With the hectic Christmas and New Year schedule now over for Yorkshire’s clubs, our panel of Stuart Rayner, Leon Wobschall and host Mark Singleton look back on how Yorkshire team’s fared, focussing in particular on the weekend derbies involving Hull City and Leeds United and Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United.
They also assess how pivotal Huddersfield’s 1-0 midweek win at leaders Wycombe Wanderers will be for the Terriers, as well as looking at how well set Yorkshire’s EFL clubs are at the beginning of the January Transfer Window.
Plus, Stuart and Leon pick their respective Team and Player of the Week.
They also assess how pivotal Huddersfield’s 1-0 midweek win at leaders Wycombe Wanderers will be for the Terriers, as well as looking at how well set Yorkshire’s EFL clubs are at the beginning of the January Transfer Window.
Plus, Stuart and Leon pick their respective Team and Player 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 will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:17of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by Chief Football
00:21Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post,
00:24Leon Walshall, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't
00:28forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond
00:32by logging onto our website at yp.sportatnationalworld.com, as well as checking out our various Twitter
00:38feeds, the main one being at ypsport. If you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire
00:43Post Football, or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well. And
00:47if you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter
00:51or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter at the Football Talk podcast
00:55at yp.sportatnationalworld.com. YorkshirePost.co.uk.
01:01As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by Chief Football Writer for
01:04the Yorkshire 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 bounce back from their 2-1
01:16defeat against Sunderland to claim all three points in their 2-1 victory over Watford.
01:21Middlesbrough had to settle for a point in their 1-1 draw with Cardiff City, and Sheffield
01:25Winsley salvaged a point in their 2-1 draw with Millwall, and we'll be covering them
01:30later on.
01:31In League 1, Barnsley made two wins from two in 2025 with a convincing 3-0 victory over
01:38Crawley Town, and in League 2, Doncaster Rovers' push for the top of the table suffered a small
01:43bump as they lost 2-1 to Port Vale. Bradford City kept pace with the playoff contenders
01:49as they claimed all three points in their 3-1 victory over Grimsby Town, and Harrogate
01:54Town boosted their survival hopes with a 2-0 victory over Barrow.
01:58However, this week, let's start in the Championship and the clash between Hull City and Leeds
02:04United, which saw the two sides share the points in a well-fought 3-0 draw, which also
02:09saw Ayo Tanaka score his first goal for the league leaders.
02:13Now, what were your thoughts on the match, Stuart?
02:17Well considering they shared the points, it was quite a contrasting game for the two teams.
02:24From Leeds' perspective, at the start of the second half, they really stepped things
02:31up and played some good football, but they'll be frustrated that they didn't win the game
02:37after that. Some poor goalkeeping is certainly a factor in that, and that's a worry for them.
02:46From a Hull perspective, as I say, there was a period after starting with Tanaka's goal
02:53when Leeds really turned it on, having been, I would say, the better team in the first
02:59half without really threatening too much. Hull got the goal. So yeah, there was a period
03:04when it looked like Hull were going to lose it, and I think it says a lot for what Ruben
03:07Seles has done for that group at the moment, that as soon as Hull scored their second goal,
03:14João Pedro scored to make it 3-2. Even though I think it was the 81st, 82nd minute, you
03:22felt a real belief in the stadium that we can go and get something out of this. I think
03:27that speaks volumes, because having been there earlier in the season when Tim Valter was
03:32in charge, I don't think there was that belief in the group. Obviously, results go a long
03:37way to dictating that. So clearly, Seles has put a lot of belief into the group, and you
03:45feel like they can go places. Big day for Abu Kamara, who had a very eventful New Year's
03:52day one way or another. He got two goals, so again, that will do a lot for his self-belief.
03:59And yeah, obviously it wasn't a perfect performance from them by any means, but they showed that
04:04fight that you'll need at the bottom end of the table. For Leeds, they didn't show that
04:10ruthlessness that I think is going to be important, because the top end of the championship is
04:13so tight that just playing well isn't going to cut it. The margins are so tight. So Leeds,
04:23particularly away from home, just need to find that extra edge, and there'll be a lot
04:28of focus on Milan-Melieu, particularly bad error for the second goal, fingers pointed
04:33at him for the other two either side. All goalkeepers make mistakes. Even Martinez at
04:41Aston Villa is probably the best goalkeeper in the world. He's made a few bad ones recently.
04:47Pick whoever you want. They all do it. The best ones are the ones that make the fewest.
04:53And Melieu's charge sheet is starting to fill up this season. Obviously he had a difficult
04:59season a couple of years ago when he was dropped by Allardyce at the end of the relegation
05:04season. There's a very good deputy in Carl Darlow, certainly when you're talking about
05:10championship-level goalkeepers. And there's an FA Cup game coming up, so there's an easy
05:15opportunity to give him a chance and then take it from there. You can't be too knee-jerk
05:23about any individual bad game for a goalkeeper, for the reasons I've said. But the pattern
05:30is starting to become worrying. And the problem when it's a goalkeeper in that sort of form
05:35is that the doubt can be infectious and it can bleed into the back four and the players
05:46in front. It's that defensive strength that has been a real strength to bleed. You wouldn't
05:51want to see that undermined. So it's going to be an interesting couple of weeks to see
05:57where they go with that. I suspect Sparke being the kind of non-knee-jerk, very steady
06:04kind of bloke he is, will be very reluctant to change his goalkeeper in league football.
06:09But Melies is not making it easy for him right now.
06:13Yes, I totally concur with what Stuart said there. You would expect Sparke, he's not the
06:20sort to panic. He will back his man. In fairness to Melies, he's obviously had some high-profile
06:27mistakes but he's still up there, isn't he, in the clean sheet, sort of golden glove race
06:32if you like with Cooper and Trafford at Burnley. But he does throw these moments in, from time
06:43to time, at periods in a season. If you look at his history, there's three or four games
06:49a season he has ones like this. And you look at the battle for automatic promotion, it
06:56really does look like a four-horse race. The results at the weekend have really spiced
07:02up the plot, haven't they, with obviously Sunderland going great guns and a fantastic
07:07win for Sheffield United, wasn't it, given the whole manner of injury issues. It could
07:16be one of fine margins, couldn't it, in some of these games, whether it's between each
07:21other or other clubs. Yeah, you just think, as Meslier sort of made one too many, it was
07:31costly that two points. How big could that be at the end of the season? From a whole
07:37perspective, yeah, they've shown the mettle, haven't they? A nice sort of turnaround story
07:45for Kamara. But a great fighting draw against Leeds, just after Christmas with a great
07:53win at Blackburn. So they can sort of do it and find a way. But I think the results are
08:01going to be defined. You look at some of the games they've got around them coming up, Stoke,
08:05Cardiff and Plymouth. Have a little look at the teams they've got to play at home before
08:11the end of the season. Plymouth, Oxford, they've got Derby, Stoke, perhaps even one
08:16or two others. Potentially they're going to be huge games for them. But I think it was
08:22important they needed something after the psychological blow of what happened against
08:27Middlesbrough right at the death. Obviously Kamara was in the dock with the press conference
08:32with his manager, which I didn't particularly like. But there you go, bottom line, it was
08:39a very good response from him, wasn't it? He sensed that Hull really had to take something
08:45from Saturday's game, even if they just got edged out but played really well. A bit of
08:51a moral victory almost, because two high-profile home games. I think certainly for the confidence
09:00levels that was a nice little boost after the events against Middlesbrough at least.
09:06It's a good platform for them because the way Hull City operate, you know they're going
09:10to be active in the January transfer window. So if you can build a bit of confidence into
09:14it and then make a couple of signings that just lift the mood. As I say, I think the
09:18belief in that stadium was the important thing, because even under Rossignol, never mind Tim
09:23Walter, we saw too many games where it was a struggle at home and there was this feeling
09:30that either we'll cock it up here or we won't make the breakthrough when they're on top
09:36of teams. So that mood was really significant. I've got to be honest, I tweeted at the time
09:42as soon as Leeds went 3-1 up, after about 72 minutes, I'm thinking well that's that.
09:49And to be fair, Dan James went through it 3-2 and had a chance to score a goal a bit
09:54like Kamara's first. If Dan James had scored that, that would have been that, I'm sure.
10:01But these are just the little things. The Middlesbrough game was the opposite. Those
10:05are the sort of things that can really knock you and then respond with a result like that.
10:09It just lifts the whole belief. As I say, from both teams' perspective, it can have
10:14a positive in Hull's effect and a negative in Leeds'. So hopefully from Leeds' perspective,
10:22they're able to quickly shake that off. But yeah, just another thing on Melier. As
10:27Lyon says, he has his moments but he doesn't half-pick them as well. A derby like that
10:33and then obviously the Sunderland game you remember in the October where it costs you
10:38points. Being a bit at fault against Portsmouth on the opening day, you can kind of shrug
10:45that off. But it's the ones that, the more high-profile they are, the more they really
10:51have an effect.
10:52I think if Farker ever, if he did decide to drop Mesley, I think, personally, I think
10:59the main reason in his thinking wouldn't necessarily be that the mistakes would be right at the
11:03top of the tree. I just think it'd be pretty much what you said, Stuart, about the fact
11:08how he's sort of destabilising almost the back four and he's making them nervy and they're
11:14coming loose and uncertain in the play. I think if that sort of carried on for a few
11:21games, I think that's, for me anyway, that's when I think that Farker would take action.
11:27I mean, hopefully, let's look at the glasses, the positive sort of argument. Mesley's got
11:35some decent stats, hasn't he? But I just think if this sort of carries on, say Leeds conceded
11:41two in the next couple of weeks in a game and it might not even necessarily be Mesley's
11:47fault almost, but if that sort of drip of uncertainty, if that sort of goes into the
11:53back four, then they've got a problem, haven't they, consistently, whether he's made a mistake
11:57or not.
11:58And I guess from Farker's point of view, it's knowing when to step in and when the drip
12:02drip just becomes too much is a really difficult judgment, isn't it? Because you don't want
12:06to, you know, if he was to drop them now, that would really damage his confidence for
12:11the season. But there comes a tipping point where you just have to do it. And it's a really
12:16fine judgment. We'll only know in hindsight if he's got it right. But they are fortunate.
12:21I do believe, I mean, we saw Darlow on loan at Hull a couple of seasons ago. I saw a bit
12:28of him back in the days when I covered Newcastle. I do believe a championship level is possibly
12:33the best number two around and worthy of more football. So it's not like they're going to
12:39be throwing in, you know, a 20-year-old kid or something if they do make that decision.
12:46But as I say, it's really fine timing as to when it's too much.
12:51Yeah, they'll be happy. And they've got the cup game as well, but I think four out of
12:55five at home as well. And Leeds have been reassuringly strong at home, haven't they?
12:59And they'll be glad of that. And, you know, they play very well in a lot of home games,
13:06but the way they've managed the game has also been good, hasn't it? And I think they'll
13:10be pleased in that regard at the back home.
13:14And next we turn our attention to another Yorkshire clash, this time involving Huddersfield
13:18Town and Rotherham United. This one produced a nil-nil draw between the two sides, but
13:23it also saw Huddersfield Town debutant Ruben Ruskin being shown a straight red card.
13:29Now, how do you feel both managers will view this draw, Leon?
13:33Yeah, I sort of put it in my match report afterwards. I think with the benefit of hindsight,
13:39it wasn't the biggest sort of surprise around, really. I mean, they both sort of struggled
13:46a little bit for goals. So we all know about Huddersfield, what they need in the transfer
13:53market. You know, you'd say at least one front-line striker, we've touched on it quite a few times,
14:00who can get them that eight, nine, ten goals to, I mean, potentially even, you know,
14:06should get in the play-offs, but maybe even Nick in the second promotion slot, say. So
14:12it just sort of highlighted in that regard what they need. Rotherham have struggled for
14:16goals all season, haven't they? I think there's only a couple of, is it Burton and Stephen,
14:21these that have scored fewer goals than them. A lot was made when they brought in Johnston
14:27Clark Harris, but it's just not quite happened for him. They struggled to get him out on the
14:33park for long sort of periods of time. And Malik Wiltz, you know, when he cuts inside and hits it
14:41on his left, he's as good as anyone, isn't he? But he doesn't sort of score enough sort of bread
14:46and butter goals almost. And, you know, it seems to be with Hugel that they're going to be trying
14:52to offload him. So both sides have been, more so Huddersfield, have been very well organised,
15:00haven't they, this season? Rotherham to a slightly lesser extent, but they're showing some decent
15:09signs of late. So it wasn't a massive surprise being a draw, really. I mean, I think from the
15:15Huddersfield perspective, if they got the first goal and they had, I think they had about 20-odd
15:20goal attempts and eight or nine on target, I think if they'd have got a goal say in the first
15:26half, first hour, they'd have gone on to probably win the game 1-0 and sort of managed it in that
15:33regard. But yeah, there was a bit of frustration around. But, you know, as I said afterwards,
15:42they've not been beaten in the league since the start of October, 14 matches unbeaten. And
15:47given what's been thrown at them, it's been, it's almost like every week, isn't it? Every week,
15:52every game, there's something, whether it's a player tweaking his hamstring in training or
15:58somebody coming off in a game or illness, you know, they've really struggled to sort of feel
16:06a settled side, Huddersfield. And given all that, what's been thrown at them, I think what they've
16:11done has been really admirable. They just obviously desperately need a forward, you know,
16:16at least a forward in the market. But yeah, I think they're doing as well as they possibly can
16:23be at this stage of the season. And this is, we're into the grind now and, you know, it's finding a
16:29way. And if you can't manage to get a win, at least don't lose it really. I think Rotherham
16:35will be happy enough. I mean, there's, people might talk about playoffs this, that and the
16:43other, but you can't talk about anything like that, can you? I think until Rotherham are closer
16:47to the playoffs than they are at the bottom four, you can't entertain anything like this.
16:52And they just need to get a good, you know, run by that. I mean, you know, five, six, seven game
16:58run without getting some points up before you entertain anything like that. They've got to
17:03stabilise first and foremost. But I think the main encouragement for Rotherham is
17:09they looked organised at the back. I thought Jules and Adolphin played well. They put Cam
17:14Humphreys into a defensive midfield slot and that's seeming to work for the time being.
17:21And they've got four away points and that's something that it took them until the end of
17:25September last year to get to that juncture, which is crazy, isn't it really? So one or two
17:32green shoots for Rotherham, but a hell of a lot more work to do yet. And given the way Steve Evans
17:38was talking, they want to do, they want to do one or two things in the window as well, but
17:43that could be determined by a player, some more players going out.
17:48I think that's, well, I think that's the thing for both these teams. I mean,
17:51we'll go on to talk about Huddersfield's game against Wickham, but after, after a game like
17:56that, you almost have to see what comes next to understand the true value of it. And I think,
18:01I think Huddersfield's next performance has put that nil-nil in a decent light,
18:05in light of all the issues that Leon's talked about. I think for Rotherham, it feels like,
18:11just, it feels like they're at the start of just settling down and building that platform that
18:17they need. You know, Leon's dead right. Four away points is huge for them. So is back-to-back clean
18:23sheets away from home. That's three games unbeaten now. You know, we all know how it works. Yes,
18:28of course, we want Rotherham to score more goals, but when you're in the position that they're in,
18:33first and foremost, you've got to sort things out at the back. You've got to get those foundations.
18:39You know, it felt, not having seen that much of them, but kind of looking on from afar this season,
18:44as though the whole first half of the season has almost been casting around, trying to find the
18:49right formula. Maybe, just maybe, this idea of Cameron Humphries as the, as the holding midfielder
18:56will sort of be the key to them, just getting that right balance. And then it's about adding
19:00those attacking players in the transfer market. And like all, you know, we know they are going
19:05to be active. We know they are going to want to do it. So again, hopefully that can give them a lift.
19:10Yeah. As Leon says, maybe at some time in the future, you can think about the playoffs,
19:15but right now, just about getting that foundation and getting on, getting on with that. And from
19:22Huddersfield's point of view, you know, it's about keeping that unbeaten run going. I remember
19:29talking about this in a press conference with Michael Duff a couple of weeks ago, I think.
19:33And, you know, you can't be too obsessed with unbeaten runs to the point of just settling for
19:38draws all the time. You know, you'd rather be win one, lose one, but it builds confidence when you're
19:43on that sort of run. It really, it really does build belief. So, you know, given that you had
19:49your debutant sent off late on, you know, given your injury problem, blah, blah, blah, you know,
19:55it wasn't a great day for them. They still got a result out, but that's, that's, that's really
19:59important for them. Yeah. Yeah. And next we stick with Huddersfield Town, who followed that result
20:07up with a 1-0 victory when they paid a visit to Wickham Wanderers. This now stretches their
20:11unbeaten run to 15 games and puts them just four points off the automatic promotion spots.
20:18How do you feel Michael Duff's side sort of performed during that match following the drawleon?
20:25Well, I mean, I touched on it earlier, really. They just, they just found a way out. I thought
20:29they were very good in the, in the first half, from front to back, really. I mean, Wickham
20:36actually started off okay. There was a bit of assertion, but then Huddersfield managed to get
20:41some poison and control and it was a really good away performance. Really excellent work,
20:49where an organisation without the ball, strong at the back and they, they scored a great goal
20:55from Herbie Kane on the volley. I think myself and Stuart have seen enough of him to know that
21:02his form can be patchy sometimes, but he has got that quality in his locker and he can do
21:07things like he did against Wickham on Tuesday night, a really, you know, a classy volley.
21:12And I sort of thought to myself at half-time that the game would probably be decided by how
21:19Huddersfield would cope with the spell of pressure from, from Wickham, who they hadn't been, I know
21:24they've had one or two home draws of late, but I don't think they've been beaten at home since,
21:29in the league anyway, since, since mid-August. So that was a problem for them and, you know,
21:36they're a strong side. They've got one of the division's top guns in Kone up front and
21:43they ask questions of you, they've mixed it up well, you know, they get the ball in behind you,
21:49they're strong from set plays and I thought, well, if Huddersfield can sort of manage a spell of
21:54pressure, then they've got a decent chance. But I didn't think it'd last for most of the half,
21:58which it pretty, it pretty much did. But yeah, I mean, I was, even after a few minutes,
22:03there were a few balls going into the box. Tom Lees and Matty Pearson were getting their bodies
22:08in the way, they were clear, you know, winning the headers, the challenges. And probably because
22:14I've seen that many games along with Stuart, you sort of think to yourself, it could be their sort
22:18of night, really. And yeah, and so it, so it proved and, you know, in terms of organisation,
22:25team ethic, discipline, all that sort of thing, Huddersfield haven't got many who are sort of
22:33better than them at League One level. You probably, some people might venture perhaps
22:38Wrexham because there are maybe some similarities in that regard. But yeah, they didn't play
22:44particularly, certainly second half going forward, they pretty much offered next to nothing. But
22:50everyone did the job without the ball and the work rate was tremendous. They just need
22:55that little bit of stardust, don't they? We've laboured on about it long enough. They're the
23:01ones who cost the most money, they're the ones who, you know, the finishers at the top end of
23:04the pitch, the ones who can win a tight game with, you know, the forwards with a bit of skill
23:12and a finish. I mean, I looked at the stats, I think Koenig scored 13 goals for Wickham this
23:19season. That's sort of more than Huddersfield's combined pool of strikers have managed in the
23:24league so far this season. I mean, to be fair, they've had some decent contributions from midfield
23:29but they just need a bit of class in the final third because they've got a lot going for them
23:38at Huddersfield and I think probably top of the tree is the disruption that they've had,
23:44managing not to, you know, giving all that disruption to go 15 matches unbeaten is
23:51it's just testament to what Michael Duff and his staff have done and it's a tremendous feat.
24:00Yeah, I mean, to me, Michael Duff would be absolutely horrified. He wouldn't be happy
24:05if any of his players were to talk in this way but the thing that sort of hammered it home for
24:08me was just the way the league table looked from one day to the next. You look at it on Tuesday
24:13morning and it looked as though those three teams, it looked like a two-tier promotion race,
24:19basically. You had Birmingham, Wrexham and Wickham, obviously, collectively seven points ahead of
24:27Huddersfield and you think it's two separate races and then all of a sudden Huddersfield win that
24:34game against one of those teams, the gap's down to four, they've got a game in hand on, well,
24:39on all of them but particularly Wickham and Wrexham who were only four points ahead
24:44and suddenly it looks like game on and, you know, I've talked earlier about the psychology of it,
24:50what that can do for Huddersfield and more importantly, well, possibly as importantly,
24:55what it can do at squeaky bum time for Wickham and Wrexham and Birmingham, you know, because,
25:00you know, Birmingham, like Leeds in the Championship, there's so much expectation
25:04on them to do the job. So, if they were to drop out of the bottom of the top two,
25:11that would put real pressure on them, you know, Wickham are the kind of outliers in terms of the
25:16fact of those three teams, they're the ones that are not absolutely awash with cash, you know,
25:22there could be self-doubts in that group that they can keep up with them if they just have a wobble.
25:27So, it's just down to Huddersfield to put the pressure on really and that more than anything
25:32is what that result did and, yeah, might not have been the most convincing before, you know,
25:37you could easily spin it if you were the Wickham manager and say, well, look, you know, we were
25:42the better team, we should have done this, we should have done that. But, you know, as human
25:46beings, there'll always be those doubts and it's up to Huddersfield to amplify them and I say when
25:51you're in that sort of run, you just ride the wave. As Leon says, if you can just get centre
25:58forward or two though, then you can win those games that you don't necessarily deserve to win
26:03and that, you know, that takes it on another level. But, you know, having had, we've seen
26:09this story before with Michael Duff at Barnsley, having had that rocky start at a time when,
26:14let's be honest, some fans wanted rid of him already, they've seen that through, they've
26:19built an understanding, they've built a belief and there's a real sense in that group. They know
26:25what they're about, they know how they're going about it and they really seem to believe in what
26:30they're being asked to do. I'd say it's just a question of now can they find that extra ingredient
26:36to just push them on, push them on more and more. But, you know, they will have a wobble at some
26:42point, of course they will, but at this moment in time, if they can just turn the heat up on
26:47the other teams, they might be able to force a wobble from them and then who knows. But,
26:52you know, they're in a good place right now. They've got an ambitious owner, they've got a
26:58squad that knows what they're doing, they've got a confidence and really they should be enjoying
27:04this spell of the season because they're in, I say they're in a good place.
27:07Yeah, I mean, it reflects well on Duff, doesn't it? I know he's huge on mentality and culture
27:13and what you've got in the dressing room and the individual and, you know, there won't be many
27:19stronger dressing rooms in Ligue 1 than Huddersfield, to put it that way. Yeah, it was a
27:24good point. I thought you might, Stuart, have heard about Wickham. It's going to be...
27:30Usually me.
27:32It'll be interesting, Wickham, won't it? I mean, they've had a couple of,
27:36they drew, I think they got pegged back in the last minute against Blackpool at the weekend.
27:41Now they've had a big game, they could have gone top if they'd have won,
27:45big game against a team around them and obviously they got beaten.
27:52There was just like the mood as well, I was obviously at the game and
27:55Huddersfield fans were outstanding. They just, they literally sang for 90 minutes,
28:01was about 500 of them, not far away from the press box, give them some really good backing.
28:07It was just a bit flat from Wickham, I thought, from a side who, if they'd have won, they could
28:12have gone top. You just wonder, I mean, their manager's sort of making a really good name for
28:21himself, Matt Bloomfield. Could he get a championship? It comes up somewhere.
28:28Might have been talked about this morning.
28:30Yeah, you could see that, he's been linked with Coventry, hasn't he, one or two others.
28:34If Kone goes, so yeah, I think it's an important time for Wickham, but obviously we're bothered
28:41about Huddersfield Town and yeah, they've got some really interesting games coming up as well,
28:46haven't they? They've got Birmingham to play in a few weeks. I think they've also got,
28:53before Easter, they've got to play, who is it now? They've got to play Wrexham at home.
29:00They've got to go to Barsea and they've got Wickham to play at home as well.
29:04As well as they've been doing away from home and they do look, at the minute, particularly well
29:13set up to play away, they're going to have some huge tests at the John Smiths in squeaky bum time
29:20and that's, going back to the striker again, it's a bit the elephant in the room. That's where
29:26getting that classy striker could make a difference in those sort of games at home.
29:30Yeah. And now I wanted to get your thoughts on the early transfer activity of our clubs,
29:37with a number of our clubs already making moves. Now, I've got two clubs that I'm keeping my eye
29:43on at the moment, which are Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City, primarily because, as we
29:49mentioned a couple of weeks ago, with Sheffield Wednesday, they already had one warning shot
29:57with clubs possibly looking at Danny Roll as new manager and I wanted to see if,
30:05would Sheffield Wednesday be willing to give him the funds needed to help improve his side
30:14and help sort of sweeten the deal to make him stay? And with Bradford City following the news
30:20that Andy Cook is going to be missing for the rest of the season, how do you see Bradford going
30:30into this transfer window as well, seeing that they're basically missing their talisman, Stuart?
30:36Well, I mean, the good news for Bradford, the good news for quite a few of our teams is that
30:39they've acted quickly and Bradford have already got Michael Mellon through the door from Burnley,
30:46as we're talking, that's not long gone through. So it's really pleasing. You always worry in
30:53transfer windows about clubs dragging it out and not doing business until late in the window.
30:57You know, from a Bradford perspective, that's three signings in now, they've not hung about
31:05and, you know, I suppose there's no real good side to Andy Cook getting injured, obviously,
31:11but at least it's happened early in the window and they've been able to act because, you know,
31:16when we did our podcast looking ahead to the window, we were talking about the need for
31:22goals around him and God forbid if anything happened to him and then of course, so slow it
31:26does. But again, you know, as you said about Daniel Farker, Graham Alexander is another one
31:33of those unflappable managers who doesn't really make a drama out of these things and that's
31:39important at a club like Bradford where it does feel like constant drama around the place,
31:44whether it be good or bad. So, yeah, that's really good for them that they've acted quickly.
31:51Sheffield Wednesday are kind of in the opposite boat where there is a bit of a melodrama being
31:56created for the second January running because you've got Danny Royal constantly talking about
32:01what he wants to the media and not, it seems, to the chairman. You know, every time we have
32:07a conversation with him, it doesn't seem he's sat down with the chairman yet. So, you know,
32:12as we're speaking, that hasn't happened as far as we're aware and that's not a good sign, you know,
32:18that they need to be at least trying to make signings quicker, just for the whole mood of
32:25the place. You know, a bad, you know, a transfer window can really destabilise a club, even if you,
32:31you know, in this case, if you get a load of business done on February the 3rd, it's how
32:36much damage gets done to morale and to the results column in the month leading up and you
32:41just hope that isn't the case at Sheffield Wednesday. We're in a decent spell at the
32:47moment in terms of results. Obviously, they would have wanted to beat Millwall, having seemingly
32:51been in control of that game. But generally, it's a positive picture and the sort of off-field
32:58negativity, as too often happens at that club, is threatening to derail things. But yeah, Bradford
33:05in the opposite boat, there's a clarity, you know, they've got on with it, you know, as Harrogate
33:13have signed Bryn Mawrys quickly, as Huddersfield have. Obviously, they haven't got the strike yet,
33:17but they've addressed the wing-back problem. It's really good to see those clubs acting like that.
33:21Time will tell if the signings are the right signings, but at least they've made them quickly.
33:28Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, Sheffield United, I think they're in the market for quality and
33:33sometimes in the window, you have to wait a little bit down towards the final few weeks of
33:40that. Obviously, Chris Wilder, we're hoping he can get his ducks in a row in that regard and getting
33:45some players back from the treatment room as well. He encouraged a little bit, obviously,
33:51Hull have been linked with one or two sort of, you know, season championship campaigners,
33:55like some Matt Crooks. You can imagine if he went in there, that'd be a good signing,
34:00in the position that they're in, you know, needing someone who's proven at this level,
34:05who can get you sort of goals at the top end of the pitch from that attacking midfield role.
34:11He can also play up front as well, to a lesser extent as well. Joe Geldaard, if he went there
34:17as well, you could see that being a smart enough signing in the circumstances. So, that's
34:23encouraging. Good to see Bradford do some early work and obviously address the huge blow with
34:31Andy Cook pretty quickly by bringing Mellon in, who was wanted by a few clubs by all accounts.
34:40We all know about Huddersfield and what they need. You'd expect Middlesbrough maybe to do
34:46one or two things, but I think the most significant thing with Middlesbrough will be
34:50when they get Aidan Morris back from injury. You know, he's proved a real talisman in midfield and
34:59it gives them that sort of, it gives you some culture and poise on the ball, but that little
35:04bit of steel that they've maybe been lacking consistently in that game management. So,
35:09I think in terms of Middlesbrough, that'll be as big as anything, him coming back.
35:13Yeah, I think with Hull in particular, I think they made a mistake in the summer by not focusing
35:19enough on championship experience. These are only names they've been linked with,
35:25but it's a good indication that they're thinking along the right lines this time,
35:30because you need that. I think particularly in mid-season, I think it's difficult to integrate
35:37players who are new to the league unless you're really bringing them into a successful team.
35:41Like, for example, if you're bringing someone in at Leeds, you could buy them a bit of that
35:46time this season, you know, whereas a couple of years ago when they signed Routier,
35:49when they were in a relegation battle, they didn't have that luxury.
35:52It was at Huddersfield last season, that's another classic case.
35:55Exactly. You know, and you feel like if Huddersfield were to sign players in other positions
36:00other than centre-forward, again, they'd have that luxury, but a centre-forward,
36:03they need to hit the ground running. So, you're looking with people with experience of that level.
36:10But yeah, I have been encouraged by just the amount of business that has been done so far,
36:15clubs have not been, or some clubs at least, have not been sat on their hands just waiting
36:21for things to happen. And, you know, important to say as well, I think underrated in any transfer
36:29window nowadays is the ability to get players out as well and to get fees for them. In the cases of,
36:35for example, Will Jarvis leaving Hull for a transfer fee, Huddersfield have done a bit of
36:40a pruning of their B-team squad or started one. In these days of financial fair play and PSR and
36:47all this sort of thing, that really is important too. So, I think it's been an encouraging start
36:54to the window, but no more than that. It's getting your squad numbers right as well,
36:58isn't it? It is, yeah.
37:01And finally for this week, I look to Stuart for his Team of the Week before going to Leon for
37:05his Player of the Week. So, Stuart, who has made your Team of the Week nomination this week?
37:11Well, we've touched on Rotherham. I do feel that's got the potential to have been a really
37:16important week for them if they can build on it. Bradford are the same in that they've had a win
37:23and a draw rather than two wins in the week, but it's kept the ball rolling. It's felt really
37:27important. And that win on the back of the cup news, again, you know, talk about transfer windows
37:33derailing, that injury really could have upset the apple cart just in terms of the psychology
37:38of the group. So, to score three goals at home and to get the job done, to continue this run
37:44over Christmas to 10 points from 12, that's been really important as well. But, you know,
37:53the standout team for me this week, and as part of the Christmas period as a whole,
37:59has been Barnsley. For them to win four games on the trot over the Christmas period,
38:08really significant for them. The fact that they've been winning at home as well,
38:14it feels like they're in a really good spell right now. It's important to be in a good mood
38:21when you go into the transfer window because it just makes players more willing to join you.
38:25It makes the club's owners more willing to find something down the back of the sofa for you.
38:30And, yeah, really heartening to see the way Barnsley have gone from 2024 to 2025.
38:39Leon, who have you decided warrants the Player of the Week nomination this week?
38:45Yeah, there's one or two usual suspects. A cold January night,
38:51a long wait for a moment in Wickham. You need foot soldiers like Tom Lees and Matty Pearson,
38:58and, yeah, it was one of the best defensive performances I've seen all season. So I'll
39:04dock my cap to them. One or two other usual suspects. Jack Robertson was tremendous by
39:10all accounts. At Watford, you know, Sheffield United have really had to dig in of late.
39:16You know, the squad's really been stretched and a lot of young players on the bench.
39:22One or two questions with results. Senior players are having to put their hand up and
39:28Robertson did that. Gus Hamer as well showed the class and what he's all about.
39:35Young Brooks as well, he's put his hand up, hasn't he, in recent times. Really encouraging
39:41what's happening at Bradford as well. There's fascination if you look at the top end of all
39:48the divisions, isn't there, in the EFL. You know, we've spoken about the four-horse race at the top
39:53of the championship. Then we've got League One, Huddersfield, throwing themselves into the mix.
40:00But, you know, for the second year running, nothing looks tighter than League Two, doesn't it? They
40:05really are below Wall Street. They're incredibly, you know, there's next to nothing between about
40:13probably eight to ten, maybe a dozen teams, which is terrific for the league in that regard.
40:22One or two players putting their hands up, ones who've had a frustrating first half of the season,
40:26the likes of Sarsovic, the likes of Alex Paterson, you know, decent-named players at that level who've
40:35provided contributions of late. But, yeah, I'm going to keep in the
40:41Barsley theme that obviously Stuart's touched on. They're piecing together, you know, a really handy
40:48run of form. It's been a bit of a funny season, hasn't it, really? They've been a little bit
40:52streaky. But the good thing is, I think psychologically, back-to-back home wins
40:58is very important in the context of the season. Corey O'Keefe's been playing well, one or two
41:03others, but the other player who's been right at the front and centre of their excellent Christmas
41:10and start to the year has been Davies Keeler-Dunham. He's finally showing that consistent
41:18quality, why he was brought to the club and why he was voted League Two Player of the Season
41:26last year. He's scoring goals and he's scoring quality goals as well, isn't he? I did the game
41:31against... God, are you doing that many games? You can't remember who played it, can you, really?
41:37It was Wrexham, wasn't it? That was it. And he scored a beauty cut inside, terrific strike with
41:43his right and he scored another belter, didn't he, against Crawley. So he's running hot,
41:49five from six, four from four. And you suspected Barnes, they are going to do anything, you know,
41:56when we get to the business end in late spring, he'll have had a fair say about it.
42:03So he's the top and bottom of it, he's the player of the week.
42:27yp.sport at nationalworld.com, or if you search for Yorkshire Post Sport,
42:31Yorkshire Post Football or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well.
42:36If you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter or
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42:44at yp.sport at nationalworld.com. As ever, many thanks for listening,
42:49look after yourselves, and bye for now.