2024-25 Season Preview - The YP FootballTalk Podcast
With no Premier League representative from Yorkshire, the Championship is where the highest level of football resides in 2024-25 for White Rose football fans, with Sheffield United dropping down to join Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough and Hull City.
Can any of them secure a return to the ‘promised land’ May next year or, like Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town last year, will they suffer a far worse fate and drop into League One?
The Millers and the Terriers are part of a three-pronged attack in the third tier along with Barnsley – who will hope to at least match their play-off finish from last year – with League Two boasting a similar situation for Yorkshire, with Doncaster Rovers, Bradford City and Harrogate Town all looking to build on the strong finishes they had to the 2023-24 campaign.
The Yorkshire Post’s football writing team of Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall return to lay down the scene at the start of 2024-25 along with host Mark Singleton.
Can any of them secure a return to the ‘promised land’ May next year or, like Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town last year, will they suffer a far worse fate and drop into League One?
The Millers and the Terriers are part of a three-pronged attack in the third tier along with Barnsley – who will hope to at least match their play-off finish from last year – with League Two boasting a similar situation for Yorkshire, with Doncaster Rovers, Bradford City and Harrogate Town all looking to build on the strong finishes they had to the 2023-24 campaign.
The Yorkshire Post’s football writing team of Stuart Rayner and Leon Wobschall return to lay down the scene at the start of 2024-25 along with host Mark Singleton.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Football Talk from the Yorkshire Post, where
00:21we will be discussing some of the latest talking points from the world of football with members
00:24of our football writing team. On this week's episode, we are joined by Chief Football Writer
00:27for the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon
00:31Wattrell, to discuss all of the latest developments affecting our local clubs. Don't forget you
00:35can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by logging
00:38onto our website at yp.sport at nationalworld.com, as well as checking out our various Twitter
00:44feeds, the main one being at ypsport. If you search for Yorkshire Post Sport, Yorkshire
00:49Post Football or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us there as well. And if you
00:54have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various Twitter or
00:57Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter as Football Talk Podcast
01:02at yp.sport at nationalworld.com. YorkshirePost.co.uk.
01:08As mentioned earlier in the intro, this week we're joined by Chief Football Writer for
01:12the Yorkshire Post, Stuart Rayner, and Football Writer for the Yorkshire Post, Leon Wattrell.
01:15Good morning, guys.
01:16Nice.
01:17Hello.
01:18Right. Now, after a four-week hiatus, let's kick off our first show of the season and
01:23have a look at Sheffield United, who will host Preston North End at Bramall Lane after
01:28being relegated from the Premier League last season. Now, Stuart, they will already be
01:33on the back foot, seeing as they'll be starting on minus two points after being punished for
01:37defaulting on their payments to other clubs. But could you see Chris Wilder using this
01:42to help motivate his side for the start of the new season?
01:48Yes. Any side in that situation always uses those sorts of tools in their armoury to motivate
01:57things and you would hope that there'd be a lot of players in that dressing room just
02:03spurred on by making amends for a dreadful season last season. But the worry about them
02:10went to a lot of Chris Wilder press conferences late last season and there was lots of talk
02:15about hitting the ground running in every aspect of the club and particularly in the
02:21transfer market. They just haven't been able to do that. There's been this wait to see
02:29if the proposed takeover would happen and that's obviously left everyone in a bit of
02:36limbo. It's not stopped the massive clear-out that had to follow relegation but it's certainly
02:44restricted the number of players coming in. I think they've made some very good signings
02:51for the division in the likes of people like Harry Souter and Calum O'Hare and Harrison
02:57Burroughs. They look really good signings for what you want but there just aren't enough of them,
03:04even his most diplomatic. Chris Wilder can't hide from that. He's desperate to get more bodies in.
03:12They've changed formation in this pre-season to 4-2-3-1 which is fine. Wilder always likes to
03:22point out he's not this one formation dinosaur he's pointed out to be. But if you're going to
03:31switch to a formation with wingers and if you've been spending the last 10 years signing players
03:36around the back three, you need to get some wingers in. As it stands, as we talk now,
03:42Sheffield United don't have a right winger. They only have Gus Hamer on the left. It's just one
03:48indication of where that squad is not where it should be. Minus two points isn't a massive
03:57amount in the grand scheme of things but again, it just stops them hitting the ground running if it
04:05then takes a few weeks to bed in new signings to get their head around a new formation. I can see
04:13them not being as quick out of the blocks as they probably need to be for all of those reasons.
04:21I'd agree with that. I think with a lot of clubs it's difficult to assess them at this time of
04:26year. The window runs until the end of the month, especially in this situation. Sheffield United
04:32found them in as well with a problematic summer after a pretty desperate last season. I think in
04:40the hearing now, they're just going to try and chisel out some results in the circumstances.
04:46Wilder's done as well as he can. Stewart's rightly pointed out that some good, strong
04:53signings at this level and players that would have been coveted by other clubs, the likes of
04:59Callum O'Hare. Wilder's obviously looked at probably the spine and getting some leaders
05:05at both ends of the pitch. He's got one in Soutar. He's got another one when he's fully
05:10fit and somebody who knows the level and has proved to be successful over several seasons in
05:17Kiefer Moore. I think he's done as well as he can really but lots more to do. Obviously,
05:23Stewart's highlighted the deficiencies on the wing. Really, it's about judging Sheffield
05:29United at the end of the window. It remains to be seen if some of the existing players,
05:37the bigger players, are still going to be there as well. Ahmed Hodgson, there's obviously Sousa,
05:42there's even Hamer as well. It's tricky for Wilder. He's got to try and hopefully
05:51change that narrative of last season, try and get that out of the system, find a new way of
05:57playing. That takes time. In the here and now, he's got to get a few results to try and lift
06:03everybody and at the same time try and cover his bases and bring some more bodies in. I know
06:11Stewart did the friendly the other day at Huddersfield and it did look painfully thin
06:18to Sheffield United's squad below what he felt at the start. Tons of work to do and I just hope
06:26there's a little bit of patience in the first part of the season because he's probably going
06:31to be needed. We'll see injuries permitting and of course on slow when you've got a short-scored
06:38Jamie Shackleton picks up an injury early on. Injuries permitting, we'll see his strongest
06:43team against Preston on the opening day on Friday. The interesting one will be the midweek game
06:49because with it being the League Cup, teams will often field their reserve players. Leon alluded
06:59to that friendly I went to against Huddersfield. Beneath the first 11, on that day there was only
07:06Austin Trustee and Ben Scamarni on the bench in terms of senior players. If the Blades were to go
07:14down that route against Wrexham, you could see a very young team indeed. There was a lot of talk
07:19last season about wanting to bring through the younger players but there's an acknowledgement
07:24from Wilder and we all know you can't just rely on young players at this level. You need players
07:30like Keita Moore to guide them through. They just don't have that depth at the moment.
07:42One reason I ban the drum about wingers in particular is if you've got a player like
07:46Moore, that's what you need to get the best out of him. You need players who are going to get to
07:50the byline and get the ball in. It almost weakens one of your signings as well to be without that.
07:59It's not all doom and gloom. We saw Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday have four starts last season
08:06for different reasons and get themselves around it. Equally, we saw with Leeds United ultimately
08:13in the grand scheme of things, that did cost them. The margins were so fine that if they'd just
08:21been able to hit the ground running a bit quicker, that could have made all the difference.
08:25We look at clubs like West Bromwich Albion for example, Middlesbrough a couple of years back,
08:31you've got a short window while you've got those parachute payments. Sheffield United have only
08:36got them for two years because they were relegated after one season. You've got a
08:39short window to really cash in on that and get back to the Premier League while you still have
08:43that advantage. I think it's more of a two-year project for them than a one but nevertheless,
08:51you know, every season they don't go up with parachutes. It's a wasted opportunity.
08:56I think it's going to take more than certainly one window there. There is a positive thing,
09:02it's that they're the cachet of Sheffield United. They're a pretty big club at this level and they've
09:08spent time in the Premiership. They're not too distant past. It will enable them to attract
09:15players. They obviously brought in Kiefer Moore. I dare say there was quite a bit of interest in
09:19him. There was obviously Hull City were keen on him. There have been others too. The beat teams,
09:24they've punched O'Hare who's been a very good operator when fit at this level.
09:30I dare say there was a lot of teams covered in his services as well that managed to get them
09:35over the line. So, you know, that is a positive in that regard that they can
09:39beat off competitors to get the calibre of player that Wilder wants and be counting on a bit more of
09:46that between now and August 30th. I think it's a quick one on the cup game. An interesting one
09:52with Wrexham. I don't think there's much love lost between both clubs there. I think ideally,
09:58Wilder would probably like to be pragmatic but I don't think he'll be too ill. He might have to try
10:03and mix and match a bit there. It's the first home game of the season there so I don't think
10:09it's one of those where he can just en masse throw in all the kids.
10:13Particularly if they don't win on Friday, they'll be looking to get that momentum as well.
10:18As I say, I suspect it won't happen but it would be an interesting window into where they were.
10:26It's even interesting if he doesn't feel able to put out the kids. I agree with Liam. I think
10:31he'll go quite strong in that game. Let's now turn to Barnsley who kick off their
10:37campaign with a visit from Mansfield Town. How do you see the Tykes and Daryl Clark
10:44approaching this start to the campaign, Liam?
10:48Well, I think they've met a few guys in the summer but nothing... When you look at Barnsley
10:54over the years, there's been big turnovers and chaotic summers. It's been relatively
10:59sedate and quiet really. I think when you look at them at the end of last season,
11:04I don't think they've won in the last six regular league games. They only won two in the last 12,
11:10didn't they? They tailed off with a bit of a whimper. I think they're trying to get some
11:17confidence and conviction again. First and foremost, they've had some eventful opening
11:23day games over recent years. They hammered Port Vale, wasn't it, last year 7-0. I did a game a
11:32few years ago, I think it was Oxford. They beat them 4-0. So they've been quick out the blocks
11:40before. It's interesting with Clark, he's come in, he's spoken about wanting to get more of a
11:47front foot aggressive style. I think that was one of the reasons why Barnsley did what they
11:51did. It was a shock towards the end of last season in getting rid of Neil Collins.
11:59But that's the problem with Sheffield United. First part of the season, people talk about
12:06style, this, that and the other. It's about getting some results, I think, first and foremost,
12:11especially when you're coming into it on the back of a disappointing final third of the previous
12:18season. I think that's what he'll be looking to do. I look at Barnsley and I think their midfield
12:26is probably as strong as anybody's in that division. They've obviously brought
12:31Matthew Craig in as well. Stuart saw a little bit of him last season at Doncaster and he was
12:37excellent in League 2 and he looks really ready for the step up to League 1. Obviously the Luka
12:44Connells of this world and Adam Phillips. It's just other issues that concern me a little bit
12:51at Barnsley. They've lost quite a bit of firepower in Cole and John McAtee's gone back to
12:58Luton. They desperately need to get at least one striker because there's a lot of pressure on the
13:04shoulders of Sam Cosgrove. I think defensively as well, they conceded too many goals last season
13:10in the final analysis. I think it was over 60. They've brought in Mark Roberts who knows the
13:17club and he knows the level. I think that's a good sign. I think it's quite a dangerous game
13:26for Barnsley against Mansfield. It's one of those that play on the side of...
13:31They've really got the mojo. They've got some dangerous players that are coming into it on
13:35the back of a promotion campaign. It's not too far down the road. There'll be a big following from
13:41North Nottinghamshire. They haven't played at this level for a few years.
13:45It's one of those games that arise with a bit of a warning sign to me that they've got some
13:51decent players at Mansfield that are managed very well by Nigel Clough. I think that's a
13:56tough opener for Barnsley. I think one encouraging aspect from Barnsley is that their thinking seems
14:03to be a bit better. Players like Georgie Gent and Matthew Craig are typical Barnsley signings of
14:13recent seasons. They go for these young players when they're buying them once with resale value,
14:18but they've mixed it up a bit this year with the likes of Roberts and Durham. There's a bit more
14:22experience to help them through. I think that's definitely a positive. I think over recent years
14:28the midfield has been a big strength of Barnsley. The worry for me is the lack of firepower.
14:35To all intents and purposes, it felt like they lost to Van Dijkhol about six weeks,
14:40two months before the end of last season. It really cost them. Sam Cosgrove did step up to
14:45the plate, but it was a lot to ask of him and they were late to turn to him. You really felt
14:52that that was the big priority area that they needed to address and haven't been able to yet.
14:58Hopefully, you tend to see late in the window some quality loan signings dropping down the
15:06leagues. Hopefully, one of them might be able to address it to an extent in the way that John
15:11McAtee did last season. That is the glaring issue. As Leo says defensively as well, I'm
15:22encouraged by the slight shift in mindset, but it's going to be yet another really competitive
15:29League One season. It doesn't feel, certainly at this stage of the window, as if Barnsley are
15:36better prepared for it than they have been in previous seasons. At the moment, it feels like
15:42they've taken a bit of a step backwards as a squad, but as we've said with all these clubs,
15:49there is time to address that. I think they're like quite a few clubs in the lower divisions,
15:53they're just waiting on a bit of recruitment in certain areas, but waiting on strikers. They're
15:58often the difficult ones to bring in. You've actually got Premier League judges coming back
16:02off tours and they're deciding which players they're going to let out. Young players on loan
16:08is a bit of a domino effect. You look at the playing on Friday in Mansfield, they've signed
16:14a striker, Will Evans, from Newport earlier this week. They've got three or four strikers now,
16:20so they've had a little look the other day. Their options look better than Barnsley's,
16:26to be quite frank. That's the thing they're going to be up against. It's going to be a hard
16:32division this season. Barnsley just squeaked in at the end last season after a difficult run.
16:40I think, with respect, it's going to be tougher this year. You've got Wrexham,
16:43you've got some Mansfield stoppers, you've got some strong teams who have come down.
16:48What was the headline by Birmingham? They were really shooting for the moon and spending a lot
16:53of money. Obviously, Frodo has filled them rather than into the mix. A few others, the other
16:57Charltons of this world, Peterborough are always there, so it's going to be a hard league that this
17:03year. Our next stop is Leeds United, who will be looking to go one better this season when they
17:11start their campaign with a visit from Portsmouth. Could we expect to see any changes to how Daniel
17:16Farker could approach this season and what can we expect in this first game of the season, Leon?
17:24I don't think it's too bad. With respect to Portsmouth, I don't think it's too bad a
17:30start to the season for Leeds. Obviously, it's a big game for Leeds, but for Portsmouth, there's
17:35been a bit of an absence from this level. I think it's something like 10 or 12 years,
17:39something like that. I'm sort of led to believe there's a bit of a defensive crisis there. They
17:46obviously lost a couple of defenders to Rotherham as well. They look like they've got a few issues
17:51there. You would take it in Leeds' shoes. Obviously, the play-off finally, last year,
17:56went so close. Over 90 points, they didn't get automatic promotion. They've got a home game
18:01against a side that are promoted. They've got one or two defensive issues. They'd probably take that,
18:10but I think for Leeds, it's about others stepping up now, isn't it? They've obviously lost Gray,
18:15Somerville, but I still think they've got enough players there to strike fear into the rivals. It
18:23would be interesting to see how Joseph Fares has done well in pre-season. The players,
18:32Daniel James of this world, who will concern rivals at the top end of the division.
18:40One thing for Leeds, I think one of the big issues when you look at them
18:45last season was that ability to break down teams when they sit deep and solve the puzzle. Maybe
18:51there was a little bit of a midfield issue there, maybe moving the ball quicker, being a little bit
18:55more dynamic. Obviously, they're trying to get in another midfielder, a left-back as well,
19:01maybe another forward. I like the look of Rothwell. I think he's a pretty underrated player at
19:08a championship level. He's a nice footballer, pleasing on the eye, and he sees it pass.
19:15I think that's a decent signing, even though he's a little bit under the radar. I just think
19:22a little bit with Leeds, it's just that midfield area, being a bit more proactive, a little bit
19:28less safe, and to try and unhinge teams and try and find the gaps a little bit quicker.
19:36Yeah, I mean, they clearly needed more goals from midfield last season and that seems to be
19:41an area he's looking to address. I think the good thing for Leeds, I think at the start of the
19:48summer, we always knew and worried about the futures of Gray, Somerville and Nonto. I think
19:57deep down, if you'd asked most Leeds fans, they'd have taken losing Somerville and Nonto to keep
20:01Gray. But at least Gray went early in the window. People have had time to get their heads around it.
20:09Somerville could well have been a saga that rumbled all the way into the end of August.
20:15Again, that's been resolved. Leeds know that they've got the money to spend now.
20:19As we speak, there's still question marks over Nonto, so it's not all perfect, but at least
20:24there's that clarity. At least in terms of selling Somerville, there's that money in the bank to go
20:30and spend and not that real cliff-edge pressure of, we've got two days to get this sorted.
20:39With the likes of James and Nonto, you can afford to lose Somerville and be a winger down for a
20:46couple of weeks. It's not like we've lost this key player, we don't have a left winger for
20:52the opening game of the season against Portsmouth. I think Leeds will be more flexible this season,
20:58tactically. They played a back three against Harrogate and I'm not sure that's something
21:02they'll necessarily do that often, but just to have that openness to play in a different way
21:10is a definite tick in the box when, as Leon says, you're trying to crack those puzzles against the
21:17teams that come deep. I think they've got a tough start to the season once you get beyond Portsmouth.
21:24West Brom away, well West Brom have got lots of problems, but they are West Brom,
21:31they are Carlos Corbijn, that'll be difficult. Sheffield Wednesday away won't be an easy one.
21:36Hall we'll talk about in a minute, they've got their problems, but it's a Yorkshire Derby,
21:40that's the main thing about that. Then Burnley, then Cardiff, who Leeds always have difficulties
21:47with. Coventry, Norwich, Sunderland, Sheffield United, Watford, the big games do keep coming,
21:53but I think they're definitely in a better place than they were last season when everything was
21:59a bit rushed with Daniel Farker coming in. They are building from a solid foundation,
22:05it's just about adding extra bits of quality to it. I would expect Leeds to be
22:13very much in the shake-up again and now the onus is just on to spend that summer
22:19build money well I suppose. Yeah, they've still got a few weeks to bring those three or four
22:24players that will really add to their armoury. It's important about Sheffield United and Leeds
22:31as well, especially the cache of the club and the profile. They will attract players,
22:36you know, good players towards the end of the window and players who can make a real
22:41impact at the top level of the division. So, I'd expect Farker being Farker,
22:48they'll keep his cards close to his chest and they'll keep very calm and focused as well.
22:53I think Leeds are in good hands in that regard. In a division that doesn't look quite as it is,
22:59the Championship will always present its challenges and one or two teams will come
23:05through as well. Just having a little general look at it, it doesn't look quite as powerful
23:10as it did last season. And next we look at Hull City. Now, the Tigers will be hoping to get
23:17themselves and new boss Tim Walter off to the best possible start when they welcome Bristol
23:22City to the MKM Stadium. What kind of football style could we expect to see from Tim Walter
23:29in his first game in charge? Well, Tim Walter's style of football is apparently known in Germany
23:36as heart attack football, so that might give you a bit of an indication. It's before your time,
23:43Mark, but I think for people of mine and Leon's generation, I wonder if it might be something
23:48akin to how the Ardealers used to play at Tottenham in terms of that all-out attack
23:53kind of approach. I saw them in pre-season against Doncaster and it was quite noticeable
23:59a couple of times even in the first few minutes the right-sided centre-back would just tap the
24:03ball to the goalkeeper and peg it down the left wing. It does seem to be this very fluid type of
24:09football, this very positive, attack-minded style. It was noticeable when he got sacked
24:16at Hamburg. I think his last two games were 4-3 defeats at home, so there's going to be a lot
24:21of that. I think they're going to try and dominate possession a lot, but again, you can read far too
24:28much, as Leon said earlier, into any given pre-season game, but the game I saw with quite
24:32a young all-side, they really hogged the ball in the first half but barely got out of their own
24:40half. So, you would hope that that's something that they can do a bit better. It actually reached
24:45the point in that game where about 40 minutes in, the away fans were chanting sarcastically,
24:51we've got the ball, as if that was the point of the exercise for Hull. So, they need to find a bit
24:59more cutting edge. I think it's going to be very exciting at Hull, maybe not in the way that Hull
25:05fans want it to be. I think it will be edge of the seat stuff, but I really do worry about them
25:12because to play that style of football, you need good players. To play any style of football,
25:17you need good players, particularly that sort of quite technical, quite risky style of football,
25:23and they are woefully under-prepared for the start of the season in terms of the number and
25:29the quality of signings to come in when you look at the number and the quality to have left.
25:35They've been very good the last couple of years in making a rash of signings late in the window,
25:40but when you are a new manager, when you are trying something different,
25:46those early weeks are really important to win people over. I mentioned Leeds before,
25:51but at least Daniel Farker at Leeds United this time last year was a known quantity in terms of
25:57the Championship. Tim Velt has got a lot to prove to Hull fans that he can be the answer coming in
26:05after a manager who is a very popular person, even if his style of football wasn't popular with
26:11everyone. So, it really is important that he gets off to a good start and it just doesn't feel like
26:18he's got the tools for the job, as things stand. It talks about Sheffield United at place
26:27equally to Hull City, that the players below the first 11, there's just not much there at the
26:33moment in terms of experience and, frankly, quality. To lose players like Villardin and
26:41Greaves and not yet, as we speak, to have been able to replace them is a big worry. It's not
26:49just the players they've sold, it's the lone players they've lost. There's really a lot of
26:56making up to do there. I do worry that, unwittingly, the chairman, Ajanil Ajali,
27:04might have botched Walter in a little bit with his comments at the end of last season and the
27:09start of the summer about the goalkeeping situation. He, the chairman, has really picked up
27:15Ivo Pando and he just doesn't look ready, to me anyway, from what little I've seen, to be a first
27:24choice goalkeeper in the Championship at this level. Yes, he may well develop into one,
27:29working alongside someone, but Hull are on the lookout for another goalkeeper. It feels to me
27:35it would be a brave coach, and it does seem like Walter is a brave coach, to not have Pando as
27:42your first choice goalkeeper after all the things that Ajali has said about him. I do think that's
27:48the way to go. It's one of many areas, really all departments of the team, that they need to get
27:55more bodies in, more quality in. Yes, it seems to me like they've gone a little bit for revolution,
28:01as opposed to evolution, really. Hull did some pretty good work last season and it's only a
28:09pleasing on-the-eye style. They were one of the best football teams in the division, they were
28:14well-led, they only just missed out in the division. They finished seventh and it just
28:20seems like a big change all of a sudden. They've obviously lost some big players, as Stuart has
28:27touched on, the Philly Gs, Jacob Greaves at the back, who was a leader. They've lost some big,
28:32long players and all of a sudden there's this bit of a style makeover, with less players
28:41to work with. You do worry for him a little bit, he looks a little bit chaotic and he doesn't look
28:47particularly joined up at the minute. I remember a couple of years ago, on the last day, they brought
28:53five or six players in right at the death. You wonder if something like that's going to happen
29:00again. They've obviously lost one or two targets already at the minute. They've been linked with
29:06virtually everyone out of the hull and they're not managing to get the bodies over the line yet.
29:14Yes, he's an experienced guy, he's got a good CV from his time in Germany, but it's a new league
29:24and a new way of football. He talks about philosophy, this, that and the other, it's all
29:30very admirable, but you're going to have to get some results. First and foremost, in the first
29:35month, I think with a lot of clubs and a lot of new managers coming in, there's optimism at the
29:40start of the season. They start saying what they're going to do, but I think the real time
29:46that you can see the style is only after the first international window, when squads are settled and
29:54managers have had that time getting players assimilated. Like a fair few clubs, if I was a
30:03hull fan, I'd just be wanting to see some points on the board in the first month
30:09as a priority. If you can see a bit of style and good performances, that's an added bonus.
30:17My worry with hull specifically is that it'll take quite a bit longer than that first
30:21international window. If you're going to do something radically different, you need to spend
30:26time on the training ground working it out and having that international break early in September
30:31means, regardless of whether they're a good player or not, if a player comes in late August,
30:37they're not going to have many training ground hours to come in. You look at the very top of the
30:42game and you look at Manchester City and not many people slip into that style of play. It takes a
30:47long time on the training ground. It's clearly taken a long time with Sheffield Wednesday and
30:53Danny Rose's style of play to get that drilled into you and to know what you're doing. It's
30:59encouraging from a hull point of view that they've signed Marvin Malem, who's worked with Valtter
31:05before at Karlsruhe, but that was when he was under 19. That was seven years ago, I think it was.
31:13Even he is not exactly up to speed. You'd be more hopeful of him slotting into things
31:19against Bristol City on the opening day than most. I fear for Hull that it might be October time
31:27before we really start to see them coming together and playing the football they've won.
31:34We know Hull's chairman and Hull's leadership are very open about the fact that they're impatient.
31:41We know that all football fans are impatient. We all want to see our clubs do well as quickly as
31:48possible. We've seen it before plenty of times where a new manager has come in and they've not
31:56found the right formula by October and they're out of work by then. The danger for Hull is that by
32:02the time things should be coming together, Tim Valtter's not there. From everything that he
32:07himself says, it might be hard to find another person who plays exactly the same way. You're
32:14starting again in October, November and then it is a really big gap to make up, as we saw with
32:25Sheffield Wednesday 12 months ago. I hope that's not the case, but I really do fear that they've
32:31just not been, not for a lack of effort, but they've not been able to put in the amount of
32:36groundwork that they've needed for this new season. Having missed out on the play-offs,
32:43not by much, but having missed out on the play-offs last season, they're going in with a
32:48far weaker squad. If they've then conceded that head start, I think we're looking at the bottom
32:54half of the table for them rather than the top. Hopefully that pessimism is unfounded.
33:02Yeah, he's got the feedback as well of following a popular manager. Messina didn't quite
33:11crack the play-offs, which the owner wanted, but he was pretty damn close, wasn't he? It was a
33:18decent ride at Hull last season. It was a shock when he went and he still emerged in credit.
33:25With his supporters, I agree with Stuart, there certainly are warning signs. Even a few years
33:31ago in Hull, I'm not saying it'll be as bad as this and let's hope it isn't. Remember when
33:36Barnsley got to the play-offs three or four years ago, the season after the accident of going down,
33:42didn't they? Obviously, Huddersfield had that season of struggle after getting in the play-off
33:49final. It's something that Hull are going to have to be wary of. There's a lot to do there and they
33:57do look behind the eight ball at the minute. It'll be interesting to see how Ester Pienaar,
34:00whoever he is, is backing the plans as well. He's obviously been shipped out on loan a few times.
34:07He didn't figure for the way that Messina really plays football. Will he come back into the
34:16equation for the whole season? Because when he first came to the club, he showed he can.
34:22He's got merits and demerits as players, but he knows where the onion bag is, doesn't he? He's
34:27scored a few goals in his first season, so he might come back into the thoughts there.
34:34When we talk about signs, you've always got to remember,
34:37we won't go down the cliche of liking a new sign, but he's added to the squad.
34:45Sheffield Wednesday is where we turn to now, who will welcome Plymouth Argyle in their first game
34:50of the new season. How do you see Danny Rowe going into the game, seeing as he will want to
34:56get a good start after finishing last season by keeping the Owls in the division, Stuart?
35:01I feel like he's well equipped for that, for a lot of the reasons that we've just been talking
35:07about. He got nine signings in and admittedly, momentum has waned a bit since. There's still
35:15bits he wants to do, but he's got nine players in, in time to do a lot of pre-season work with
35:21them. The players in Danny Rowe's squad have no excuse for knowing how he wants to play.
35:32We know he's an outstanding coach, we've seen that before, he's been able to put that work in.
35:39There's definitely a question mark they could do with some cutting edge up front. They've brought
35:45in a couple of strikers, but Jamal Lowe is very experienced at this level, but he's not really
35:51an out-and-out number nine. The other players are more players to develop up front. We know
36:00they want Ekay Ogubo and we know if they get him, he fits in well. But I think in the main,
36:07that base that Hull don't have is there, there's more depth than is the case at Sheffield United
36:14and Hull. I think they should make a decent start. We might well be looking in the first
36:20few weeks saying they've got a lot of the ball, they're creating lots of chances, but they're not
36:24putting enough away. If they can just crack that in the next couple of weeks, then I think they're
36:31very well placed to be in the shad for a top six finish. They've only just stayed up last season,
36:42but they've still got quite a bit of momentum, haven't they? There's a bit of a role factor
36:48there, obviously committed to the club. They did some early work in the first part of the window
36:54and they just need a few, didn't he say, cherry on the cake, those finishers. They know what they
37:01need to do in terms of moving forward in that aspect. They just only need a little bit of
37:08momentum there, the Sheffield Wednesday fans. If there's something to buy into,
37:12they will all en masse buy into it. If things can snowball there, there are 30,000 crowds at
37:20Hillsborough. You can feel that could generate something. There have been clubs in the past at
37:25this level who have come up from, the most spectacular one was Ipswich, but I'm more
37:30thinking about other clubs who have come up from the third tier, the Coventries of this world and
37:35the Lutons. They've grown incrementally, they've stayed up, then they've finished a bit higher,
37:41then they've pushed towards the playoffs, that sort of thing. I'm sure that will be in Sheffield
37:48Wednesday's thoughts. It's not a bad start at home to Plymouth, it'll be a packed out stadium
37:55and Sheffield Wednesday fans will be going there expecting a victory and that's fair enough.
38:04Just some key areas of recruitment in the final third of the pitch, but they look pretty well
38:09covered in the main and they've got that strong dressing room and that belief in the manager and
38:16his methods to go again and hopefully write another successful chapter in the season
38:25coming now because ultimately it was a real success about what happened last season. One
38:31of the stories of the EFL season wasn't it, after the desperate start, not winning until the end of
38:38October wasn't it, the start of November and what a terrific story. You just feel with Rowan,
38:45it's all there to write another successful chapter in the club's history and fair play to him,
38:52he did a remarkable job. Next we look to Huddersfield Town who will travel to Peterbury
38:58United for their first game of the season and with Michael Duff at the helm, how do you feel
39:02he could set his squad up for that game from what you've seen during pre-season Stuart?
39:08Well, Huddersfield are another club like Sheffield United, like Rotherham who feel
39:16like they're resetting this season and they haven't actually done a large amount of business,
39:24Anthony Evans, Les Sorensen, Herbie Kane, Mikel Miller, but not huge numbers. I wonder if now
39:30that Thomas has moved on, if that might free up a couple more moves, but I think they look like a
39:41team who do know where they're going. They've got a manager in Michael Duff who, as we well know from
39:47having seen him at Barnsley, knows the division well. I think I said the other day that they've
39:53nailed down some key positions, Sorensen looks like a really good addition, Herbie Kane looks
39:58like he can really play up from the back more so than Duff's Barnsley did and play through that
40:06although midfielder, so Herbie Kane looks really well set up for that. Again, as we keep saying,
40:13they're still a bit short up front and again, as we've said already, it's going to be a really
40:19tough division. The bar is high and if you look back historically over the last 20 years or so,
40:27there's been some big clubs, some big former Premier League clubs who've dropped into that
40:32division. We can think of plenty from Yorkshire, plenty beyond, and not many of them get back up
40:38at the first attempt. So that is a definite warning sign, but I do at least feel,
40:45as we've touched on with the last couple of clubs, they're a club who at least know where they're
40:50going, know how they're trying to go about it, has got somebody in charge who knows the division.
40:56So I don't think it's going to be easy by any means, but I think they've given themselves
41:03a decent chance on the training ground as much as anything else.
41:07Yeah, I think he's a sensible, well-thought-out manager. Michael Duff has obviously gone in there,
41:14we all know what happened last season. In some respects, the dressing room looked a little bit
41:19broken, didn't it? The incendiary comments from Brian Reiter about seeing things there that he'd
41:26not seen in three decades in football. I think Duff's gone in there. Firstly, he'll have been
41:33conscious of what was said, the feedback of some tough seasons, isn't it really? Even the great
41:41escape season, that was tough until Huddersfield came through at the end. You know, a dressing
41:46room that's had to cope with two pretty rough seasons and a really torrid relegation campaign.
41:55So he's got to build, he's got to find the characters there who he can trust, which players
42:01he thinks can push Huddersfield on and be part of the journey, which ones want out, in effect,
42:09want to go somewhere else. So yeah, as much as bringing in, I think he's made some good
42:14horses-for-courses signings at this level and players who can make an impact at the top end
42:22of the division. You know, actually Sorensen did very well at Lincoln last season. Herbie Cain
42:27has had a couple of strong seasons at Barsley. Evans has done well by all accounts at Bristol
42:32Rovers. His numbers in terms of goals and assists are pretty good. Michael Miller's
42:38obviously been promoted from this level as well. So sensible, good signings, like I mentioned,
42:45and like a lot of clubs, they wanted to bring in those forward at the business end of the pitch
42:51to make a difference. They were very close to getting Alfie May and by all accounts he wanted
42:57to come until they were just blown out of the water by Birmingham. So you have to just take
43:02those on the chin. But I'm sure that Huddersfield will be working towards bringing in at least one
43:09front-line striker before the window closes, maybe someone else in midfield as well. So
43:13yeah, I think Duff's gone in. He's wanting to find out about the characters and people we can trust
43:20and I think getting Huddersfield fit, strong and durable again and organised and ready and
43:26ship-shaped for a nine-month marathon. So I'm sure he's been doing a lot of good work behind the
43:33scenes. Obviously one or two players have gone, the likes of Sober Thomas, maybe one or two
43:40more will go as well. I think the thing for me as well is, can one or two of the existing players
43:46sum it up, the resolve and the character within themselves to sort of dust themselves down and say
43:53look, personally it wasn't good enough, look themselves in the mirror, I didn't contribute
43:58last season. I'm going to really show what I'm about in the new campaign. I know Shane Stewart's
44:04done a couple of the games. Ben Wiles has done really well in pre-season. He's a player that
44:12is at his best. He's a very good operator, certainly at this level. I remember at Rotherham,
44:17Paul Warren used to think the world of him and often used to say that he was Rotherham's class
44:22player, the one who could really kick on. So I'm expecting decent things of Wiles this season and
44:30hopefully one or two others can pull through as well and show the true selves. I think Huddersfield
44:38will be okay. If you look at Duff at Barnsley, they were a little bit of a slow burn early on.
44:44Obviously he came in in similar circumstances and had all the feedback of a side who'd got
44:50relegated, maybe some players feeling sorry for themselves, some players wanting out. He had to
44:54sort out the dressing room, then bring in the players who he wanted, then a style of play as
45:00well. He does take a little bit of time. In his opening press conference, Duff quite shrewdly
45:09referenced that very fact. I think his first game in charge at Barnsley was at Plymouth and they got
45:16beat 1-0, but they were pretty well beaten that day. Rome wasn't built on the day, was it? So it
45:22might take a little bit of time with Huddersfield, but I think it could be one of those where they
45:27grow into the season and get better as it goes along and maybe hit the straps more in the second
45:35half of the season. But I'm sure Huddersfield will be fine.
45:40And finally for this week, let's take a quick look at the transfer activities of our clubs
45:46in Leagues 1 and 2. Were there any teams that sort of stood out for you during this
45:54transfer window and the off-season for either of you, or were there any teams that you felt
46:00could have done a bit more preparation? We'll start with Leon on this one.
46:05I think the one that you've got to say that leaps on the pack is Rotherham, really, haven't you?
46:09I mean, they brought in well into double figures in terms of new recruits. It looks a project
46:16tailor-made for Steve Evans, doesn't it? He's done it many times before, not just at Rotherham.
46:21A bit rip it up and start again almost, although he will be hopeful that one or two of the
46:27better players at Rotherham, the likes of Rakbo and Adolfen, stick around. But we'll have to wait
46:33and see on that count. But he's raided his contacts book. He's brought in one or two old
46:39favourites. Obviously, Johnston Clarke-Harris, his record at this level is superb in League 1.
46:46He's a Golden Boot winner and he'll be trying to push for promotion with Rotherham, but he'll
46:52certainly have his personal aspirations as well and he's never been shy about that.
46:57Some promotion winners, the Cameron Dawsons of this world,
47:02Reece James, a couple of lads from, we mentioned Paul Smith earlier,
47:06defenders who took them to the title in Raggatt and Rafferty. So they've got some winners there.
47:12They've got some good season top operators at League 1 level and you sense that Rotherham
47:20needed to do something and make a statement after it. It wasn't just a relegation, wasn't it? It was
47:26just a pitiful season, wasn't it? It was utterly humiliating. They ended up having three managers,
47:36so they needed to do something big. They needed to do it early, Stuart, as well. I think they knew
47:47supporters are totally demoralised after what happened. They needed to do something to get
47:53them back on board and sell season tickets as well. It was just what the doctors wanted in that regard
48:01and now hopefully they can kick on the pitch early and get the mojo back.
48:10We've alluded to Michael Duff knowing the division. The same applies to Steve Everton.
48:16I think that division is very much about getting players who've played in it before who understand
48:22it. Not only those players but a real core of those players. Leon's already outlined lots of
48:28promotion winners, lots of people who know the course of this. Kelly's another good one.
48:33Exactly. They've got all the best aspects of the positives that we've talked about with previous
48:38clubs. Getting a business done early, getting someone in who knows the division. Because of
48:43Steve Everton's history with Rotherham and the league as a whole, they've got that positivity
48:48that Sheffield Wednesday have got in terms of the town really believing that they can do
48:55something special. I don't think they've paid a transfer fee for any of the players as we talk
49:00either. It's not like they've spent ridiculous amounts of money. Let's not be naive about it.
49:06There's a few signing-on fees and all that sort of thing. It's not that Tony Stewart's
49:10sewed his pocket shut or anything. It's been sensible, it's been shrewd. It's not been about
49:17getting above your station. It still will take a bit of time to gel because there's so much
49:23change and there's so many people coming in. But I would really fancy Rotherham to be
49:30major players in Ligue 1 this season. For all that we've rightly said about how the standard
49:34is going to go up, I think they're going to be right in the mix on the back of such a good window
49:39which, as we speak, isn't finished yet. He's still looking for a couple more. He's that
49:45sort of guy, I'm sure he will be right until the end. But yes, a really positive window for them.
49:53I think one thing quickly about the Yorkshire clubs at that level, obviously Rotherham have
49:57aspirations to bounce straight back up again, which they've done several times.
50:03Huddersfield, the first season down there in about 12 or 13 years, they won't want to be
50:09hanging around. As far as they see their home as bottom in the Championship as well,
50:14there are certain levels of pressure. The biggest target is going to be Birmingham, isn't it?
50:18They've spent, I think it was £15-16 million, something crazy really. I don't think there's
50:23many Championship clubs who have spent more. Those three clubs, there is pressure but it's
50:30going to be Birmingham. They're going to be the one in the limelight. They're going to have the
50:34big target on the back, probably to a lesser extent Bexham as well, but certainly Birmingham.
50:38So, I just hope that one or two of our clubs can slip under the radar there.
50:43Yes, I do think it's tailor-made for a club like Rotherham who won't have that focus on them,
50:50but are actually better equipped than some of them in terms of knowing what's needed in that
50:55division and just getting on with it while other people concentrate on the big boys.
51:00Similarly in League 2, I think Doncaster, it's been a totally different story for them. There's
51:06been no revolution. It's just been adding a couple of shrewd signings, but having finished
51:11the season so positively, I think they've made some really good additions and not overdone it.
51:18Again, they got their business done very early. Grant McCann came out very early in the window
51:23and said, we're done now. We've signed all that we need to sign. I think they're in a good place
51:29going into it. I don't know what you think, Leon, about that.
51:34I totally agree with you. I think they're a big makeover issue. It came the previous summer,
51:38didn't it? That was when they really did have to change things and revamp things.
51:46I mentioned all the evolution as opposed to revolution. It seems to be more involvement
51:54with Doncaster, doesn't it? They've got there. They were a remarkable final third of the season,
52:00desperately close to promotion. No panic, they just looked at the thing. They could be strategic
52:07in their recruitment. Look at tinkering little areas, what they needed to add. They've added
52:12a number 10 in Sabara. I'd be interested to see how he goes. The lad at Bristol City on loan,
52:19he sounds an exciting talent as well. Yeboah, he could be a little jack-in-the-box. Then Billy
52:24Sharpe as well, that just seems a real sensible signing. Somebody who knows the club inside out,
52:31felt like he's got a bit of unfinished business there. They just looked a strong core and spine
52:36already present at Doncaster, which suggested to me that they didn't really need to do too much.
52:42They haven't and it's been pretty sensible. They've got the Richard Wards and good to see
52:47Tom Anderson come through. Owen Bailey was excellent in midfield, wasn't he, last year?
52:53He's bettered him after a season. Ironside as well, they've got a strong spine. They just
52:57added a few bits around that. All being well-touched, they can have a decent season and
53:05finish off the job. Kyle Hurst seems another one, like Ben Wiles, like Matteo Joseph,
53:11who seems to have really improved in pre-season from within. They played him a bit more centrally,
53:18a bit freer in pre-season. It seems like they're getting more out of him too. We always get
53:24excited by signings, but for people like Grant McCann, Tim Valter and Danny Roll, it's about
53:31coaching the players. You've got to be better and it seems like they've done that. While we're
53:37talking about League 2, Harrogate have made surprisingly few additions for a League 2 side.
53:43We're used to a big turnover at the clubs in that division, but that again smacks of confidence
53:49that they just need to add to a strong foundation and continue to improve. Hopefully, that proves
53:56to be the case for them. I do think with Bradford, some of the key players, the injury issues and
54:09getting more game time out the likes of Walker and Patterson, that could have a bit of a new
54:15signing, if you like. If they can get a full-ish season out of those players, players who can
54:21really make an impact at the top end of the pitch, that could be as big as anything at Bradford. I
54:28think the medical signing in Sarkovic as well. I think that could be as big as anything at
54:33Bradford. Just that regular body of players and not too many injuries and the bigoters
54:41being ship-shaped for most of the season. If you can keep a squad together in that regard,
54:47I think they should go well this season. They've got a new medical team this season and it's not
54:53just down to that. The quality of the pitch and the training pitch are important too. Those guys
54:59in the physio team could be their most important signings for the reason Leon's outlined. There's
55:06a lot of quality in that squad that they didn't get the maximum out of and quite a bit of that
55:10was due to fitness. They've had a very draining and thorough training camp in Austria by the sound
55:18of things. It's a case for them more than most of getting more out of what they have right now.
55:25That's helped at Doncaster as well, hasn't it? Since the appointment of Rennie as well.
55:31Let's just hope they can both be better on that regard.
55:35They both really should be pushing at the top end of the table this season.
55:56For more discussions on the Yorkshire football scene,
55:58don't forget you can keep up to date with all the football news across Yorkshire and beyond by
56:02logging onto our website at yp.sport at nationalworld.com, or if you search for Yorkshire
56:07Post Sport, Yorkshire Post Football or even Sheffield Sport on Facebook, you can find us
56:10there as well. If you have any questions for our writers, you can get in touch using those various
56:15Twitter or Facebook pages, or email us directly with a subject matter as Football Talk Podcast
56:20at yp.sport at nationalworld.com. As ever, many thanks for listening,
56:25look after yourselves, and bye for now.