On this week’s YP football writer Leon Wobschall joins host Mark Singleton to discuss the rise of Leeds United to the top of the Championship, what has got them there and whether they can cement a top two space and earn an immediate return to the Premier League.
They also reflect on the fallout from the 0-0 Yorkshire derby draw between Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town and how likely it is that the Terriers will join the Millers in League One next season.
Barnsley have hit something of a wall in their pursuit of a League One automatic promotion spot, while Bradford City’s faint hopes of making the League Two play-offs appear to have disappeared with three defeats in the space of a week.
In the absence of Stuart Rayner, Leon also picks a player of the week and a Team of the Week.
They also reflect on the fallout from the 0-0 Yorkshire derby draw between Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town and how likely it is that the Terriers will join the Millers in League One next season.
Barnsley have hit something of a wall in their pursuit of a League One automatic promotion spot, while Bradford City’s faint hopes of making the League Two play-offs appear to have disappeared with three defeats in the space of a week.
In the absence of Stuart Rayner, Leon also picks a player of the week and a Team of the Week.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:14 we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:17 of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by football writer
00:21 for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Wobbshaw, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting
00:25 our local clubs. Don't forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across
00:29 Yorkshire and beyond by logging onto our website at yp.sport@nationalworld.com, as well as
00:34 checking out our various Twitter feeds, the main one being @ypsport. If you search for
00:39 Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can
00:43 find us there as well. If you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using
00:47 those various Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter as
00:52 football talk podcast at yp.sport@nationalworld.com. YorkshirePost.co.uk.
00:59 As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by football writer for the Yorkshire
01:03 Post, Leon Wobbshaw. Good morning, Leon.
01:05 Hello, Mark.
01:06 Good morning. Right, this week we saw Barnsley settle for a point in their 0-0 draw with
01:12 Cheltenham Town, which we will cover later on in the episode. Sheffield Wednesday fell
01:17 to a heavy 6-0 defeat when they faced Ipswich Town. Middlesbrough came away with a point
01:22 when they hosted Blackburn Rovers. Harrogate Town played out a 0-0 draw when they travelled
01:26 to Barrow. Brafford City fell to a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Mansfield Town, which we'll
01:32 be covering as well. And Doncaster Rovers claimed all three points in their 2-1 win
01:37 over Swindon Town.
01:39 However, let's start in the Championship with Leeds United, who made their way to the
01:43 summit of the Championship table for the first time this season with a 2-0 victory
01:47 over Millwall, which in true Leeds United fashion, fans were made to wait impatiently
01:52 until the 80th minute before that dream became a reality.
01:56 Now, what was your assessment of the game and how valuable will this be for Daniel Farker's
02:01 side as his team head into the international break, Leon?
02:05 Well, I think Farker's the sort, he's done it all season. He'll downplay it in his own
02:11 inimitable way, won't he? He's spoken consistently, looking at the league table at the end of
02:18 the season, but it's another brick in the wall, isn't it, Mark? I mean, remarkable consistency
02:24 from Leeds United and it's proving to be one of the best promotion races that I can remember
02:31 in a very, very long time. I think I mentioned before, there was a few years ago when we
02:36 had, I think it was Leeds, Sheffield United and Norwich and I'm old enough to remember
02:44 Donkeys years ago, under our Howard Wilkinson, when there was Leeds, Sheffield United and
02:50 Newcastle and that was '89, '90, many moons ago. And yeah, this is one of the best ones
02:57 in living memory, I'd say. Leeds are just getting the job done, Mark, they're showing
03:05 terrific consistency. You look at the numbers and they've got the best defence, the least
03:12 goals conceded away from home, the least goals conceded at home and the form has just been
03:18 staggering, hasn't it, in the calendar year. I think they've only conceded, what, two or
03:25 three league goals, something like that, isn't it? And yeah, they're just getting the job
03:33 done. They've got three players in double figures on goals, you've got Somerville, you've
03:37 got Perrault, Dan James having the season of his life. But I think psychologically it
03:46 was nice that Leeds, I think they deserved it as well, given the run they've had and
03:49 the consistency, they're top of the league for the international break. OK, it really
03:57 matters in May, doesn't it? But it's a nice little, I think more for the supporters really,
04:02 isn't it? A nice bit of kudos. And yeah, I mean the home form and other statistics
04:09 haven't been beaten at home have they, off season? I mean in a normal season they'd probably
04:16 have a comfortable gap, you would have thought, on the team in third but unfortunately for
04:21 Leeds' sake, it's not an ordinary season, it's an extraordinary season, isn't it? I
04:25 mean, it's four teams, it happens with the games in hand, if they do well they're going
04:32 to be in it. There's a fair chance that a couple of sides, at least one, are going to
04:38 get well into the 90s and they're going to have to settle for the playoffs, aren't they?
04:42 They could in theory, if you think about it, they could play a team who finish 20 points
04:47 behind them and then you could have a bad, it could be as simple as that, you could have
04:52 a bad half, half an hour, a bad 20 minutes and that could end your season but let's think
04:57 positively with Leeds.
05:00 I mean, it's one of those things where you think everything seems to have clicked for
05:05 Leeds at just the right moment this season. And if you take into consideration the first
05:11 five games of the season and the way that the teams like Leicester and Ipswich and possibly
05:19 even Southampton were given basically a head start, you'd never have thought we'd be sat
05:25 here at this stage of the season saying, 'Leeds are top of the table and now they're the ones
05:29 to catch'.
05:30 Yeah, they've timed it pretty well, Mark. I mean, that opening stage of the season,
05:36 I went to a couple of pre-season games, Daniel Farker, the Monaco game, and was saying how
05:43 he really had to sort out the dressing room, who wanted to be here. It was quite obvious
05:48 there was the situation with the relegation clause and a hell of a lot of players wanted
05:55 to leave and then we had more of the likes of Werber went as well back to Germany. There
06:00 was a lot of noise about Gonto and we had various things with Sinisterra.
06:07 And I think that opening to the season, first of all, was just about Farker just settling
06:15 on a way of playing but finding out about the characters in the dressing room, who he
06:19 can trust over the course of a marathon season. It's a nine-month season where you do get
06:25 ups and downs. The Championship tests you physically, it tests you tactically and it
06:30 tests you mentally, doesn't it? And your dressing room has got to be strong, especially a club
06:36 like Leeds United. And the dressing room, let's be honest, it was fractured, wasn't
06:40 it, at the back end of last season and there was a bit of scarring and bruising. I think
06:49 that first part of the season was always going to be a little bit bumpy. I think it is anyway
06:55 for a lot of teams coming down. Unless you're extremely fortunate, every result doesn't
07:01 go your way but Leeds have grown really nicely into the season. They've done it incrementally
07:08 and now they've hit the front, albeit Leicester do have a game in hand. It's almost the equivalent
07:15 of a middle distance running race, isn't it? Leeds have just been in the pack a little
07:20 bit behind, they've been creeping up. Now they've hit the front and they're approaching
07:25 the last lap as if they've got enough stamina and wherewithal to get over the line. You
07:34 can't stress how much this running is going to be remarkable. It could be one point here
07:42 or there, couldn't it really? One refereeing decision, one bad miss. It could ultimately
07:49 be down to something like that. You hope from a Leeds perspective that they've got there,
07:54 they can stay there. All the numbers suggest that they've got a hell of a chance to finish
08:01 in that top two but nothing is finalised yet for all the numbers that work for Leeds. They'll
08:13 come back after the international break and it's almost like a new season in a way, isn't
08:18 it? There's going to be twists and turns. Leeds have got Southampton on the last day,
08:24 we may just be seeing how big that one is. Ipswich have got to play Southampton. Ipswich
08:31 have got to play Norwich as well, East Anglia and Derby, that could be a big game. All sorts
08:36 of things could happen. Leeds have got a big game against Hull, another Yorkshire side,
08:41 going well. It's just going to be a case of who holds the nerve really. Leeds are showing
08:51 a really strong Joe. Myself and Stuart have mentioned it. For all the talk about their
08:58 attacking Vervain, they've got goals and creators and scorers, Rutter, Somerville, James.
09:05 It's the defensive consistency for me that is the most important facet, that sort of
09:12 partnership between Rodon and Ampadu. For me it's comfortably the best in the division.
09:19 They've achieved nothing yet and Daniel Farker will bang the drum about that all season,
09:24 even in the high moments, he's kept on an even keel. They're going to have to do it because
09:31 anything could still happen. As you said, a full football season is a marathon, it's not a sprint.
09:39 It's not what counts at the end of the season, it's where you finish. That's one of those things
09:49 where Leeds just have to remind themselves to keep level heads, don't let anything get them down and
09:57 just carry on the way they've been doing it. That's all they've got to continue with.
10:04 There's a couple of slots, at the end of the year there was something like 17 points behind Leicester.
10:17 It was comfortably into double figures and Leeds have eaten that away and now they're top on
10:23 goal. They've thought 'alright, Leicester have a game in hand'. A lot of people had Leicester down
10:28 just for a good while and suddenly the picture is different. For Leeds as well, they were chasing
10:37 one spot but now there's two, isn't there? There's two of them that are up for grabs.
10:45 Leicester, Leeds and Ipswich right at the top. But Simon's still got a couple of games in hand
10:49 and they could still have a say, especially if they beat Ipswich and they keep it alive for the
10:54 last game when they go to Leeds. That remains to be seen. Leeds in an outstanding position but the
11:03 most important part of the season is still to come.
11:06 And now we move on to the clash between Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town which finished in a
11:14 0-0 draw. Seeing as both teams are in incredibly desperate need for points, what did you make of
11:21 the game and what can both sides take from this result, Leon? Well, it wasn't the best mark,
11:28 it's fair to say. I think that satisfaction will be pretty muted. I'd suggest that Rotherham will
11:37 be the ones who will be the more pleased even though they still haven't won since Boxing Day.
11:43 It's been a bit of an awful march to League One really, hasn't it? The relegation will be
11:51 confirmed, it could be over Easter but certainly if not it will be comfortably in April. I think
11:59 on the positive side they ended a run of nine successive defeats. I think if they'd have got
12:08 ten it would have been equal. I know they had a run in the 2016/17 season which was very similar to
12:16 this one. They had a run there where it was about this time of year as well, they lost ten on the
12:22 trot. They only won five games that season, it was just an awful season, very much like this one. So
12:28 at least they've stopped, they've put the wedge in the door and they've avoided that particular
12:35 embarrassment. So they'll be grateful for small messes there. Huddersfield had most of the
12:43 territory and ball, probably threat really. The sending off was the big moment in the game just
12:52 before the interval shut. Silva Thomas got a silly booking for backchat to the referee
12:57 after fouling Sean Morrison. Then a minute or two later Town got caught on a counter from their own
13:05 corner. He chased back Thomas and went into the back of Oli Rathbone and that was a second booking.
13:14 The thing there you would think, 'Well, Rotherham, you're never going to get a better chance to get
13:21 a win and get the monkey off your back.' But I think it's such a lack of confidence going forward
13:26 that they didn't really lay a glove on Huddersfield even though they had an extra man.
13:31 I thought actually Rotherham were probably better when it was 11 v 11.
13:35 But Huddersfield, they were still in a fair amount of control. But it was interesting that towards
13:46 the end, Andre Brighton-Reiser, he was getting a lot of stick from the supporters to bring on
13:52 Danny Ward and/or Josh Karoma, two attacking players, to get that goal.
13:59 A lot of people said it was a must-win game given Rotherham's situation. But he elected not. He was
14:05 pragmatic. I think the only substitution he made towards the end was to bring Tom Edwards on the
14:13 defender. He's got a lot of criticism from the Huddersfield supporters who were singing,
14:18 'Andre, where are your subs?' The mood music wasn't good at the final whistle. The Huddersfield
14:26 fans were frustrated. They saw it as two points lost as opposed to one gained.
14:33 I'm sort of thinking about it. I mean, I can understand the frustration of the town supporters
14:39 that have gone there expecting to see a town that obviously had big defeats at West Brom,
14:45 that got beaten to Cardiff. Great chance to win, get out of the relegation zone.
14:51 They'll be looking at Rotherham thinking, 'Even with 10 men, we should have been winning that.'
14:57 I just think personally, I put it in my report, I just thought that Brighton Riders thought to
15:04 themselves, 'If we lose this game, psychologically we will not get over this.' I sort of get where
15:11 he's coming from. At the end of the day, it's all right supporters saying, 'I'd have done this,
15:16 I'd have done that.' He's the one who has to make the decisions and it's on his head
15:19 what the decisions were made. So he was pragmatic. Personally, I probably would have brought on
15:25 Karoma because he's the sort of player who can nick a goal. But I understand the position that
15:30 Brighton Riders was in. Let's just box off the game and get a point because
15:37 Rotherham have got an extra man. If they nick a goal, that blow, there's an international break
15:44 coming up, it's going to be a colossal blow for Huddersfield. I do agree with him that I think it
15:49 would have been extremely hard to get over. It's not ideal, they've got one point, Huddersfield,
15:54 but they're only in the bottom three on goal difference. As much as the Rotherham game was
16:03 billed as a big game, and it was, you look at some of the games they've got left, they've got
16:07 to play Millwall at home, huge game. They've got to play Birmingham at home, that could be ginormous
16:12 at the end of April. They've got a huge six point on Van Colledy-Monday over Easter at Stoke.
16:22 Ultimately, if Huddersfield stay up by a point, it's a good decision from
16:26 Brighton Riders, isn't it? You've got to say that. I think time will tell
16:30 the merit of that particular point. If they go down, a lot of fans will go back to that game.
16:37 I've a bit mixed feelings about the decision from Brighton Riders regarding the substitutes.
16:48 They've just got to... Liam Richardson spoke about it quite a bit. It's about
16:52 showing some pride in your profession, really. There's a hell of a lot of players out of
16:58 contract, but they're playing for quite a few, I think there's a natural turnover,
17:03 quite a few players will leave at the end of the season. You've got to show that you're a good
17:07 professional. There'll be other clubs out there thinking about who they're going to recruit next
17:15 season, who's going to be available. You've got to show you're a good professional, have your own
17:21 standards. Have a little bit of pride and give something back to the supporters who've been
17:30 through the mill this season. It's been a torrid season for Rotherham. I think in that season,
17:36 I mentioned 2016/17, they got 23 points. I think that's the lowest they've ever got
17:44 under the three-point-two-win system. They've got 20 now. I would say the first point of call is,
17:50 look, we've got seven or eight games left. Let's make sure we beat that total. Hopefully a win
17:58 and a few draws or whatever it takes, really. That's the hope. It just showed Rotherham's
18:08 situation that even with an extra man against a side in the relegation zone, they just lack the
18:14 wit and the guile to get that win. You wonder if they'll get a better chance. Time will tell from
18:23 the Huddersfield perspective how important that point is. Thinking back to what you were saying
18:32 with regards to the Huddersfield Town fans being frustrated and saying, "Why didn't you play more
18:40 attacking football?" I think it's primarily down to the fact that this was against Rotherham United.
18:46 It's a Yorkshire clash. But also, more than that, it's a team around them.
18:52 It's one of those things where you can look at the Huddersfield Town fans and they'll be thinking,
19:00 "If we can't beat teams that are around us and, let's be honest, below us,
19:03 what chance have we got?" It's one of those things where you think you've got to beat
19:08 those around you if you can't put up a real fight against those at the top half.
19:12 Yeah. It's psychology in that respect. There'll be plenty to mull over. It was interesting that
19:23 the chairman, Kevin Nagel, who we spoke about him before, he's very public and coming out on
19:28 social media. He actually made some salient points. We had a chat with Brighton Riders on
19:36 the Sunday. He speaks to them every weekend after a game and he announces his thoughts in his
19:43 video diary. He said, "Look, I'd like to be more proactive. I've been a little bit more bolder."
19:54 Brighton Riders outlined the reasons I spoke to you about why he didn't make this substitution,
20:00 how he saw the game was padding out. To be fair to Nagel, he said his reasons were,
20:06 whether he totally agreed with me or not, sound and cogent. He played out a decent argument.
20:13 His experience as well, he's had successful relegation battles in his time in Germany on
20:22 the continent. He's got to be trusted on that count. Huddersfield come back, they've got Coventry
20:32 on Good Friday, Stoke on the Easter Monday. If they get a win in one of those two games,
20:38 certainly the Stoke game, then some of the sting out of events at Rotherham will be taken away.
20:45 Huddersfield have got to park it now and their supporters. They've got the international break,
20:51 then they'll come back. With Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday as well, and Barnsley,
20:58 huge seasons within the season almost, which will define the success of events.
21:08 It's difficult with a championship, isn't it? Their running doesn't look that...
21:15 They've got Coventry, they've got Ipswich last day, but apart from that,
21:19 their other six games, there are potential for points. They've got huge, huge games, Birmingham
21:26 at home, they've got... I mentioned Millwall and Stoke. If they get a decent haul in those games,
21:36 then hopefully the Rotherham game can be parked a little bit.
21:40 Next, I want to briefly touch upon Barnsley, who claimed a point in their 0-0 draw with Cheltenham
21:48 Town. What were your thoughts on the performance, seeing as Barnsley are currently comfortably in
21:55 the play-off spots, with about 10 points between them and the team outside.
22:01 But what were your thoughts on the 0-0 draw?
22:05 Yeah, they're just having a little bit of a... It happens to a lot of... I've seen it over the
22:10 years, Mark Sides, who are going for promotion. Everything's looking rosy, and then they have a
22:18 little stumble. They had that one game in four, obviously they had the Bolton game, the cruel
22:27 late equaliser. Then they got a good hiding at the hands of a very good Lincoln side, who might even
22:35 sneak in. I've said last week, in their current form, I wouldn't be wanting to bump into them.
22:42 Then they had to dig out a win at Carlisle. Yeah, frustrating. We've spoken about Barnsley's
22:49 defensive statistics being pretty ropey, shall we say, for a side who are going for automatic
22:57 promotion. The tick in the box was they kept a clean sheet, but a lot of people, you would have
23:02 been expecting them to have enough in their armoury to get a win there. There were some
23:08 grumbles at the final whistle by all accounts, even one or two boos. They've been here before,
23:14 Barnsley, at the end of November, they had a horrible month. They actually played Lincoln
23:21 away and got a late draw there. Lincoln scored near the end. There were some concerns and grumbles
23:26 there. They've never been that far away from the surface, even though Barnsley are having a decent
23:31 season. They've shown decent togetherness and a strong jaw to handle the bits of adversity.
23:39 They're going to have to do it again. I think the break's probably come at a good time for them,
23:43 to be honest, to recharge physically and mentally ahead of the run-in. They're going to have a busy
23:49 April. I think they've got eight games in, something like 28, 29 days. The schedule's
23:57 going to be intense. The bit of a concern is Devante Cole, isn't he? He's not scored for
24:04 seven or eight games and he's been a big player in Barnsley's season. They've had 17 goals.
24:10 They play Cambridge on Good Friday. If you're looking at boxers to tick, you would hope for a
24:19 win and a Cole goal or two there. I think the thing that just not got to panic the Barnsley
24:26 supporters is Neil Collins, Woah! They've got some good individuals in terms of players and
24:32 characters. Don't forget as well, a lot of them were there this time last year, weren't they?
24:36 They were going for an automatic promotion. It didn't quite work out but they got to the
24:43 play-off final and they were ever so close. They'll have that motivation inside them and they
24:49 can handle an intense running. They're at home on Good Friday. A game on paper which is similar
24:58 to some respects to the Cheltenham one. You've just got to be a little bit more ruthless and
25:04 clinical, get over the line. Hopefully it's a good game for them to have and then they can
25:10 win there and they're back on track a little bit.
25:16 Next we turn our attention to Bradford City who following on from their 5-1 defeat against
25:21 Mansfield Town, played out a 3-0 defeat when they hosted Notts County. This now sees the
25:27 Bantams seven points outside the play-off spots. Now Leon, this is Bradford City's third loss in
25:33 the space of a week and when you look at their recent run of form, I think it's fair to say
25:38 that it's been inconsistent. I heard recently on a radio phone in that one Bradford City fan
25:52 basically made the comment that people just aren't wanting to go to watch them anymore,
25:59 the way things are going. What does Graham Alexander do to help his side turn things
26:07 around seeing as we're now coming to the business end of this season?
26:10 Yeah, it's hard for him Mark, isn't it? He obviously came in mid-season as well and the
26:18 mood was pretty low there. He had a decent run before Christmas and obviously had until the
26:26 recent dip in form. There were signs they were getting their act together there. It just seems
26:32 to be a bit of apathy there at the club, Mark, doesn't it? I was there on Tuesday night, I think
26:37 the crowd was giving us 17,000 but there were nowhere near that many in and there were certainly
26:42 a lot of season ticket holders who by the look of it have given up the ghost. I actually live
26:48 not too far away from Bradford and I've spoken to one or two myself who are particularly fed up and
26:57 have given up on the season. So the mood music isn't good among the supporters and behind the
27:04 scenes, Stefan Rupp, the owner, was at the game on Saturday against Mansfield Town and there was
27:11 a lot of criticism being heaped in his direction. There's some anger there at the direction of the
27:22 club. So Alexander, who I think is a good low division manager, he speaks exceedingly well,
27:30 speaks a lot of sense, he's popular with the players. I've got a fair bit of sympathy for him
27:36 really. You look at the situation now, they had a sniff at the play-offs before these
27:41 three home games. That looks, unless something extraordinary happens, that's gone out the
27:48 window and it's not really worth talking about I'd say. So yeah, it's a bit of a perfect
27:56 storm brewing at the minute sadly at Bradford. Forms, they've got some injuries particularly
28:02 at the back which are finding them out a little bit. They conceded three against Notts County,
28:09 they conceded five against Mansfield. Well there's some injuries to contend with. There's obviously
28:14 the pitch isn't in an ideal state as well. Confidence is low. What I would say is there
28:23 was plenty of effort there on Tuesday night against Notts County. He'd called them out a
28:28 little bit Alexander after the Mansfield game when they got absolutely hammered and they were all
28:33 over the place by the sounds of it defensively. It wasn't a lack of effort or perspiration,
28:42 it was just a lack of quality unfortunately. There just looks to be a lack of confidence there.
28:49 They've just got a local derby against Harrogate on Saturday and there'll be a sell-out Bradford
28:58 following going there. From a Bradford perspective, a bad performance and result there.
29:02 A difficult situation will become very toxic. They've just got to dig in. Alexander spoke well
29:15 again on Tuesday night. He said the good professionals in there have got to look within
29:21 themselves and think they've been in positions like this before in their career and just show
29:29 the character and the mentality to try and dig themselves out of it and get a result or two.
29:35 Just to quiet the noise a little bit. It's been another pretty frustrating season for Bradford.
29:44 It's their sixth year in League Two which, given the club's stature, is ridiculous and
29:52 embarrassing. At the minute, I think they're 17th in the table. The way things are going,
29:58 they could still finish as Yorkshire's bottom club in the EFL. Doncaster are not too far away.
30:08 You just hope from Bradford's perspective the supporters can have a few crumbs of
30:12 consolation because it's been a rough time for them. There's a lot of anger and
30:22 empathy at the direction of the club. It's worrying times when you consider that this time
30:30 last year they got into the play-offs and obviously it went south a little bit. It did
30:36 go south at the start of this season but they were only one win away from Wembley, weren't they?
30:39 They played Carlisle in the semi-final and that seems a long time ago now, doesn't it?
30:49 It's sad to see what's going on at Bradford but I think they're certainly in the right
30:54 hands managerially. I think Graeme Alexander is a good manager. What he says resonates with
31:05 the supporters but it'll take a lot of work. It's going to be another summer, isn't it,
31:12 where there's going to be a big change around in player personnel which seems to be the way
31:18 of Bradford. I wish him all the luck in the world because I do think they're in good hands and I
31:26 don't think the problem is on the management side of it. Going back to that phoning I was
31:34 mentioning earlier on, there was something that the individual said which was that
31:40 'who do you blame at this stage?' Because as a football fan you want to try and figure out
31:50 what's going on, why it's going wrong and who's to blame for this. Like you said,
31:55 you can't really blame Graeme Alexander with regards to when he came in and what he's got
32:03 to work with. Then you look at the players, you can't really blame them because they are
32:08 putting in a shift, they are trying their best. But then you look at the board, they're doing
32:14 whatever they can to make sure that this team succeeds. So it's just one of those things where
32:21 from the fans' point of view they're thinking 'well, we want to know what's going on and why
32:26 this is happening'. Yeah, I think there's a lot of problems there. They don't own their own ground,
32:36 they haven't had to pay for renting the training ground at Woodhouse Globe. There's been some
32:43 strategic decisions regarding the club over the years which haven't gone down particularly well.
32:52 There's everything. The recruitment has not been... There's been questions about the
32:56 recruitment over quite a few years as well. These questions are always going to be
33:04 fired at Bradford while they're in the position that they're in. It's a bit of a perfect storm at
33:13 the minute. They've still got a hell of a lot of work to do to somehow drag themselves out of this
33:19 division. You can understand the supporters. First of all, they're paying the hard-earned money.
33:27 It's been a pretty sorry season for Bradford, especially after there was positivity last year.
33:36 Ideally Bradford are an automatic promotion candidate. But there was progress from the
33:45 previous years, when they finished 15th and 14th. They did get into the play-off,
33:49 so it was a stepping stone. But I'm afraid they've gone backwards this season. At the minute,
33:59 they look as far away from getting out of the division as they've been since they've been down
34:05 there. It's another huge summer and it's going to be interesting to see what happens with the
34:15 season ticket sales. Will some supporters say, "Well, that's it. That's me. I'm not going to
34:22 renew." Or will they give them another chance? We'll have to wait and see on that count. But
34:29 if they can at least finish this season with a little bit of positivity, it might convince some
34:35 of the doubters to give it another go. Who has been your standout player of the week,
34:44 as well as your standout team of the week?
34:48 Yeah, well, we've spoken a lot of Leeds United. You're talking of candidates there. There's
34:57 quite a few who have put their hand up again. Eugenio Routa, who's going to have some minor
35:03 surgery, hernia surgery in the international break. Nothing untoward from the sound of it
35:10 to correct. He signed off with a... not quite at his vintage best, but still pretty... his best is
35:16 usually pretty good to make a contribution, isn't it? He was involved in the two goals against
35:22 Millwall and his consistency in terms of assists has been remarkable, hasn't it?
35:26 Archie Gray, again, who we've wrapped myself and Stuart and yourself, what's lyrical about him all
35:32 season. What a player he is, not just for Leeds United, but you think down the line with England.
35:39 If his career graph continues the way it is in the next two or three seasons, you could see him
35:47 being part of the... without putting too much pressure on him, being part of the full England
35:54 side by the time he's in his early 20s. He's from Great Stock, a terrifically talented footballer,
36:02 and he's got the temperament to match. Yeah, I think as well, you've got to say,
36:11 Ethan Ampadu was another favourite in this podcast. He's shown his prowess in two positions,
36:19 which is a sign of a class sign. But I'm not going to go for a Leeds United player this week. I'm
36:24 going to go for a Doncaster Rovers player. They've had a little bit of an upturn, which we've spoken
36:29 about before. The previous two or three seasons have been awful. The final third of those seasons
36:35 have been real write-offs, nothing much to write home about. One of the players who suffered in
36:39 that time, Tom Anderson, he's had his injury issues and he's not been in a particularly
36:47 good place at times. He's back in the side and by all accounts, he's going back to his best,
36:54 his commanding best, big, strong centre-half. A good lower division centre-half and he's in
37:01 a good vein of form. Rovers got a good win at Swindon. Anderson is enjoying himself again,
37:08 which is good to see because I've interviewed him a few times. He's a nice lad, a good, honest lad.
37:15 I'll say Tom Anderson this week as the team of the week. We're going to have to go back to Leeds,
37:24 Mark. It's never long before we speak about them, isn't it? I just think,
37:30 OK, they played Millwall and I think most people would have had it down as a home win,
37:38 let's be honest. It was routine in the respect. OK, Leeds had to wait a little bit to kill the
37:44 game off. But 2-0, another clean sheet, another brick in the wall. Just look at the figures we've
37:53 spoken about. Top, best goals against in the division, away from home, at home, clean sheets
38:00 all over the place. Their consistency has just been wonderful, hasn't it? But as we've spoken
38:07 about earlier, it needs to stay wonderful if they're going to get over the line and finish
38:13 the job. But yes, Leeds United, team of the week for me.
38:16 Yorkshire Post.co.uk
38:19 Yorkshire Post.co.uk
38:21 Yorkshire Post.co.uk
38:23 Yorkshire Post.co.uk
38:26 Many thanks to Leon Wobbshaw who will doubtless join us again soon for more discussions on the
38:30 Yorkshire football scene. But don't forget you can keep up to date with all the football news
38:33 across Yorkshire and beyond by logging on to our website at yp.sport@nationalworld.com,
38:38 or if you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football or even Sheffield Sport
38:42 on Facebook, you can find us there as well. If you have any questions for our writers,
38:46 you can get in touch using those various Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a
38:50 subject matter as football talk podcast at yp.sport@nationalworld.com. As ever,
38:56 many thanks for listening and look after yourselves and bye for now.
38:59 [Music]