On this week’s show, Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall join host Mark Singleton to reflect on the third round of the FA Cup, in particular focussing on the two all-Yorkshire affairs between Leeds United and Harrogate and Hull City and Doncaster Rovers.
The panel also discuss the state of the FA Cup and the ending of replays and how significant the competition actually is in today’s game.
There is also time to look at Rotherham United’s EFL Trophy win over Chesterfield and the prospect of Wembley getting ever closer PLUS Leon chooses his Team of the Week, while Stuart picks out the outstanding Player of the Week in Yorkshire.
The panel also discuss the state of the FA Cup and the ending of replays and how significant the competition actually is in today’s game.
There is also time to look at Rotherham United’s EFL Trophy win over Chesterfield and the prospect of Wembley getting ever closer PLUS Leon chooses his Team of the Week, while Stuart picks out the outstanding Player of the Week in Yorkshire.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:14we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:17of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by Chief Football
00:21Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post,
00:24Leon Wattrell, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't
00:29forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond
00:32by logging on to our website at yp.sportatnationalworld.com, as well as checking out our various Twitter
00:38feeds, the main one being at ypsport. If you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire
00:43Post Football, or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well. And
00:48if you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter
00:51or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter at the Football Talk podcast
00:55at yp.sportatnationalworld.com. Yorkshirepost.co.uk. As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week
01:03we're joined by Chief Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football
01:06Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Wattrell. Good morning, guys. Morning. Morning. Right.
01:11This week saw a whole host of games in Leagues 1 and 2 postponed due to the weather. Happily,
01:17though, it did also see FA Cup action take place, which featured a number of our Yorkshire
01:22teams progressing, and we'll be covering the EFL Cup later on in the show as well.
01:29Unfortunately, it also saw a number of our Yorkshire teams exit the FA Cup, starting
01:33with Sheffield United, who fell to a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff City. Middlesbrough suffered a 1-0
01:38defeat at the hands of Blackburn Rovers. Sheffield Wednesday fell to an agonising 4-3 defeat on
01:43penalties against Coventry City. However, let's start this week with the clash between Leeds
01:50United and Harrogate Town, which resulted in Daniel Farker's side coming out as the 1-0
01:55victors. But Leeds were made to wait until just before the hour mark to claim that winning goal.
02:01Now, what were your thoughts on the performances from both sides, Leon?
02:06Well, I think from a Leeds United perspective, I mean, they've got a few ghosts in this competition,
02:10haven't they? I know me and Stuart have probably seen one or two of them as well. I mean,
02:16the history isn't good, isn't it, for the last sort of 15 years or so. They've had some
02:22really humiliating ones. It's a real chargey, isn't it? You know, Rochdale, Sutton, Newport,
02:31Histon. They're not necessarily at this stage of the competition, but a fair few of them have been.
02:35So, yeah, I think Leeds supporters were probably a little bit wary, even though the record at
02:43home in the FA Cup isn't too bad. But, yeah, I think both teams, you could say they took
02:55something out of it. Obviously, a bit of progress for Leeds and they haven't got a glamour draw,
03:01if you like, in the next round against Millwall. But it's another home draw and it'll give them
03:08chance with the squad that Leeds have got. It's arguably the strongest squad in the Championship.
03:14It'll give another opportunity to their squad players to get more game time, which I think
03:19is important. But in terms of the tie, yeah, Leeds would have liked it to be a little bit
03:24more comfortable on the scoreboard. But once they got in front with Ramazani's header,
03:33they saw the game out comfortably enough. There were one or two little scares from set plays.
03:43Yeah, I think they ticked a few boxers, Leeds. They got some miles into the legs of
03:50a few players who needed games, the likes of Smith and obviously Dalot in goal,
03:57you know, others too. And, yeah, I mean, from a Harrogate perspective, it was a game plan that
04:06worked pretty well in the first half. It was a low block because a lot of teams go to Leeds and
04:11it's understandable playing that, isn't it, really? It was, you know, four at the back and
04:19five in front. They blocked off the passing lanes and they smothered space to a fair degree.
04:24It didn't create a lot, too much attacking-wise, although for me, they should certainly have had
04:29a penalty when Josh Marks was bundled over. That might have made it interesting, a bit more drama
04:37in the cup tie if that had been given. But, yeah, Leeds probed away. They had a few chances before
04:46the goal, got in front and it was, you know, reasonably straightforward after that. But,
04:51from a Harrogate perspective, I think I put in my match report. I think it was,
04:56it sounds a bit corny, really, but I think it is true. It was all about the day and the occasion
05:01for Harrogate. I think a decade earlier in this particular weekend, I put in my match report,
05:07they played Brackley in Conference North and that just shows how far they've travelled.
05:15In terms of Harrogate's history, a huge fixture for them, obviously, playing a huge club just
05:21down the road for the first time in a competitive fixture. They've obviously played them a number
05:25of times in pre-season friendlies, but this was the real deal and a real present for the
05:31supporters. It comes to be the biggest ever away support for a Harrogate fixture. The record home
05:40gate in the previous round, that was just over 4,000 against Gainsborough. That was the biggest
05:45since 1950. If you factor in that Gainsborough probably took 700 or 800, something like that,
05:52probably the biggest Harrogate support regardless of venue in any fixture. So,
05:59that just shows what the fixture means in terms of Harrogate's history.
06:06I don't know what Stuart thinks. I think it's just a bit of a reminder of how desperate
06:11Harrogate are to stay on the mat now in the Football League. They've got work to do on the
06:1521st. It was timely from Simon Weaver afterwards and it was right as well to say, look, the away
06:25support are just under 4,000. They've come to this high-profile game. We need some help in the
06:30league. We've got Cheltenham on Friday. They've obviously got a lot more battles coming up.
06:36They're looking over the shoulder. They're going to need that support in the weeks and months
06:42ahead. I suppose you also hope from a financial point of view, but this run might have given them
06:49a few. They've obviously brought a couple in so far. Still look a little bit light up front. Maybe
06:54this cut run has given them a bit of scope to bring in another striker to hopefully get the
06:59goals to get them over the line and safe again. I think it has because, of course, don't forget,
07:06it's not just the Leeds game. They were televised in the previous two rounds. It's put some money in
07:10the pot. It's attracting them. Putting on a performance like that, taking 4,000 fans,
07:15that's all going to help. People will have been watching that thinking, I quite fancy a bit of
07:21that. We've talked about Harrogate a few times this season, saying they've been really good on
07:29the big occasions. Doncaster, Bradford, these other cup games. It's transferring it to the more
07:37day-to-day games. Getting more fans in and making the home games a bigger occasion
07:42is only going to help with that. You wouldn't have watched that game and thought,
07:47this is a team struggling at the bottom of League 2, but they are. They're only
07:53five points clear of the relegation zone, only a couple of places. There's absolutely no room for
08:00complacency, no room for patting themselves on the back. They've set themselves some really
08:04high standards that day. It's up to them to continue meeting them, basically, on and off
08:11the field, I suppose, with what Leon's saying about fans. I think it was a really good day for
08:19Harrogate. Football is about occasions and memories. The Harrogate fans were robbed of
08:26their biggest one when they went up through the conference playoffs. Leon mentioned it
08:30in his report four and a half years ago. None of them could get in because we were in Covid.
08:36This was a little bit of payback for that. I think when you're going into a
08:44cup tie like that against teams from different divisions, as Leon alluded to, you're both
08:52looking to get something out of it. Obviously, for Harrogate, ideally, to get out of it is a win
08:58and a dream to draw in the next round. But at worst, it's to put on a performance that puts a
09:03bit of pride into the club and sets a few standards going forward. I think that's what
09:10they did. I thought they were excellent on the night. I really hope that those players now go
09:19and back it up because there's clearly more talent there than the league table might suggest.
09:27With such a thin squad and when you see how someone like James Daly and Levi Sutton ran
09:32themselves into the ground, it is difficult to do that twice a week, every week, as you have to do
09:38in League Two. If they can just beef out that squad a bit more, that will help massively.
09:44By the same token, that was the big plus for Leeds. Having Junior Firpo and
09:48Ilya Gruev come back, as well as the minutes Leon talked about for the French players,
09:54that's huge for them. I think Leeds ticked all the boxes they needed to really. You'd like them
09:59to have won more comfortably. You'd like them to have done this or done that. But it was just
10:03about avoiding another Histon and another Sutton getting into the next round. Once Gruev gets up to
10:10speed, they're going to have some interesting decisions to make. But that's not a bad thing
10:14by any stretch of the imagination. I think it's a handy draw as well. Obviously, it'll be a mill
10:21wall at the same level. It's not the most glamorous draw. But in a run of games, when you made eight
10:30changes, when you wanted some of the Finnish players to get more up to speed, get some minutes
10:33in their legs, they're able to do that in this game. Say they get an injury or two, the ones who
10:41come in from the cup game aren't going in blind, if you like, are they really?
10:48Hopefully, they can progress and probably get more of a high-profile team in the next round.
10:54But it's at home as well. In terms of planning, it's not going to disrupt too much. I think
11:00Leeds will be reasonably happy. It's just disappointing that there's only two Yorkshire
11:05teams in the last 32. Massive disappointment, yeah.
11:10Next, we turn our attention to another Yorkshire clash, this time between Hull City and Doncaster
11:16Rovers, which saw Grant McCann's side progress thanks to a 5-4 victory on penalties. They will
11:21welcome Crystal Palace in the next round of the competition. What were your thoughts on the game,
11:26Stuart? Well, it was a game that took a long time to get going. I think the
11:33kick-off time at noon on a Sunday was a big factor in that. There weren't many Hull fans
11:39there either. I think there were 10,000 crowd, of which 2,300 were officially Doncaster,
11:45and there were probably a few more dotted about as well. But I think Hull highlighted some of
11:54the progress they've made and some of the progress they still have to make in terms of
12:00they really got stuck in. They dominated the game as they ought to as the championship club at home
12:06to a Leeds 2 side. They made a few chances, but they're another one who really could do with
12:11a bit more up front just to finish things off. I mean, they've obviously got Mike Crooks coming
12:17who will add something to them in terms of goal threat. My only worry with that is that
12:25coming from MLS, he's not had any team training for a couple of months, so it might be a while
12:30before we can expect too much of him. But I think certainly over the course of his two-and-a-half
12:34year contract, I think he's going to be a good signing for them. Hopefully he gets up to speed
12:39quite quickly. So yeah, Hull just kind of showed where they need that bit extra, but that there is
12:44a bit more resolve, a bit better strategy and all that sort of thing around Rupert Sayers.
12:51And from Doncaster's point of view, it was a bit backs to the wall, but
12:56I think they needed to pick me up. I think they'd had three wins in the last 13.
13:02They just needed that confidence boost. Very, very good in the shootout. Ironside missed his
13:09first one, but after that, some excellent penalties. You don't see many poor penalties
13:13in shootouts nowadays. The standard is much better than Wembley and an Ivocate,
13:18and you really could call it a lottery then. But yeah, I think it was obviously a really pleasing
13:25win for Doncaster and for Grant McCann with his history for Hull. I think that the way they did
13:31it was quite pleasing and the fact that they've got rewarded with a home tie against a Premier
13:35League team, good as well. So yeah, I think a really positive day for Doncaster and a very
13:45mixed day for Hull. I think that's the fourth year running they've gone out in the third round and
13:49it's just disappointing. Not just Hull, we've already mentioned the number of Yorkshire teams
13:53who've gone out, disappointed more of our teams, couldn't give it more of a go and that the only
13:57two who've actually got through to the next round did so by beating teams from Yorkshire.
14:02Yeah, I mean, in terms of quality, as Stuart's alluded to, it's another disappointment at this
14:09sort of level of the competition. But I suppose when you're looking at it,
14:13the be-all and end-all now is staying up, isn't it? They've got that clarity now,
14:20everything in the focus is going to be on that, isn't it? Obviously, they get the window out
14:24the way, they've brought Crooks in, hopefully get them up to speed, hopefully Geldhard and one or
14:30two others that they're after. Because they've got some huge tests, haven't they, in the Championship
14:37coming up. Just look at some of their away games, they've got a Millwall, they've got a Sheffield
14:41United, then they've got to go Burnley, Sunderland, they're really difficult away fixtures and
14:49compounding that sort of aspect of it is that the home form isn't great either,
14:53so they're putting a lot of pressure on themselves. And then they've got some massive cup finals,
14:58look at their games before the end of the season, they've got Plymouth at home,
15:01they've got Oxford at home, they've got Luton, Derby, so they've got a hell of a lot of teams
15:05around them. I don't know, it could be one of those that who sort of does the best in that
15:12mini-league almost of teams when they play each other, that could be a huge say, who finishes
15:20third from bottom, who finishes fourth from bottom, margins could be as tight as that. So,
15:25yeah, disappointing to go out for Hull, but the focus is all about safety, whatever
15:34happens on Saturday. I think for Doncaster, yeah, it's a nice bit of cachet for them,
15:42I think they're the lowest-ranked team now in the competition.
15:44Yes, I think they are now, yeah.
15:48They went out, didn't they, against Millwall, one or two others. So,
15:55yeah, I mean, you're going to go to fourth round weekend, there'll be a little bit of
15:58kudos around Doncaster Rovers, they've obviously got a nice tie, they played Palace about five
16:04years ago, didn't they? I think that was in the fifth round, which, I mean, it's rare that
16:09Doncaster get to the fourth round, to be quite honest. I can remember the history a few decades
16:15ago, and I remember the Palace game, it was sort of record-equal, I can't remember the last time
16:21they got to the fifth round, but it was... It was under McCann, because he was...
16:25Yeah, but before that, I think it was a long, long time between drinks, wasn't it? So,
16:30yeah, a bit of prestige for them there, which is nice, and they had that run,
16:35quick run under McCann when they played Palace a few years ago, then they got, you know,
16:38they're nearly so close to achieving success in the play-offs, and, you know, the Cups didn't
16:46sort of deflect them in that regard, and, yeah, I think as Stuart said, that, you know, the form's
16:50been a little bit ropey, hasn't it? So, this will give them a shot in the arm, maybe, at a nice
16:58juncture. And I suppose, as well, thinking about, you know, similar things to what we've been
17:02talking about Harrogate, you know, Palace isn't the biggest glamour tie-going, but they were,
17:06you know, they were a good team to watch, they were a team worth getting yourself down to the
17:10chemo to see that game, and you would hope that Doncaster can put on the sort of performance
17:15that day that keeps a few more of those fans, because, you know, while skates haven't been
17:20terrible at Harrogate, they're certainly... At Doncaster, there's certainly scope to get a few
17:24more in, and just create that bit more of an atmosphere to help the team along, because there's,
17:29you know, there's good things happening there at that club. They just need to get a bit more
17:33consistency, build a bit of confidence, but, yeah, days like Sunday should help that process.
17:42It might help them in the market, as well. I mean, now they've got a couple in, but
17:46obviously the bank managers at Donny couldn't sort of cater to the fact they're going to get a nice
17:52a nice win for whatever happens. I mean, you'd imagine they'll get a good,
17:55you know, certainly a five-figure game, wouldn't you, against
17:59against players who've, you know, got a good away support as well, so...
18:02They might even get TV with being the lowest rung.
18:05Yeah, yeah, absolutely, yeah, because there's not many other sort of David and Goliath ties, is there,
18:10so that could, you know, help them ahead of the end of the window.
18:16Now, I wanted to talk to you both about the current state of the FA Cup,
18:20in terms of how the removal of replays has had an impact on the tournament,
18:24especially when it comes to revenue for some of the smaller clubs,
18:27as well as, as we mentioned earlier on, kick-off times having to be changed for TV both here in
18:33the UK and overseas, but also the fact that the game attendances have taken a real knock
18:40over the years. What are your thoughts on the current situation, Stuart?
18:45Well, I think in terms of attendances, I think we've got to be
18:48realistic, you know, when you have a random draw of 64 teams, there are always going to be a few
18:55uninspiring ties, and an FA Cup third round is always a difficult sell for those ones,
19:00because of course it's so soon after Christmas, you're not getting a new season ticket and all
19:04that sort of thing, so you've got to factor all that in, there's always going to be some,
19:09but it does feel like, you know, the FA Cup needs a bit of TLC and it does feel like the FA itself
19:17is not providing it, or certainly not enough. I mean, scrapping replays, I kind of, I wish they
19:26hadn't, but I kind of understand they've been boxed into a difficult position from third round
19:32onwards, because, you know, next week when the replays would be due to take place, you've got a
19:39whole round of European fixtures and there's just very little room in the calendar to get these
19:44games in, but that's not an excuse for first and second round ties, and it just sort of adds to this
19:50picture that there's not enough will from the FA to look after its own competition, but really the
19:55kick-off times were just ridiculous, I mean, to have this alleged weekend take place
20:01Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and then Tuesday because of postponements, well that was
20:07obviously unavoidable, but yeah, I mean, some of the ones, moving Sheffield United versus Cardiff
20:13to seven o'clock on a Thursday night, or BBC Wales, I mean, Wales had two teams in the third round,
20:20and yeah, BBC's entitled to show this extra game at a time when I think there are only 150
20:26Cardiff fans turned up in a crowd of just over 6,000, you know, a difficult time to
20:33travel with the way the weather was, a horrendous kick-off time, why? I mean, I'd love to
20:38know what the viewing figures were for that, and for Sheffield, for Coventry versus Sheffield
20:43Wednesday to be moved to six o'clock on a Saturday for overseas TV, you know, at the same time as
20:49Leeds were playing Harrogate, I mean, how many people, seriously, in whatever country you want to pick
20:55were watching Coventry versus Sheffield Wednesday that night, and yet you've inconvenienced all those
20:59supporters for it? Same again for Hull versus Doncaster, move for overseas TV at the same time
21:06as Tamworth are playing Tottenham Hotspur, I mean, I just don't understand these things
21:11that are really just eating away at it, I mean, I understand that if you're going to get the money
21:17that we were just talking about for Harrogate and Doncaster from TV, you've got to make some
21:21sacrifices, you know, you can't have it always, but it just seems to have gone too far, and to have
21:27done too much to disincentivise fans actually going to the game, and it's not good for TV,
21:33you know, I switched on briefly a bit of the Sheffield United game on BBC Wales,
21:39I really was that sad, and you just see these banks of red, empty red seats, and I switched
21:46off again, you know, it was just, it's just so uninspiring for television as well as for
21:53ordinary punters, and to me, the FA just need to do more, we're not going to, I'm not living
21:59in Never Neverland, we're not going to have an FA Cup third round when everyone plays on
22:02at three o'clock on Saturday, but there's got to be more sensible limits to it, because it just
22:09sends out a message that, look, this is our competition, and we're not really that bothered
22:13about it either. Yeah, it's just like a perfect storm, isn't it, of, you know, things that are
22:20sort of deriding the FA Cup, I think you're right as well, Stuart, in terms of the schedule,
22:26it's the end of, you know, a lot of teams have played, what, four games in ten days,
22:31and supporters have, you know, they've been asked to pay a lot of money over the sort of
22:37Christmas and New Year season, a lot of supporters will have spent up over Christmas as well, won't
22:42they, I mean, you look at some of the gates, I mean, Middlesbrough had Cup price tickets,
22:46there were only 15,000 there, you know, Sunderland as well, they've been averaging, what,
22:5040, 45, 46,000, something like that, there were about the same amount of people there as well,
22:56so crowds were hit everywhere, regardless of television, and then you've got all the
23:02mad Fix Your Schedule, and I think there was no Yorkshire team that were playing on third-round
23:06weekend at 3pm on a Saturday, which is absolutely ridiculous, isn't it? And yet none of them on
23:12free-to-air television either. No, no. It was moved for iPlayer, for overseas telly, you know,
23:17Welsh telly. Yeah, yeah, I mean, in terms of the repays argument, I mean, the thing that,
23:25I mean, it's not just this sort of round, isn't it, you know, you look at the amount of non-league
23:29teams who were, you know, denied a replay in the sort of first and second round, I think,
23:34I mean, you're talking in double figures, aren't you, and I think, yeah, I had a look at the,
23:40you know, the prize money, what the difference is between, you know, if you win or you lose,
23:44I think in the, I think in the second round, it's something like, I think if you lose,
23:51you get £20,000. If you win, you get £75,000. So, you know, that's a difference of £55,000.
23:58So, you know, if you can get a replay and you can possibly, you know, if you can get that,
24:03it's a non-league club, that's next to £55,000, isn't it? And, you know, in the third round as
24:09well, you know, the losers is £25,000, the winners is £115,000. So, that's £95,000. If
24:15you're a League Two or a, you know, even a League One or certainly a non-league club,
24:20that's a huge amount of money, isn't it, really? Yeah, it's paying for a couple of seasons,
24:24isn't it? Yeah, yeah. And I just, I can understand, you know, in terms of fixtures,
24:32it's just such a disappointment, isn't it? There's no, certainly, I sort of get it a little
24:38bit fourth round, fifth round, not having replays, but, you know, it's so iconic for me,
24:43the third round of the FA Cup, all those, you know, all those moments you saw on the
24:48reels beforehand, before the, before, I wouldn't say this weekend, but it started on Thursday,
24:54didn't it, really? So, it's not really a weekend. You know, you had your Mickey Thomas goal,
24:57Rexham against Arsenal, you had Ronnie Radford, you had the guy scoring for Sutton against
25:04Coventry. You're really banging the drum about the third round weekend, how iconic it is,
25:09yet you don't have any, any replays. And I just wish they could just find a compromise,
25:15just to get the third round replays in. And then I think, well, fair enough, you don't have them
25:19from the last 32 going forward, because, you know, as I pointed out, you know, the money that
25:25lower division clubs could potentially get from, you know, winning and losing is quite a bit,
25:31isn't it? And then there's obviously, it's all been mentioned about Tamworth, what they would
25:36have, would have earned if they'd have gone to, if they'd gone to Tottenham, that would have kept
25:40them going for a good while. And, you know, huge, huge money for that club. And, yeah, I just wish
25:47they could find a way there. I mean, a lot of talk about not having, not having extra time in the
25:54third round, you know, but I'm not sure about that because I think that, that might, it might
26:00just encourage a lower division club against a team higher, just to sit on the edge of the box
26:05and just, just dig in and not really be bothered about, you know, playing in the game of football
26:10as such. So I'm not massive, massive on, on that, but yeah, you just, you just, just for the third
26:17round. Yeah. Cause it's just so iconic or, well, it is in my eyes and it probably is in Stuart's
26:24as well. And a hell of a lot of other football supporters just replays up to the third round,
26:29then after that, fair enough. But who knows, there's a lot more clever brains than mine who,
26:38you know, have to, have to sort this out. But that's, I just, I just think it's,
26:43it's sad that it's come to this stage. Yeah. And I think, you know, specifically in the
26:46time with Tottenham on and what Leon mentioned about being denied the chance to go to Spurs,
26:51it kind of reopens this debate. I think it was around the 90s, wasn't it Leon? When there was,
26:54there was a real spell of non-league clubs switching the game to the bigger, bigger ground.
27:01Yeah. And the FA kind of stood, came in and said, no, this isn't right sort of thing. But
27:05suddenly when you don't have replays, I mean, I still think it's not right, but when you,
27:09when you have replays, the argument becomes a bit weaker against that. I mean, personally,
27:14what I'd like to see, because sometimes you see two teams, you know, take, take,
27:18take Middlesbrough and Blackburn and you might just think, yeah, replay really wouldn't do either
27:23of these teams any good. So I'd like to see a situation where the two teams can get together
27:27before the game. And if both teams agree, we don't want to replay, you do it on the day.
27:32But if either team says, no, actually I'd like a replay, you have a replay and, you know, it will,
27:39it will inconvenience Liverpool and Man United and Arsenal. But, you know, frankly,
27:48if anyone can cope with it, you know, and that just adds to the, the handicap in the, the, the,
27:54the unknown nature of the, of the FA Cup. I can live with that. You know, if, if they end up
27:59having to play on a Tuesday and a Thursday, you know, like, like they used to do back in the day
28:05of glue pop pitches and all that sort of thing. And, and one of those teams has to be under
28:09strength. Well, that's kind of the jeopardy of the cup. And that's part of the incentive for
28:13getting a replay for that, that lesser team. I'm, I'm with Leon, you know, I can see the practical
28:19reasons for not doing it. And, and I really wish they could, I don't think it'd be successful,
28:25but really wish they could sort of put more pressure on UEFA to give them more dates to
28:30work with by cutting down the European competitions. But if it comes to it, I'd rather have
28:35replays and these teams with mega squads, you know, inconvenience than lose something that's
28:42special about what's still to say to people of mine and Leon's generation is the most important,
28:49best cup competition in the world. And yet you, I do worry about how younger generations see it
28:55because it's, they've not, you know, people your age Mark haven't perhaps seen the glory days that
29:01we've seen. It doesn't have the same romantic appeal. They need to get it back. I mean,
29:06it should have a champions league place. It should have replays. There's lots of things
29:09that should be doing. And the FA, it's not that they don't want to do it, but they don't seem to
29:14have the will to really fight against the big clubs and say, no, look, this matters. This is
29:19for everyone. We've got to do this. Yeah. I just think as a, as a, you know, as a sensible
29:26compromise, maybe stopping them after the, you know, the last 32, because there will be
29:33occasions where you will get, you know, like Doncaster against Crystal Palace say, but there's
29:39not too many of them is there? You don't, you know, by definition, when you get to that stage,
29:43you're into the big clubs aren't you? And then you, you know, you're going to get a lot of
29:47proliferation of whether it's championship teams playing each other, premier leagues playing each
29:51other and they don't want to re, they obviously don't want to replay. Obviously it'll be harsh
29:55on one or two of the lower division clubs that, that would get a big fish. But yeah, I just think
30:01that certainly up until the third rounds out of the way, it's, it's just desperate, disappointed
30:08for such a historic competition that's provided so much, you know, entertainment to many. There's
30:15no replays. It's the time of the year as well when, you know, not necessarily some, some people
30:22who follow football on the periphery might not watch much football all year, but they'll engage
30:27in the third round of the FA Cup because, because it's historic and, you know, they'll sit there and
30:35they'll watch, they'll watch a replay between Tamworth and Tottenham and they'll be rooting for
30:38the underdog this time, the other. But, you know, that's another thing that's, that's denied the
30:42football supporter, isn't it? The, you know, the, the neutral ones who, who probably a bit more of
30:48an older age maybe, but not that old, but they, you know, they like to engage in the FA Cup every
30:55year and they sort of denied that, denied that right, really. Yeah. Yeah. And next we turn to
31:01the EFL trophy, which saw Rotherham United come up against Chesterfield and resulted in Rotherham
31:07United progressing thanks to a 4-3 victory on penalties. Now, what did you make of the performance
31:12from Steve Evans' side, Leon? Well, it was funny, Stuart mentioned earlier about penalties being
31:18great and they were in the main, but there were three, I think two landed in Nottinghamshire and
31:22one landed in, one landed in Clay Cross, I think. But yeah, apart from it, it's just, yeah, it was
31:29a funny game. I thought Rotherham were poor in the, in the first half, they just couldn't,
31:34couldn't get going at all. I mean, all they really had was a couple of crosses from the left from,
31:39from Coen Bramwell, but, you know, in fairness, they were, they were better in the, in the second
31:44half. Both sides were much changed and I know Chesterfield have got a hell of a lot of injuries.
31:50They were good in the first half, Chesterfield played some really nice football, I thought,
31:53they moved it around well, ran out of steam a little bit. But yeah, it's, it's just a welcome
31:59up, up 10 for, for Rotherham, isn't it, was it? Five without a defeat. Now it's, you know, it's
32:05not, say it's small beer, but it's, given the context of the season, it's, it's something to be,
32:12to be grasped and embraced. They're two, two wins from, from Wembley. I think the good thing for
32:19Rotherham is they're keeping one or two clean sheets on the road, which, you know, the form
32:23away from home in, well, it's not just last year, it's probably the one before, isn't it, as well?
32:27It's absolutely horrendous and, you know, as soon as the first goal goes in, that was, that was
32:33pretty much it, wasn't it? So yeah, there's some encouraging signs, signs in terms of the,
32:39the stability that Rotherham are getting defensively and he never switched his back
32:44foot. That was quite interesting. He made seven, changed all his midfielders and he changed,
32:49he changed all his, all his forwards, but he's gained a bit of continuity at, in defence,
32:55you know, Gilles and the Duffins dropped back into, into centre-half. He's, he's looked good
33:01and obviously Rafferty and, and James as well. So yeah, it's just a little bit more encouraging
33:10for Rotherham. I don't think they can, in terms of the league, I don't think they can get too
33:15carried away. I mean, they're, the good thing is they're closer to the play-offs now than they are
33:20to, to the, to the bottom four, but, you know, it's gonna, and another, I suppose another
33:26encouragement is you look at the teams that played, even going to Chesterfield, they're not,
33:30they're quite a hand, you know, one or two injuries, but they're still quite a handy side
33:34at league, league two level. You know, they've gone on beating in four in the league, you know,
33:38Lincoln, Huddersfield, who was the other one? I can't remember the other two now. Stockport and
33:45obviously Bolton, sorry. So, you know, they've played decent, decent calibre of, of opponent,
33:50haven't, haven't got beaten. I mean, I mean, what, they've got 31 points now, so you can't
33:57see, and what, how many games has it left? 20, 22 or something? Yeah. So you're talking 73 points,
34:03say, to get in the play-offs. They're going to have to win 13 or 14. You can't really see that,
34:07but at least he's looking up a little bit, looking a bit more solid. Only disappointment
34:14from Tuesday was he obviously had a chance, he gave, gave stars to Clark Harris and Jordan
34:22Hugel and he scored a penalty, Clark Harris, but I thought the pair of them were, were,
34:28were disappointing and Andre Green, I suppose in mitigation to him, he's had a long-term injury,
34:33so he's probably feeling his way back a little bit. He played as the number 10 and he didn't
34:37sort of, he didn't do a, do a great deal, but, you know, looking at the, the bigger picture,
34:44the middle, you know, the Millers went through, they, you know, won this competition a few years
34:47ago. So there are a few, only a couple of games away from Wembley, there were a decent away
34:54following there, just under a thousand, which I know it's not far, rather than the Chesterfield,
34:58but I think that's a pretty good effort. It's that competition, isn't it?
35:04Yeah, true. And in mid-January, so yeah, they're through, and the season's alive in,
35:11in that regard. Yeah, it just feels like they're at last getting a bit of a foothold in the season.
35:16I mean, I wouldn't, it's, it's far too early to say where this run's going to take them,
35:22but, you know, all the rolloff play-offs at this stage, look how, what a bad position
35:27Doncaster are in in League 2 this time. A rolloff day job, isn't it? That's if they'll get in, yeah.
35:31Exactly. Oh, yeah. I mean, I say, you can't really start talking about it until another,
35:36you know, five, five games down the line and 10 games down the line before we can see where
35:40this is going, but it just, it just feels like they're getting somewhere. You know,
35:45it's good to see Sam Nambé score the other day, but as Leon says, they do need to,
35:48they do need to sharpen up up front in terms of probably bringing somebody in,
35:53see the money they got for Christie, will hopefully help, help with that. But yeah,
35:59I think, I think they've, I just think they've had a really, really good week. I mean, the,
36:04or, you know, the, the, the, the best reason it's been a good week for them is that they've
36:09played twice, you know, huge credit to the ground staff and, and to the, you know,
36:15for providing the protection for the pitch. It was, it was a time when you wanted to play
36:20Bolton Wanderers. It's pretty clear from the away fans at the New York, what a mess Bolton are in
36:26right now. So yeah, it's great that they're able to take advantage of that. The only league one
36:30club who played that weekend. And I'd say it shows the, the Chesterfield game just shows the value of
36:37playing games when you're in, when you're in a good vein of form, another clean sheet to boost
36:41the confidence two games away from Wembley that always gives everyone a lift. You know,
36:47from what we said about the FA cup, I mean, this, this competition is far too drunk out.
36:51There's far too many games. It's really, I mean, you know, Leon, Leon might have a different
36:57perspective. He's been to a lot more of those games this season than I have, but the pre-Christmas
37:02stuff is just, it, it just doesn't float my boat anyway. But, but once you get to this stage and
37:09you start to think, you know, Wembley might come into, come into play, you know, Rotherham had a
37:13trip there against Sutton a couple of years ago and it, it takes on a different dimension. And I
37:19say it can, it can just feed in like Leon was saying with Leeds in terms of keeping players
37:23ticking over who are on the fringes, building a bit of competition for places, building a bit
37:28of confidence with wins. I think, I think Rotherham have made really good use of the, of the last week
37:35and hopefully this is, say, just the start of the snowball, just picking up a bit of pace.
37:42Yeah, I agree with that. I think there's a round too much, isn't there, Stuart, really? That,
37:45that round before Christmas, I mean, there's, there's, it's awful timing as well, isn't it?
37:49People, you know, in terms of spending the money that season to get holders, they're not, they're
37:54not going to be bothered by a lot of them by a game just before Christmas, either in this stage
37:58of the competition or, although they used to have, they used to have two-legged semi-finals, didn't
38:02they, Sean? Yes, the old Northern and Southern finals, yeah. Yeah, they, they, but they,
38:08they do look, they do look to be around, around too many, doesn't it? It's obviously not helped
38:13by the under-21 teams, is it? That's, that's bloated it as well and that just takes an edge
38:18of it. But, but as I say, you know, I think, I think once it progresses, I think it is a
38:24competition that, that, that can get you excited when you suddenly think, oh, if we beat these and
38:28we draw these in the, in the semis, we're at Wembley, you know? I think Tony Stewart certainly
38:33gets excited by it. He likes to get his Wembley outfit out, doesn't he? And I know a couple of
38:40years ago, obviously, Rotherham did the double, didn't they? They went,
38:43they beat, who was it? Sutton, wasn't it? And then they got promoted and I think it's fair to say,
38:50I'm putting this diplomatically, that Tony Stewart was a lot more excited about it than Paul Warne.
38:59And finally for this week, I look to Leon for his team of the week before turning to
39:03Stewart for his player of the week. So, Leon, who have you decided deserves the team of the week
39:09title this week? Well, it probably should be Rotherham United and I'd probably get a,
39:14you know, if anyone's listening to this, they'll probably, you know, email me and have a go at me
39:19really. Wouldn't it be fair enough? I'd have to take that on the chin. But I'm, I'm going for
39:24Bradford City, obviously. I know. Here we go. Here we go. Yeah. They were obviously,
39:34they were in action on Tuesday. They beat the game at Villa Park. It brings back memories,
39:39doesn't it? Of that semi-final. I remember doing that, running downstairs, trying to get hold of
39:45James Hansen before he got the bus after it, after they got to the final of the League Cup.
39:51Was it 2013? Wasn't it now? So, a little bit more quiet on Tuesday night, but yeah,
39:57they did the job, didn't they? They'll be great. That's the feel good factor for Bradford,
40:02doesn't it? Yeah. They've won it, alright, under 21s, but they've won it at one of the most famous
40:06grounds in, in the UK, Villa Park. They're, they're, Rotherham, they're two games from Wembley,
40:12Bradford now as well. And, you know, never know, it might be a double, might it? Like,
40:17well, it was in 2013, wasn't it? Yeah. They got to the League Cup final and they won the,
40:23they won the playoffs, but I'm sure Roland Sundry would, you know, much prefer finishing
40:28the top three and there's a hell of a lot more hills, hills to climb. But yeah, I mean, it's
40:35not ginormous in the context of the, of the season, but it still adds to the bit of a feel
40:40good factor there, doesn't it? They've just had a little look. They've won six out of eight,
40:45you know, competitions, lost one. Their home form is the second strongest in the division,
40:51behind Walsall. And I'm looking after the Carlisle game, they're away this weekend.
40:58I don't have to negotiate that one because historically these are the ones that Bradford
41:02have sometimes tripped up in, haven't they? Playing a struggling team away from home,
41:07but after that they've got four outside at home, you know, if they can, if they can win that.
41:11Um, yeah, they, they're starting to be on a, on a bit of a roll. So yeah, with, uh,
41:18with respect to Rotherham who have been doing, you know, really encouraging to see them turn it
41:23round at the start of the new year, psychologically as well, as much as anything, just to sort of
41:29change the, change the vibe there. That's been great to see. But, uh, in the spirit of sharing
41:33things around, I'm going to, I'm going to save Bradford City and, uh, wait for a kicking off
41:38Rotherham. But I mean, Leon raises a good point there when he talks about Bradford doing a double
41:43Rotherham, doing a double Paul Hickey, bottom under Barnsley does it, they did it. We often
41:47talk about the cup as a distraction, but actually it can feed into, into the momentum and, uh,
41:52and get things going. And that's why, you know, you shouldn't look down your nose at things like
41:56that. And, you know, from a player of the week perspective for, for Calum Cavanagh, it's another,
42:01it's another goal. You know, we, we were talking before Christmas about how he needed,
42:05needed to keep him with more. I think he's got four since the middle of, uh, since the middle
42:11of December. Now, you know, it just, it just, again, it just keeps, it keeps the pot boiling
42:16until a good week from him. Um, in terms of others, uh, I thought James Daly was magnificent
42:23for Harrogate, you know, just the way he put himself around the, around the pitch.
42:27Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Ran him, ran himself into the, into the ground. I think, uh, on the other
42:35side, Madoff, Solomon's in good form at the moment for Leeds. Um, again, just, just regardless of the
42:41competition, just good to keep his momentum going. Um, Teddy Sharman Lowe had an eventful game in
42:48the, in the Doncaster game I watched. Um, there was a moment in the second half where he could
42:54have been sent off. Um, it was kind of a bit of a, it was a really tight decision. It could have
42:59gone either way. So I'm inclined to, to back the referee there when he, when he decided it was a,
43:04a booking for bringing down Albert Camara, but having stayed on, made a brilliant save from
43:08Alfie Jones in extra time. And then wouldn't, you know, it saved, saved Alfie Jones's penalty
43:13in the shootout. So as Grant McCann said, uh, they won't be speaking to each other for a while,
43:18but, um, really good performance from a, a young on loan goalkeeper. You know,
43:23he'll learn a lot from that. Uh, likewise, Piers Charles, um, made a great save for Sheffield
43:28Wednesday. I think they're at the stage with him where I think they need to loan him out for the
43:32second half of the season to make sure that he's ready to be their first choice next season. Cause
43:37he, you know, he looks like an, an exciting prospect, but, um, to, to make up for nasty
43:43old Leon, I'm going to go for a Rotherham player as player of the week. Um, Hakim Madoff in excellent,
43:49you know, he's played so many different positions for Rotherham United. Nowadays,
43:56he's a centre back, very good against Bolton Wanderers, help them keep a clean sheet in that
44:01trophy game and then, and then scored in the shootout. So you can't ask for a lot more than
44:05that. Um, I'm going to go for Hakim Madoff. Yeah, absolutely. That's, that's the next thing. He's
44:11out of contracts at the end of the season and he's doing a very good job of dodging all the questions
44:16about if he's going to sign a new contract. It does make you wonder, but you know, um,
44:21a good second half of the season can't do anyone any harm in that respect.
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45:04subject matter as football talk podcast at yp.sportatnationalworld.com. As ever,
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