On this week’s show, Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall join host Mark Singleton to reflect on the closing of the Championship regular season and the onset of the League One and Two play-offs.
Not surprisingly, they start with the shock sacking of Liam Rosenior by Hull City after the Tigers missed out on the play-offs by three points and one place.
Will the Tigers live to regret their decision to get rid of one of the brightest young managers around, or will it prove to be a master stroke by owner Acun Ilicali?
Elsewhere, the stunning job by Danny Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday was completed without fuss on the final day when his team enjoyed a 2-0 win at Sunderland – their survival achieved despite only having one win after 19 matches when the German manager arrived.
In terms of the play-offs, Barnsley’s late-season implosion concluded when their League One season was curtailed by Bolton Wanderers over two legs, while Doncaster Rovers enjoyed a good start to their League Two semi-final with a 2-0 win at Crewe Alexandra. Can they finish the job at home on Friday and make it to Wembley?
Also, Leon picks his player of the week, while Stuart gives his thoughts on the standout team of the week.
Not surprisingly, they start with the shock sacking of Liam Rosenior by Hull City after the Tigers missed out on the play-offs by three points and one place.
Will the Tigers live to regret their decision to get rid of one of the brightest young managers around, or will it prove to be a master stroke by owner Acun Ilicali?
Elsewhere, the stunning job by Danny Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday was completed without fuss on the final day when his team enjoyed a 2-0 win at Sunderland – their survival achieved despite only having one win after 19 matches when the German manager arrived.
In terms of the play-offs, Barnsley’s late-season implosion concluded when their League One season was curtailed by Bolton Wanderers over two legs, while Doncaster Rovers enjoyed a good start to their League Two semi-final with a 2-0 win at Crewe Alexandra. Can they finish the job at home on Friday and make it to Wembley?
Also, Leon picks his player of the week, while Stuart gives his thoughts on the standout team of the week.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:15we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:18of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we're joined by Chief Football
00:22Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post,
00:26discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't forget you can keep
00:30up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by logging onto our website
00:34at yp.sport at nationalworld.com, as well as checking out our various Twitter feeds,
00:39the main one being at ypsport. If you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football,
00:45or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well. And if you have any
00:49questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter or Facebook
00:52pages, or email us directly with a subject matter at footballtalkpodcast at yp.sport
00:58at nationalworld.com. YorkshirePost.co.uk.
01:02As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by Chief Football Writer for
01:05the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Wobbshaw.
01:09Good morning, guys.
01:10Morning.
01:11Morning.
01:12Morning. Right, this week we saw the final round of games in the Championship and the
01:16start of League One and League Two playoffs. In the Premier League, we witnessed another
01:21disappointing result for already relegated Sheffield United when they went down to struggling
01:26Nottingham Forest. In doing so, they conceded their 100th goal of the season, and with two
01:30games still to play, it's likely that they'll set a new Premier League record. Another team
01:36now confirmed to be playing in a lower division next season are Huddersfield Town. Knowing
01:41only a miracle would save them, they went down 2-1 to Ipswich Town, a result which also
01:46meant that Leeds United would have to rely on the playoff route if they are to join the
01:50Tractor Boys in the Premier League.
01:53Elsewhere in the Championship, Hull City's playoff hopes were ended when they went down
01:571-0 at Plymouth Argyle. This was the Tigers' first defeat in seven games and meant they
02:04finished just one place and three points outside the playoffs. And to many people's surprise,
02:09this was then followed by the announcement that Leon Rossignol will be leaving the club.
02:13Now, Leon, although this was a disappointing end, do you think that this was the right
02:18decision and how do you see things moving forward next season?
02:22No, 100% not. Myself and Stuart have covered a lot of things in football and nothing really
02:31does surprise you. The emotions aren't so much a surprise at what's happened, it's just
02:38massive disappointment and disillusionment really. You have to consider where Hull were
02:46when he took over in the autumn of 2022. They were a club with no identity, they'd lost
02:52the mojo, they were on the cusp of a relegation battle if things didn't improve. The seniors
03:00steadied the ship there first and foremost and kept them up with relatively few alarms
03:07really. He's built a side, not without failings, but a really vibrant, attractive, easy on
03:16the eye side. In the previous home game, Stuart's seen a lot more of Hull than I have, but I've
03:25watched the home game again since which everything was good about Hull City. One or two imperfections,
03:33but a magnificent advert for the Championship. He was building something good there. I just
03:41look at it and think, if some other clubs were going on the right path in the Championship,
03:49say Coventry, if Ipswich had just missed out on the play-offs or Middlesbrough, would they
03:54have sat their manager after such a season? I don't think, never in a million years, given
04:00the good sense and the acumen in the boardroom, it's desperately disappointing for Liam and
04:12for Hull City as well. Another bright young manager. He's 39 years old, he's been talked
04:20up rightly, he was shortlisted for the Manager of the Year award in April. His size play
04:29attractive football the way that most people think that football should be played. A lot
04:34of Premier League clubs were trusting him with their up-and-coming young players. Hull
04:41just missed out with a finished seventh and they've got a lot to look forward to, in my
04:46opinion. It's just a case of probably ripping it up and starting again. You just wonder
04:52what some of the players think at Hull who've grown under a senior. The likes of Jacob Greaves,
04:59Regan Slaters, people like Morton and Dillap who came to Hull and had a great time under
05:07the tutelage of a senior. I think it's fair to say that they won't be coming back now,
05:11that's for sure. Just desperately disappointing and needless really. I suppose it's modern
05:23football and it sums it up in some regard. My main emotion is just real sadness really.
05:31Yeah, I'd agree with that completely. Hull's owners have always made it plain that they
05:36were impatient but they're quite honest about that. As Leon says, it's not that much of a
05:42surprise but it is a massive disappointment. I think Hull were entitled to set the target
05:53for the play-offs this season, particularly after the investment they made in January.
05:58And in that respect, you have to say that they failed. Liam Rossini failed and part of that
06:06equation was down to him. He didn't find the right solutions, whether it be recruitment,
06:13tactical selection or whatever, to overcome the problem of Liam Dillap's injury. But look,
06:20managers do fail. Jurgen Klopp's going to fail this season and if he wasn't retiring,
06:25Liverpool wouldn't be sacking him for it. There's only one team that wins each trophy.
06:32Hull City run a really good track. They've got a young manager and a young team and you learn
06:37from your mistakes. Rossini will learn from his mistakes but now some other club's going to get
06:43the benefits of that learning, not him. They only missed out on the play-offs by a place,
06:48by three points. I think it will probably be a weaker championship next season. They were
06:55perfectly placed if they kept that manager in place to kick on and go on better next season.
07:01And as Liam has said, now it's kind of start again time almost. That squad was anyway probably
07:09going to be broken up to a degree because of financial fair play but this really accelerates
07:15it and exaggerates it. It just feels like a club that had been making big strides forward has
07:22voluntarily taken a big stride back now. As I say, if we'd have been talking two days ago,
07:30you'd have been saying you'd really fancy Hull to be in the mix next season. Now,
07:35we're not at all. We're waiting to see who the new manager's going to be. Rossini had his faults,
07:42every manager does. But there's not many better managers out there. When you whittle it down to
07:49managers who are prepared to work in the championship, happy to work in England,
07:55to work at Hull, it's going to be a very short list of managers who will actually be an upgrade
08:02on Liam Rossini. I agree totally with Liam. It's a depressing move more than anything else.
08:10You know, we've got this talented young manager on the patch who just needed a bit of time.
08:18Again, as Leon said, you just look at the context of the progress he's made.
08:22You just wanted to see him get the opportunities to continue that. Fair enough, if next season
08:28he didn't learn the lessons of this season, then you've got a decision to make. But I think the
08:36certainly earned the chance to do that. I think it just came out of the blue, really, and was
08:42really disappointing for people who love football more than anything else. Yeah, I totally agree
08:50with that. I mean, you look at some clubs who've grown sort of incrementally. You could say,
08:55you know, Coventry, say, Luton. Clubs on an awkward keel, Ipswich have done it a little
09:01bit quicker. You could bracket Hull in those sort of clubs. They finished 15th last season,
09:09was it 7th this year? Every chance, as Stuart's right, they said, okay, there'll be one or two
09:15changes. But given the platform that Rossini had built, and he spoke after the match at Plymouth
09:20about putting Hull back on the map, I don't think anybody would disagree with that. Stuart's right
09:26to say as well, I don't think the chapter will be quite as strong next season. And yeah, every
09:33chance for Hull to have a strong season next season, if it wasn't going well mid-shifts,
09:41then there's more of a justification for the argument of replacing him. But they've got a
09:47hell of a lot more for me going for them than what wasn't going for them. Someone's going to have to
09:53come in and build a dressing room again. People talk about cultures, it's that and the other, but
10:01it's just a decision where it's meaningless, isn't it, really? People talk about these buzzwords,
10:08it's just, well, you finish 7th, that's it. You've got to go. It's so disappointing for Rossini.
10:15He's grown something there, hasn't he, over the best part of 18 months, and he's just been tossed
10:19away. So, yeah, I think the overwhelming word is disappointment, but I suppose such is the modern
10:27world. We'll now get all sorts of managers linked with Hull, probably a few exotic names from the
10:32continent. Plenty of modern fans will just jump on that straight away, but I just think it was a sad
10:41day for football. But unfortunately, it's the modern way, isn't it? And I think there's another
10:46way you've got to look at the championship table nowadays. Yeah, if Hull were 7th, they were 2nd
10:51for teams without parachute payments, which had such a big skewing effect. So, to say you were
10:57the best team bar Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town not to receive parachute payments, that suddenly
11:01puts things in a much more positive light, doesn't it? And yeah, it just felt like they were doing
11:10things the right way and they've just shot themselves in the foot here. And, you know,
11:14it might work out. They might pluck a manager from nowhere who turns out to be even better,
11:18but it just feels like something has been lost when you've got somebody there who has a genuine
11:24affinity with the club, who has a real plan about how to take things forward, a real way of playing.
11:30Yeah, it's not to absolutely everybody's tastes, but it's never going to be easy.
11:35But his young manager is not going to be perfect.
11:38Well, that's the problem.
11:39The best chairman back, you know, back with bright young managers and
11:44he surely deserved that, didn't he? Yeah, and his replacement isn't going to be perfect either,
11:49because you don't get perfect managers at any level. You certainly don't get them coming to
11:52the championship. That's the reality. So, you've got to, you know, you've got to ride the
11:57disappointments and just be more mature about it than they have been. You wonder what, you know,
12:02we mentioned, say, Jacob Drees for the sake of argument. What's he going to think now?
12:08He's a Hull lad. It's his club. He'll have had a strong affinity and respect for Liam McSweeney.
12:14There'll be plenty of others too. What are they going to think about this? It's not just about
12:18the Hull supporters as well. You know, they've given everything over the best part of nine
12:22months and just missed out. But it's been a good, a good, vibrant and healthy story.
12:27And then, you know, a couple of days after the end of the season, that's that,
12:31as if it didn't really mean anything. And that's the other thing that's so
12:35disappointing. I can't really get my head around.
12:39And not just Jacob Drees as well, the next manager they pick the phone up to,
12:43you know, what's he going to think? If he's going to look at that and think, well,
12:47I'm going to be sacked if I miss the playoffs by three points, you know, maybe he might look
12:53elsewhere. And it all sort of adds to the mood around the club. And, you know, unless they get
13:01an appointment that really excites people, it could be a difficult start to next season,
13:05just because, you know, that, that, that, I mean, you can't say the season's ended on it
13:11with a real feel-good factor, obviously, because they've missed the playoffs,
13:14but it does feel like the mood will be, you know, dampened considerably.
13:18And you think, you know, you mentioned there, if you're a man, you've got a good young player,
13:21you want to loan him out to the Championship for a year, Liverpool or whoever, you know,
13:26the senior at Hull, you think, yeah, I mean, okay, they just missed out on the playoffs,
13:30but they play a great style of football. Players that have grown and, you know,
13:36raised the profile, I will send him there. But that's another factor, that's all gone.
13:41Whoever comes in, they'll have to build more relationships again with these top clubs.
13:46And, you know, that's another consideration and another reason why I find it a pretty bad thing.
13:53Yeah, I mean, now you'd be looking to Middlesbrough, to Sheffield Wednesday,
13:56if they keep Danny Roll, you know, you're going to be looking to clubs like that instead to place
14:00your players up. Yeah, yeah. And now we also saw Sheffield Wednesday secure their Championship
14:06status with a comfortable 2-0 win at the Stadium of Light. After their dreadful start to the season
14:11with only one win in the first 19 games, Danny Roll has certainly had a positive impact, particularly
14:18in the last third of the season. Now, Stuart, what were your thoughts on the game? And seeing
14:23as you made the comment with regards to how next season's division is going to look like,
14:28how do you see the Owls making more progress next season?
14:32Well, I mean, that is a club in an extremely good position. What we're waiting to see is what they
14:37do in the next couple of weeks. Because, you know, we know what things are like at Sheffield
14:41Wednesday. There's the potential there to really take off. There's the potential there for it to go
14:47badly if they're not able to keep Danny Roll. So we wait and see. But as for how things are at the
14:52moment, I mean, it was almost an unnatural final day of the season for me at the Stadium of Light,
15:00seeing a team really in the squeaky bum part of the division take a quick 2-0 lead and just
15:08control the game. It was really quite comfortable. In fairness, a lot of that was down to how poor
15:15Sunderland were and how low their morale was on the day. But nevertheless, Sheffield Wednesday
15:20finished the season strongly. All the things we've been talking about in terms of a young manager,
15:27with a plan, with an identity, they've got all of these things at the moment.
15:31I'd say they are going to be an attractive place for clubs to send their loan signings. And that's
15:38obviously a massive deal in the Championship, particularly when you haven't got the parachute
15:43payments. If you can get loan players of the quality of Tyler Morton, Fabio Calvario,
15:49players like that, if Sheffield Wednesday can attract some of these players,
15:53they can definitely be playoff contenders. If you look at where the league table starts,
15:59the league table if you start it in December, which is when Roel really got his feet under
16:04the table, it's been player form, it's been top six form. So they can definitely look with real
16:10excitement to next season, but it is all going to hang on. Can they persuade Danny Roel that
16:17they're going to really back him? Not just in terms of finance, but in terms of the changes
16:23he wants to make in the club. Bannon made a very telling comment about this is not a Danny Roel
16:30team at the moment. He's having to make compromises, which Leo and I have both praised him
16:36for in the last few weeks for having the foresight to do that. Incidentally, that's one of the things
16:41that Liam Rossini will have to learn. But nevertheless, next season, if Danny Roel is
16:47still in charge and if he gets his way, we'll see a sort of purer Danny Roel team, a team playing
16:53more the way he wants to be. But it just all hangs on that if. Roel was very reticent to say anything
17:00about his future after the game. There's clearly some big talks that need to be made. If you're a
17:05Sheffield Wednesday fan, you've just got to keep your fingers crossed that his mind isn't already
17:09made up after some of the disappointments he had in the January transfer window and just generally.
17:15But it really could go either way for Sheffield Wednesday. You could really see them being on
17:20the up and up, but you just know they've got this habit of shooting themselves in the foot
17:24when things are going well and you just pray that that's not going to happen this time.
17:28It's just over to the chairman, isn't it, basically? If he messes this one up,
17:37the Sheffield Wednesday fans really won't forgive him. Look at where they are in terms of
17:44being in a good place and probably back to what they were seven or eight years ago,
17:49weren't they, when Carvajal first came in. Every chance, if recruitment is sharp and Roel gets
17:59what he wants, they can be one of those contenders next season. They've got a huge managerial asset
18:06on their hands, haven't they? I think we did believe Sheffield Wednesday would be a huge
18:12queue of clubs that would be interested. I mean, Sunderland would certainly be one,
18:16to plenty of reports. Just give the guy what he wants. Even if it means Chancery
18:24having to go into the background a little bit and just accede a little bit to him.
18:31He's Sheffield Wednesday's biggest asset. Roel's their biggest asset, isn't he, clearly?
18:38He's an excellent coach. He's got a tune-out of a bunch of, I wouldn't say average players,
18:49decent championship players. The next step will be building something really truly in his own image.
18:55Yeah, just give him the keys for me. It'd just be such a desperate shame if Sheffield Wednesday
19:01messed this one up. You never second-guess Chancery, do you? I just think it'd just be
19:07reprehensible, wouldn't it? Given what he's achieved, one of the stories of football in the
19:13season. Just think where they were. They didn't win until the end of October. Was it three points
19:19from the first 10 or 11 games? Absolutely staggering what he's done. If he can be
19:31persuaded that he thinks he can write the next chapter at Sheffield Wednesday, just give him
19:36all the backing he needs. Further down the line, if he's wanted to sell it and he does sell it,
19:42there'll be a successful Sheffield Wednesday with Roald there. Managing to perhaps get in the
19:50play-offs, you'll be able to get a bit more money, won't you, as well? I just hope that
19:57common sense prevails and he can get all the backing that he needs and all the questions
20:02that he wants answered and getting the answers that he requires. Yeah, and I think that is the
20:07case. It's all the backing, it's not all the money. Obviously, he'll want a decent budget,
20:15of course he will, but I think it's as much about control, about infrastructure,
20:22about things like that. I think he'll be more focused on the type of player he can get, i.e.
20:29someone who can play his style of football, almost, than the quality. Obviously, you want the
20:35quality too, but making players better, that's his job. He needs those raw materials in the first
20:42place. As I say, hopefully, a lot of that quality will come in the loan market. More signings like
20:51James Fiegel and, like I said, you know the sort of calibre of player that Roald got.
20:56I think more than anything else, Danny Roald needs to trust that what Sean Searie says he will
21:02deliver on. That's the big thing. If I was advising Danny Roald, that would be what I was
21:10saying. It's not so much the words that Sean Searie is saying, it's do you believe he'll
21:16follow through on them. That might be the difficult part of the equation, but
21:21in Sheffield Wednesday's favour, you can tell Danny Roald loves being there. You could see
21:28how he does it every week, but you could see how he was interacting with the fans after the game.
21:34First thing he did, which didn't go down too well, was announcing at the press conference
21:39everyone round to Hillsborough for a massive party. A few people behind the scenes were very
21:45quick to dampen that down when they were a bit worried about that, but that connection is there.
21:52They are starting from a good place at that point. As Leon says, everything boils down to
21:57the chairman and that relationship. I think everyone can see there's surely a few more
22:03chapters to write there if things go well. This was stage one, a very important accomplishment,
22:10and he deserves a pat on the back for that, but he certainly wouldn't have come to Sheffield
22:15Wednesday just for this, would he? When he went to the brochure, he would have been looking
22:18further forward. He's got that opportunity now. If things fall into place and he gets
22:24the reassurance he wants, just over to Mr Chancery not to waste it. If he were to walk,
22:31obviously there'd be a lot of angry Sheffield Wednesday fans, but that's football reaping
22:35what it sows after what we've just talked about. How could you expect anyone to be loyal in that
22:41sort of environment? That's the knock-on effect of all these decisions, and that's why it makes
22:48Leon and I so miserable to see that happen. It creates an atmosphere of mistrust and disloyalty,
22:54and it would be really nice to see Danny Roll say, you've given me my chance, I owe it to you
23:01to give you another season and kick on, but you're living in a fairytale land if you think he's just
23:09shark-infested atmosphere that managers work in. If Biffy did happen to leave,
23:15what would the Sheffield Wednesday players think? A lot of them would think I'm out of contract,
23:21don't they? So you're in real trouble then, you're really having to start again.
23:29Another horrendous summer, wouldn't it? It would, yeah. You look at last season,
23:34they actually got promoted at the end of spring. Everything was set up and
23:38disaster of summer set the tone. If there's one fan base who doesn't deserve that,
23:45it's Sheffield Wednesday for what happened last season.
23:49The play-offs have already begun, and Barnsley left themselves with a huge hill to climb after
23:54losing the semi-final first leg 3-1 to Bolton. The second leg resulted in Barnsley's exit,
23:59even though they won on the night. Bolton did enough to see the Tykes off.
24:04Leon, did the Tykes do themselves justice this season?
24:08Well, they went out with a bit of a fight, didn't they? It was probably a little bit of an
24:13emblematic vow. It's gone at this final stage of the season. They just really have struggled
24:20defensively, haven't they? I think if Stuart thinks about it, I have to pinpoint a game where
24:25it all probably changed. Ironically, it was against Bolton. It was the home game that they
24:30had when they were going for automatic promotion at the start of March 2-0, then managed to
24:38relinquish that lead, and Donovan Pines got injured as well. He's just showing signs of his
24:44form, big recruit in January. They've just gone to pieces defensively, and it showed that. Stuart
24:53did the game on Friday. Coping with set pieces has been a massive problem. They conceded another
24:59goal from a set play against Bolton after taking the lead 1-0 up. They got themselves back into
25:07tight. In true Barsley fashion of late, they sort of blew it in a couple of minutes,
25:13and were training. 32 goals have conceded in 15 games. I think they've kept two clean sheets
25:19since the end of November. You're not going to get promoted doing that, are you, with the best
25:27will in the world? Yeah, they showed fight in the final half hour. Bolton got twitchy.
25:33It's good to see Sam Cosgrove. He's actually scored three goals in two play-off games.
25:39That's as many as he'd managed in the regular season after joining, so that was a big tick.
25:48Yeah, they just lost momentum at the wrong time. I'm sure we'll probably mention
25:53Drew a little bit later. They looked a little bit similar, Stuart. They've hobbled into the
26:00play-offs and I think there's a fair chance that they'll probably pay a price as well against
26:06Doncaster. Yeah, but I look at Barsley. I think, yeah, not quite made it this year, but I look at
26:13them and I think if they'd have gone up, key players would have left, I think, in any case.
26:20Expect Devante Cole to leave. Jordan Williams is up as well. Nicky Cadhan. There's Herbie Kane.
26:28There's three or four loneys that will go back as well. You look at that side who stepped out
26:33against Bolton, five or six of them, I don't think they'll be here next season. If Barsley did go up,
26:39I would have, best will in the world, I'd have feared for them next season and I think it could
26:48have been a rough old season. But yeah, I think just looking at them, I think the main on-pitch
26:55issue has been that defensive aspect. You look at the players that they lost last summer, some
27:00huge players and personalities. Mads Andersen went, Liam Kitching went for big money, Bobby
27:07Thomas as well. He was only on loan. And Harry Eister behind them. I think ultimately that has
27:16cost Barsley in terms of just missing out this season, but I say I look at them, I think there's
27:24key players whose contracts are running down. I think they'll have left in the summer, come what
27:29may. Obviously, every fan wants their side to get promoted, but I would have feared for Barsley
27:38if they had gone up and maybe it's not the worst thing in the world that's happened.
27:45In reality nowadays, there's only so much clubs can do about players' contracts running down,
27:50but you do look at the other end of the field particularly and wonder if that cost them in
27:55the end as well because there was a real tailing off of form. Cole was obviously the most obvious
28:04one of them, a player who's out of contract and just seemed to lose his mojo. It might just have
28:09been him hitting bad form at a bad time. Sometimes you can read too much into these things, but
28:15it wasn't a great look. You come to the crunch time of the season, that player
28:23semi-final, second leg and you've got Cole on the bench. Cosgrove proved himself to be a better
28:30option. It was the right decision to make, but it didn't reflect well. They're another club who
28:38have just got to build some deeper foundations. As Leon says, they were working on the fly a bit
28:46this season, having to convert Jordan Williams to a centre-back. They spent all that time trying to
28:53acclimatise Donovan Pines and then, as Leon says, he gets injured pretty quickly. You're generally
28:59just integrating a lot of new players. Particularly if someone like Kane goes,
29:08that's a big area of the field they've got to look at again. They've obviously
29:11suffered through Luca Canel's fitness and health problems and Josh Benson's
29:20injury problems. It's cost them in midfield. They've just got to get their heads down
29:27and keep building. They were moving in that direction. It wasn't going perfectly from it
29:33at the end of the season, but by changing the manager, that whole process has to start again.
29:41They need to get it right because it's a tough Old Division League one. As Leon has pointed out,
29:48it's a really big step up to the Championship. You don't want to scrape your way in. You don't
29:55want to go in underprepared. You want to go in with a real foundation to kick on and I think
30:01that's what Barnes have got to focus on. Are they really geared up for Championship football
30:08and to stabilise and build in the second tier of English football, which is a
30:15usually competitive division these days? You've got some big city clubs in there.
30:19I look at Barnes, the best footballer in the world. They're sort of raised on Destra to me.
30:25First and foremost, he's getting players, developing them and then selling them.
30:31It's not a criticism. I just think it's a fact that they're a selling club, aren't they?
30:35They've grinded a few rough diamonds. It's very data-driven and they've had success in it really
30:42as well, to be fair. Get them, have them for a couple of seasons,
30:48then ultimately sell them. In terms of the medium to longer-term growth of the club,
30:56it doesn't smack me as to how much they really want to get in the Championship
31:01and consolidate. You've just got to look at the club at the minute. It's about developing the
31:07players and selling, reinvesting and getting more in selling. That looks to be the modus
31:14operandi of that club ultimately. It's got to be towards the goal of
31:21generally building everything up, like Luton and Coventry have done.
31:26That's the point. You feel that it's the means to the end to just be the factory of
31:36getting out footballers rather than, as I say, towards the goal of actually
31:41ultimately pushing the club forward, establishing it as a Championship club.
31:45That just seems to be the passion behind the scenes of some, not to get Barnsley up there
31:51and to stay there. That just doesn't seem to be the right motivation across the club to do that.
32:00That's my issue with it. I do believe you can do both. I don't think
32:05it matters against it. As Leo says, you just don't feel the hunger is there to establish themselves.
32:13Doncaster Rovers began their League Two play-off campaign away at Cruyff
32:18and came away with a comfortable 2-0 victory.
32:21Stuart, Donny are looking favourites for a trip to Wembley.
32:25How do you see them faring in the second leg?
32:29The play-offs are crazy. Leon was at Bolton last night. He saw it laid out. We've all seen it.
32:36But Doncaster just feel in such a good place mentally and, as Leon's already alluded to,
32:43Cru don't. As soon as Doncaster got 2-0 up, you just kind of felt they'll do this. They were 2-0
32:51up 48 minutes into a 180-minute tie. That is not a cast-iron job done by any stretch of the
32:57imagination. But, as I say, there's a confidence being built up. I think the way they went into
33:05the play-offs was really significant, not just the straight factor of unbeaten in 12 and they
33:11won 10 of them. The way they ended that run, they went behind for the first time in games
33:189 and 10 of that 10-match winning run. So, that was a bit of a mental test for them.
33:23And then at Gillingham in the final game, went 2-0 up, had a man sent off,
33:27continued twice in a quick time. They came through that too. So, I think that's built
33:32a mental resilience and a confidence. And actually, in the first half hour at Cru,
33:36they were pretty scrappy. They weren't really getting their foot on the ball as they wanted to.
33:41They were getting caused problems by the long throw, but they weren't flustered. You got the
33:47sense from them that, look, we'll get our chance and we'll take our chance and that's exactly what
33:53happened. And as soon as they did, hit the crossbar quickly afterwards, then scored a second
33:57one early in the second half. You just feel that there's that mental toughness. They won't be
34:06comfortable by any means, but there won't be that panic if what happened to Bolton, for example,
34:11the other night were to happen. And more to the point, you feel like they probably won't get
34:15themselves into that situation just because of this confidence around them. And as Leo rightly
34:21pointed out, Cru have lost three of their last four games. They're in the opposite place. They're
34:26a team where if they do concede, they're probably going to think, this is it. Whereas, obviously,
34:32their manager will be saying to them all the time, Peter reunited four Sheffield Wednesday,
34:42that's the way they've got to think. But they're kind of fighting against their poor form and
34:46Doncaster are in the opposite place. They're just in a hell of a place, aren't they? And
34:52one thing's for sure, Grant McCannell, his approach won't change. He's not going to get
34:59complacent. He's held everything together. It reminds me, I remember covering
35:062015-16, Barnsley won twice at Wembley in about 60 days. They won the
35:15Johnston Paint trophy. And then they went on to get in the playoffs and beat Millwall in the
35:20League One playoff final. That was a mad old season. They lost at Altrincham in the FA Cup.
35:27They went on a horrible run about November, December time. I think they must have lost
35:34six or seven on the track. But then they found the wings early in the new year and
35:41the sort of momentum they garnered and the force, it just became irresistible.
35:46And they went all the way. Lee Johnson actually left to go to Bristol City. I think it was the
35:54end of January after they got to the JPT final. But Paul Higginbottom stepped in and
36:03he grabbed the ball and they ran for the line. I've not seen that much of Doncaster but it just
36:11reminds me of that. I look at the side and they've got a real strength in the spine of the team.
36:21Tom Anderson's come back into form with Richard Wood's come in. That's been significant.
36:25Got Ironside down the middle. There's not many better leaders of the line in
36:30League Two. I thought he was excellent from what I saw of the game at Crewe.
36:37Young Craig, I think he's a great player. I saw him earlier this season at Bradford and I thought,
36:43yeah, I'm going to keep my eye on you. I thought he looked a real good footballer. He's destined
36:51for a decent career and bigger things. He looks to me like an old head on young shoulders.
37:00Then they've obviously got people down the side. Molyneux and O'Dellican didn't have the best game
37:05the other day but he's mercurial and he can come up with something, can't he? I just think the
37:10stars are aligning for them. Hopefully they can finish off the job. It'd be great to see the
37:17key mode full. I've mentioned a few times on this podcast in the last three or four seasons,
37:22Doncaster's forming the final third of seasons. It's just been horrible, hasn't it? The crowd
37:27have been an apathy there. The crowd not really engaging with the team. On Friday night they'll
37:35have a full stadium and it'll be a rewind to better times. I remember years, I think it was
37:412007-2008 season, I did the game to play Southend. I think that was the second leg and
37:51they won 5-0. I remember James Coppedge scored a hat-trick and that was a magnificent occasion.
37:56We all know what happened at the end of that season. The Beats, obviously Leeds in the play-off
38:00final to get promotion. Please for everyone at Doncaster, please for Grant McCann and the
38:07supporters. They've got a hell of a chance and they've just got such a belief and conviction.
38:14I don't think it's anything to do with arrogance at all. I think because they've been so low and
38:21they've sort of hit rock bottom and have just drawn upon the rest of the character. Players
38:27have come back, everyone's bought into it. We talk at the league table in the canteen at the
38:31training ground and that has been a clever psychological ploy and everyone's sort of
38:37bought into that. They've just got such genuine momentum there without it bordering on arrogance.
38:46They'll mention Barclay there and it's probably no coincidence that they're very similar characters
38:50in charge in Heckingbottom and Grant McCann. Almost boringly so, next game, next game,
38:56don't get carried away. That's exactly what you need. I talked to Matty Craig after the game and
39:04said you could just imagine somebody getting too big for their boots at County Park and then
39:08running into Richard Wood or Tom Henderson or Tommy Rhodes, they'll soon be put right.
39:15There was a real feet on the ground mentality about them. I think McCann said after the game,
39:24there was a satisfaction in the dressing room rather than being carried away, which is right
39:33when you're only 2-0 up. You can imagine other groups of players getting a lot giddier about
39:40things and that just isn't the Doncaster way. I think as well, Leo's quite rightly mentioned
39:46some big performers for them but they've got some people on the bench as well, people like
39:50Jason Valero, Tommy Rowe. They've got people to step in. We know that Tom Henderson and Richard
39:59Wood are practically in competition as to who can lose most blood and break most bones over
40:03the course of a season. It will take a lot to push either of them off the field but they've
40:08got Joe Valero there if needs be. Harrison Biggins has been nursed a bit of an injury but what player
40:15to be able to bring on in Tommy Rowe? It's amazing when teams get snowballing like that.
40:22You'd be saying the exact opposite about Doncaster three or four months ago when injuries were really
40:27biting but everything just feels so positive and so good about them. I really hope I'm not here with
40:35egg on my face a week from now but it just feels like an impregnable belief about that team right
40:42now which you would really fancy them to finish the job in the semi-final and to give it a really
40:48good go at Wembley. Yeah, fair play to him. It's interesting with McCann, he's spoke before hasn't
40:53he? His promotions have usually come from being a frontman hasn't he really? The reverse has
40:59applied here obviously. Doncaster, what was it, the end of January they got beat 5-0 at home to
41:04Stopport and then they went to Sutton and they were looking over the shoulders and they were
41:09third from bottom. He probably won't say it from what I know of Grant McCann, he probably won't say
41:15but I think inwardly, I look at the previous full season he had at Doncaster, they got to the
41:20playoffs, they got to the semi-final. I did the second leg against Charlton and they were very
41:25unlucky there, they lost on penalties. So he won't say it McCann but I think he'll be inwardly driven
41:33just to get Doncaster to Wembley and finish the job but just don't expect him to say it.
41:42And finally for this week, I look to Leon for his player of the week before turning to Stuart
41:47for the team that has caught his eye most this week. So Leon, who have you gone for this week?
41:53Well I've jotted a few names down, there's quite a few candidates again. I mentioned Tom Anderson,
42:00Richard Wood, Stitches and Bandages and everything else. Luke Molyneux, another great
42:09crisp finish, he's really got his mojo back. Joe Ironside, he's a bit of a usual suspect at the
42:15minute. Look at Sheffield Wednesday, obviously Stuart did the game at Sunderland, Barry Banners
42:20put the hand up, Liam Palmer, which is good to see someone who's obviously been a stalwart at that
42:27club. Paul Valentin as well, he's another player who's put his hand up at this stage of the season.
42:35They mentioned a couple of the Rotherham lads as well, horrible, horrible season that they've had.
42:40They finished it by scoring five goals, which is terrific for them. I think I read a stat the other
42:45day, they hadn't scored on a Saturday at home since December 9th, which if that's not a damning
42:52indictment of what's happened there this season, absolutely nothing is. So, good to see Jordan
42:59Hewgill and Tommy's get a couple of goals and Rotherham sign off for the summer with
43:03a little bit of comfort. Another name, Sam Cosgrove, just mentioned there,
43:09three goals in the playoffs, he's had a bit of a difficult regular season. He's played a bit of
43:16catch-up fitness-wise, not really seen the best of him. So he's offered a glimpse of things to come
43:22next season and I think he'll be a big player for Barnsley, especially with Devante Cole likely
43:28to leave and McAtee going back to Luton and probably having a crack at the Championship
43:34next year. I think I'm going to go for young Craig at Doncaster. I like the cut of his jib,
43:43he looks such a nice footballer, he's always wanting the ball, he's busy and bright. It
43:46reminds me a little bit, I'm putting him on a bit of a pedestal there and he's got a long way to go.
43:51Got a little bit of Richie Wellens about him, but obviously not quite at his levels. But
43:57a really nice footballer who's pleasing on the ice, so I'm going to go for the young lad.
44:02He must be having a strange old experience because he joined in January, his first
44:08senior football, lost his first two games, the second one was that real low point at Stockport
44:14and ever since he's only known the good times. If Doncaster did go up Stuart,
44:23the lad will go a level above. If he's at the next stage of his development, you would think
44:28he'd be league one. Hopefully that would be a no-brainer for him to come back. I'm sure
44:34Graham McCann would love to do that, but obviously they've got a couple of fences to clear yet.
44:39But yeah, a real quality player. I was really impressed with him at
44:44Crewe, so I'd wholeheartedly endorse that. In terms of team of the week, a couple of good
44:53performances unfortunately for teams where it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.
44:59Good to see though, we always talk about professional pride and that sort of thing.
45:03Good to see Rotherham players giving the fans something long overdue back and good to see
45:09Middlesbrough continue in their good energy. Barnsley would have been in the mix were it not
45:18for that first leg really. They just gave themselves too much to do but at least they
45:25went out with a bit of pride. As I say, it was pretty comfortable for them on the day,
45:32which is a compliment to them in itself. But I think all things considered, I'll go for
45:36Sheffield Wednesday as my team of this week. The way they finished the season, absolutely
45:43tremendous. Brilliant performance by Danny Rowe but by no means just down to him. Good to see,
45:51as Leon's alluded to, that core of old stages who've been such a big factor for Sheffield
45:57Wednesday for such a long time. Bannon, Palmer, Windass all coming to the fore and
46:03other players like Paul Valentin. As I say, we've been a bit negative about Sheffield Wednesday in
46:09this podcast just because we worry about which way it could go but if it goes the right way,
46:16it could be really good for them. So just over to you Mr Chan-Siri, make the right decisions,
46:21give Danny Rowe the vision he wants to hear about and it could be a really exciting time
46:29for Sheffield Wednesday. I think quickly his coaching team as well, Stu. Absolutely, yes.
46:35Defer to them, some shrewd appointments there and Chris Powell being the chief among them.
46:43Yes, absolutely, yes, definitely.
47:13Thanks for listening, look after yourselves and bye for now.
47:43you
48:13you