to come out a bit weaker. That's a big player to replace.
14:10It'd be reprehensible, wouldn't it, if they didn't replace him and build on what they've got. But
14:16it's wise not to make predictions for Sheffield Wednesday, isn't it?
14:19Absolutely.
14:21And next we head to Bramall Lane, where Sheffield United stayed in the hunt for the top two places
14:27with a 2-0 victory over Norwich City, thanks to a Harrison Burroughs brace, which was then followed
14:32up by that 2-1 victory against Swansea City, which I mentioned at the top of the episode,
14:38which at the time of this episode sees them go back to the top of the table.
14:43What were your thoughts on the two performances, Leon?
14:46Well, I think Stuart's seen a bit more of Sheffield United than me, but we'd probably
14:51both agree that it's sort of two sides of them, really, isn't it? They obviously weren't at the
14:56best at Swansea, and Mr Kishwarda was having a bit of a wry smile about it, wasn't he,
15:02in his post-match comments. Basically said they were awful in the first half. Went behind,
15:07by all accounts, they could have been a few more behind, but they've shown a strong jaw,
15:14haven't they? They've had a lot of adversity, going back from the summer with the points
15:19deduction and the difficulties to bring players in, then issues with players going out, injuries
15:28that they've had a lot to contend with. You go back to earlier in the season when they were flying
15:35and then lost those two games at Leeds and Middlesbrough, a bit of a blow. People were starting
15:41to say, well, what's going to happen here? Are they going to fall away? They've sort of
15:48made the doubters eat humble pie. They've shown that backbone, that resilience,
15:54the fact that the dressing room looks strong again. They dug out a brilliant win the other
16:00week at Watford, wasn't it? They had all manner of players out and really rolled up the sleeves.
16:05That was a fantastic result and you could just sense the pride in Chris Wilder afterwards. He
16:11probably felt a little bit in the same way on Tuesday night, although probably things
16:17went for them a little bit more with the sending off. It's a long trip on a Tuesday night,
16:23going to Swansea, they're back in action in three days against Holland. They're the sort of wins
16:30that you associate with teams who get over the line and certainly last the distance. So they
16:39showed that side of them, that spirited side, that handling a bit of adversity and coming back.
16:46Just on Saturday, I did the game against Norwich and it was everything that you'd want at this
16:53sort of stage of the season at home when you're going for the top two. It was pretty comfortable
17:00for Sheffield United. They were back on message in terms of the home form, back to getting the
17:06clean sheets. They controlled large parts of the game and it was a pretty strong performance.
17:15I mentioned in the report about what they were recruiting when they got Callum O'Hare in the
17:22summer, the one that's buying a talented number 10, they were getting an understanding with Gulsamer
17:27from their time at Coventry. Some of their interplay was a joy to see. It was obviously
17:34Toonley in the end, it could well have been three or four nil. Such good players, aren't they,
17:40the pair of them. I like the look of Tom Davies as well. Unfortunately, he obviously picked up a
17:48slight injury and didn't play in midweek. He did enough to suggest to me that he could be a
17:55pretty handy player in the running. He showed all his experience. They did what they had to do
18:02at home. We talked about Adam Rowe being a bit of a fortress. Bramall Lane's been pretty like
18:08that as well, hasn't he? He's shown that side of it at home, controlling the narrative and being
18:14dominant. Obviously, a long away trip in midweek. One or two things went against him in the first
18:20half, but they didn't panic and they found a way. Obviously, in the background, there's
18:30lined up a few players. It looks like Tom Callum's going to come in. There's Si Brayton-Diaz.
18:36We mentioned earlier about Leeds. It's a good time to sign players when you're going well.
18:45It's a happy ship and things are looking good. Sheffield United are doing that.
18:50What he said on Saturday, Chris Wilder, he was pretty confident about getting five players in
18:55before the end of the window. Looking good over at Bramall Lane, just as it is at Earlham Road.
19:02I think Sheffield United are in a different boat to what I was saying about Leeds. They do need
19:07the numbers because injuries are biting. They probably need the morale boost that that provides.
19:14But certainly, looking from afar, it just felt like they were a bit refreshed against Norwich.
19:21Two weeks into the last Championship game, they played Cardiff in the FA Cup in between time, but
19:27rested a lot of players then. Ahead of that Norwich game, while they've been talking about
19:32there might be five players back from injury. I think Tyrese Campbell was the only one on the
19:37bench. That was offset by Kiefer Moore not being able to continue through his hernia problem.
19:48About two or three signings coming through the door. Again, that didn't happen.
19:53Obviously, Leon watched the game. He's much better placed than me to talk about. It just
19:58felt like mentally and physically they were a bit refreshed, a bit brighter. Even though they
20:04won at Watford, it felt like it was a real struggle at that stage of the season with the injuries
20:09biting. Playing in Swansea on a Tuesday and then playing Hull on a Friday is going to be tough.
20:16It'd be tough enough for Hull and they haven't had that journey time. It'd be tough for Sheffield
20:21United. They've obviously got the lift of Brereton Diaz now. If they can have Tom Cannon through the
20:27door or a couple of these other signings, even if they don't make it onto the pitch to play,
20:33I'm sure they'll come on and give everyone a wave and just lift the mood at Grammar Lane a bit,
20:38give everyone a bit of a lift. When Wilder started talking about making five signings,
20:46given the quality of the signings he made in the summer. Michael Cooper's arguably the best
20:51goalkeeper in the Championship. Leon's just quite rightly waxed lyrical about Calum O'Hare.
20:56Harrison Burroughs has been a really good signer. He's got a really good eye for players who can
21:02really improve a Championship side. So when he says, I'm confident in making five signings,
21:06I think as a Sheffield United fan, you'd be rubbing your hands thinking this can really,
21:11really kick us on and really keep on the coattails of Leeds and Burnley and Sunderland to an extent.
21:19I think he gets the right characters as well. He's aware of
21:24building not just a team but a dressing room in the right way and I think they're enjoying it as
21:29well. I mean, his comments after the game on Saturday and I think the interesting thing
21:36going forward will be there's obviously with the television schedules, it's happened a few times,
21:42hasn't it? Especially going to the World's Business End, you could have one promotion
21:46come to Tender Plain on the Friday night, another one on the Saturday. I mean, you look at it this
21:50weekend, Sheffield United going to bat first, they play Hull City and then obviously on the
21:58Monday you've got Leeds against Burnley finishing off last and that's going to be an interesting
22:03dynamic, isn't it? How they handle that heat, handle that pressure. I remember a few years ago
22:09when Leeds and Sheffield United were going for automatic promotion, there were a lot of subplots
22:17and as journalists we sort of really do lap that up, don't we? That's what we're in the trade for
22:27really. I distinctly remember I did a game at Bramall Lane, I think it was Sheffield United
22:34against Millwall and Leeds were, it was on a Saturday, I think Sheffield United was a three
22:39o'clock game, Leeds were at the, I think they were the late kickoff, they might have even been
22:43playing Sheffield Wednesday but Sheffield United, Millwall scored a late equaliser and I remember
22:52tweeting it and my old social media line went absolutely berserk with all the Leeds people
22:58jumping on it and that's going to be part of it, isn't it? Definitely. You could have it, it could,
23:03you know, not just Leeds and Sheffield United, you've got Sunderland, the huge club and Burnley
23:08and how they handle that, how you handle that heat, you know, March, April, you know, when the
23:15daffodils come out, squeaky bum time, call it what you will, that could be a key part in this
23:21absorbing race. And I think when you do bat first, as Sheffield United are doing this week,
23:27there's a real onus on you to put pressure on the opposition, isn't it? Not leave the door open.
23:33Well, yeah, exactly, exactly. But yeah, as Leon says, it just kind of adds another element to the
23:39psychology and this season, you know, more than any with the TV deal, there's so many games all
23:45over the place, there's so many of these moments where one team are out on their own and it's up
23:50to them to apply pressure and if they don't, it gives everyone else a lift. Yeah, exactly.
23:56And next, our focus turns to Hull City, who, as I mentioned before, clashed with Queen's Park
24:02Rangers and fell to a 2-1 defeat, which sees them just outside the drop zone on goal difference.
24:08Now, what did you make of the recent performances and with the Tigers having already made,
24:12I believe it's four signings this window, do you feel like they could still do with a few
24:17more deals being completed, Leon? It's a funny one, I mean, I don't know what
24:24Stuart thinks. I mean, to be fair to Hull, they've had some bad injuries, haven't they,
24:28along the line? Obviously, the two wingers, Bellumi and Miller, but I had a little look
24:33the other day, 32 players they've used. They've basically got another, obviously,
24:39signed Josef from Blackpool, they've signed Amribat, the winger, that takes it to 34. There
24:44were two in the stands for the QPR game, that's 36, could be Sober-Thomas, there could probably
24:51be a few more. So, you're looking at sort of 40 players there, aren't you?
24:56It is, yeah. I mean, you sort of look at the amount of games that Hull have played and
25:05the sort of the amount of players they've used and it's, you know, the amount of players
25:08they've used is comfortably above the number of points they've got and we're not even in February
25:13yet and that's being a bit of an old cynic. I don't think that's, I know they've had injuries
25:19but that's just worrying, isn't it, in terms of building relationships in the spine of your team
25:26and that's what's going to get you, that's what's going to sort of, you would have thought,
25:32get you out of trouble and they're doing a hell of a lot at Hull and I just worry having that
25:40sort of backbone. I mean, you look at the, they didn't play that badly against QPR, to be fair,
25:46and it's just with Stewart again, he's seen a bit more of Hull than I have. That sort of
25:53ruthlessness in both boxes, you know, taking the chances when they come and having that concentration
26:00and that decisiveness at the back, they just had a wobbly 15 minutes in the second half.
26:07QPR scored, you know, two good goals from their perspective but probably preventable ones from
26:13a whole one, certainly the winning goal, it was, you know, it was a good run, don't get me wrong,
26:17but, you know, the defence from drama was poor and obviously it caught Rush without
26:25as well. So, yeah, I worry for Hull in that regard. I suppose the one thing, the good thing
26:33was Joe Geldhard who, you know, he has got some pedigree at this level. He, it was his first
26:40league start for, God knows how long, I think it was about August 20th.
26:44That's his point, I think it was.
26:45Yeah, yeah.
26:46I think he started in the league cup for Leeds.
26:48Is that what it was?
26:49Yeah, yeah. Getting a goal as well, that would be big for him and it was a great goal, wasn't it?
26:53A lovely lob and Matt Crooks as well, getting some, a few miles in his legs, I think they're
27:01sort of grooving sort of signings who you could hope, you'd hope would do something to try to
27:08drag Hull out of trouble. But I just sort of worry a bit about, you know, the dressing room,
27:13they're together this day, there's a lot, a lot of players and all have had injuries and
27:19I just don't really see that sort of core leadership there to drag them out of this
27:24hole that they're in and in a, you know, we're talking about it at the top and it looks a
27:29tight fight there. It could well be a tight fight at the, at the bottom as well and, you know,
27:35it could well be the side with the, it might not be the best side, but the side with the best sort
27:39of unity and resilience and togetherness, you know, they, they might get out of it as opposed
27:46to a side who might have a little bit more on the day in terms of individual qualities, this,
27:51that and the other, but they aren't quite as together. That's, that's my sort of, my sort of
27:57concern with, with Hull. I mean, it's not one back-to-back, only one back-to-back games once,
28:02haven't it? It's still that little three-game cluster which was sort of spoken about in mid,
28:10in mid-autumn and, yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be a long sort of run to the,
28:18to the end, end of the season. They're going to really have to find some, find some resolve and,
28:24and backbone and that's, that's my sort of concern at the minute with them.
28:29Yeah, I mean, my sort of Hull City hobby horse when it comes to this, I think I mentioned it in
28:34the Christmas Transfer podcast, you know, Leon reeled off all those signings and potential
28:39signings and the one word I didn't hear was back. Yeah, you know, they're looking at a defensive
28:45midfielder from Monaco, but it's no disrespect to the individuals who are, who are in their
28:51defence at the moment, but you need a bit of depth in the Championship. You need a bit of DLC
28:55to the defence, you know, to have Sean McLaughlin filling in at left-back the last couple of weeks,
29:00that kind of shows the sort of neglect there's, there's been, you know, Leon's mentioned Jarvis
29:05struggling a bit, a bit at centre-back. I mean, Phil, Phil, Finn Burns has come in and looked
29:11very good at centre-back and he was one of the players they signed in, in the summer, but
29:14that just seems, that just seems constantly at that football club. But, you know, I think,
29:19I think Crooks and Galeheart are both good signings, are both, you know, good signings,
29:24but a position they're in with their, you know, knowledge of the division and that sort of thing.
29:28But it just seems that this, this fascination with the sexy end of the field and not enough
29:35thought about keeping the door shut. Because when Leon's talking about consistency, you get the
29:41consistency by the people who can keep a clean sheet on the, on the days when you're not playing
29:45very well, you know, and, and that, that, that side of the game, they need to, they need to put
29:53more resources into it. It will mean adding even more numbers to that list and that, that is the
29:58worry. But, yeah, I just think, I just think, and I don't think it comes necessarily from the
30:04coaches. I think it comes from higher up. There's this, there's this fascination with, with getting
30:09the, the glamour players, the entertainers, and of course we want Hull to play entertaining
30:14football. And of course, that's the point of it. But, you know, the point about football is even
30:19to play entertaining football, you need that balance. You need, if you're going to have players
30:23who are brilliant on the ball, you need to have someone who can win the ball. Yeah. You know,
30:28and it's, you know, it, it always is and always will be about balance. And to me,
30:33yeah, the recruitment policy for a good few years now has just not been balanced enough.
30:39I mean, they haven't kept a clean sheet for God knows how long at home, have they? You know,
30:43if you, you've got to be, you've got to be more rounded than Cavalier in this sort of thing,
30:48haven't you? You've got to think, where's the, where's the next clean sheet coming from at home?
30:53Kicking that off, maybe get one of those, that could be a stepping stone to a, to a win. And
31:00obviously we've touched on it a few times. They've got some big games, haven't they,
31:03you know, before the end of the season against the teams, teams around them. And
31:08I just still, I don't know, I still get this little bit of a feeling with all the,
31:14especially up in the corridors, Pirates, it's, it's the sort of thing, well, we'll get a few
31:18of these sort of flare plays and then we'll be all right sort of thing. But I just don't think
31:22there's deep down that realisation of how much of a, of a spot they're actually in. And we've seen,
31:28we've seen this many times before of, of, you know, teams and clubs thinking, well, we'll be
31:35okay. We're a bit too, we'll have enough. Yeah. Yeah. In a nutshell. And that's what I fear that
31:43Hull are sort of sleepwalking a bit towards. I mean, I would say on the other side of it,
31:47I do have a lot more confidence now in the, in the coach now that, now they've changed. I do,
31:52I do have a lot of belief in Rupert Sayers, but you know, you've got to be given the tools to
31:56work with and you can only do, you can only do so much for those players. So I think,
32:01I think they will, I think that, I don't think they'll be sort of cast adrift or anything like
32:07that in the relegation zone at the moment. I think they'll be in the battle all the way through,
32:11but it's going to be, it's going to be tighter than it, than it perhaps should be, you know,
32:16with the, with the quality of coach they've got and the, and the resources that they're
32:20prepared to throw at it. They need to, they need to start spending a bit more wisely.
32:24Yeah. I think one thing quickly, I thought the crowd were pretty good. It wasn't, you know,
32:28it wasn't the biggest, biggest crowd on the Tuesday night. It was some 20,000, but they
32:33weren't feeling sorry for themselves and, and they did keep, keep behind them in the circumstances
32:38and, and kept with them. Obviously it was, it was flat when QPR scored, scored the two goals,
32:45but to be fair to Hull, they kept going and they did score a good goal from Geldart and it,
32:50it set up a bit of a grandstand finale. So that was probably another encouraging enough thing
32:56that the fans did stick with him because they're certainly going to need him.
32:59Yeah. Yeah. And finally for this week, I look to Stuart for his team of the week before turning
33:05to Leon for his player of the week. So Stuart, who has caught your eye this week?
33:10Well, it's, it's tempting to go same old, same old. After last week we were, we were talking
33:15up Bradford and Rotherham. They both, they both had, had good weekends, kept, kept the momentum
33:21going. Obviously, obviously talked about, about Leeds, but, you know, they're kind of in line
33:26with expectations that, that performance. So I won't, I won't sort of go overboard about,
33:32about that one. Huddersfield had a, had a really good comeback, as you alluded to at the start
33:36against Blackpool, but having done it so early in the second half, they'll be frustrated they
33:41didn't finish the job. I mean, both teams to be fair had chances to, to win that one. But,
33:46you know, the nature of, the nature of it, you'd be looking at yourself saying we,
33:50we could have done better than that. So I think, I think this week, you know, in, in light of all
33:56we were saying earlier in the pockets, I think I'm going to go for Sheffield United. I think
34:00it's been a good week for them on and off the field when you, when you count on getting Brereton
34:04Diaz. And yeah, as, as Leon says, there's a real, there's a real character and a real resilience
34:10that they've, they've, you know, recruited and built really well there. And it's been a,
34:16been a good week for them. So Sheffield United. And Leon, who has made your Player of the Week
34:22nomination this week? Yeah, there's, there's a few, a few candidates, a few usual suspects,
34:31a few of the league's players put their hands up, not for the first time. That's a Solomon
34:35Tanaka, Jadon Bogle as well. He had a, he had a good game from, from what I saw as well. So he's,
34:42he's going well. Sheffield United, Gus Hamer, who's, you know, I think he's, I think he's a
34:48shoo-in for the, for the championship team, team of the year. I think he's a, he's a super player
34:54and he was, some of his contributions were, certainly against Norwich, were a, you know,
35:01were a joy for me. One or two others as well, but I think the one I'm going to go for is Malik
35:07Wills. He's took a bit of a, he took a bit of a stick in the first half of the season at
35:13Roslingham United, couldn't really get going. There was a lot of speculation that he'd actually
35:17head back to, to Sheffield Wednesday earlier, earlier in January and he'd, you know, the
35:23recall clause had sent him back and he sort of, you know, not too long ago, he's sort of worried
35:30where's his sort of career going really? You know, he's in his, his mid-twenties now,
35:34you know, he's, he's, you know, it's almost like he's had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus,
35:38isn't it really? He's, he's certainly been around definitely at, in, in Yorkshire circles. So,
35:44yeah, fair play to him, you know, he's shown, he's shown the character to put his hand up.
35:51Obviously, you know, fair play to Rotherham as well for sticking, sticking by him and
35:55Steve Evans has obviously bigged him up and whispered a few sweet nothings in his ear or
36:02whatever, come whatever he's done, he's getting the response, he's obviously, you know, Wilks has,
36:08he's, you know, he's come to the party in recent weeks. Rotherham, finally, it looked like they're
36:13getting the season going, they've got, you know, they've had two good wins against,
36:18against, I'm trying to think who it was now, Bolton and, Bolton and Charlton, wasn't it?
36:22And that's obviously coming off the back of some, some solidity away from home and
36:28signs of getting that right, great win at Lincoln, good solid points at, at Huddersfield Town.
36:37So, yeah, there's some encouraging signs at last for Rotherham, Andre Green as well, he's,
36:42he's sort of back in the fold after a long injury, you know, signs of good partnership between him
36:49and, him and Wilks and they're, they're posing a threat to, to attacking teams and, yeah,
36:55and it's good to see Wilks, like I say, put his, put his hand up because when he's,
37:00when he's thick flying and at it, there's a, there's a player in there.
37:04Absolutely, I mean, I, you know, I, I think back with him to, when he was in the Hullside that,
37:11that was a motion from League One and, and he, you know, he was consistent that season in terms of,
37:16I think he, I think he hit 20 goals that season. It's there, you know, it's not just there in the
37:22flashes that we've seen for Rotherham so far this season. He is capable of that consistency and
37:27that's why it annoys the hell out of you when you, when you see him so up and down because you know
37:32there's a player there, but yeah, if Rotherham and Steve Evans can, can find it, you know,
37:37it could make for a very interesting second half of the season for them.
37:40Yeah, yeah, it'd be interesting to see how they do, won't it? They've obviously had that run of
37:43games against, you know, decent sides in, in League One, you know, I mentioned the Huddersfields,
37:47the Lincolns, I did the game against Stockport just after, after Christmas,
37:53Charlton and Bolton. Now on paper, they've got one or two teams who the, you know, it's not,
37:59it's not too bad a, bad of a run, it looks favourable and, but now there's a little bit of,
38:04a little bit of expectation on Rotherham, which they've created themselves and, yeah,
38:10and it's, I think they've, it's arrived in a, at a good time and if they can, you know,
38:15if you can turn this sort of 5-6 game run without a defeat, if that becomes,
38:20you know, 10-11-12, it becomes interesting. Yeah, you know, as you said with QPR earlier,
38:26you know, any division with playoffs, you're never out of it, really.
38:30Yeah, yeah, I think all the divisions, they look, there's, you sort of look, there's a couple of
38:36slots that are open, aren't they? You look across them all and, you know, it can't lead to League
38:42One among that bracket as well, but a long way to go.
39:12Thanks for listening, look after yourselves and bye for now.