Warnock’s arrival throws a spanner in works
Which of our Yorkshire clubs have the ability, experience and spirit to beat the drop? Chief football writer Stuart Rayner investigates.
THE bottom end of the Championship is getting clogged up with Yorkshire clubs.
One point separates Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough and Hull City, all of whom resumed 2019-20 with defeats. A hugely encouraging win moved Barnsley onto the Tigers’ shoulders. The gap is four points but their wheels are in motion again.
There could even be a fifth White Rose team to throw into the equation. Sheffield Wednesday’s gap to the relegation zone is a reassuring eight points, but losing this week’s misconduct hearing could wipe it out completely and possibly more.
There is still an awful lot of football and 24 points each to play for but it does not feel that way.
Every result each side has will impact on the rest, as will each injury or suspension, each muttering of disharmony.
“You think this game’s the beall and end-all and that is, but the end-of-season run-in is really difficult; teams have got a lot of pressure on them, not just ourselves but teams chasing the play-offs and automatic promotion,” reflected Neil Warnock.
Just because fans cannot be heard booing or chanting: ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ as happened the last time they were allowed in to watch Hull and Wednesday, and might well have done had they been in the Riverside on Saturday, does not mean there is no pressure on the players. It comes from professional pride, from understanding the magnitude of success or the consequences of failure. Too much is dangerous, and so is too little.
If the Owls look at the table and think their season is done, they could regret a lack of intensity were points suddenly scrubbed off. Manager Garry Monk will have to keep them on their game because he will not want anything to play for when Middlesbrough visit on the final day, especially now.
That Warnock was giving his views as Boro’s new manager shifted the pressure on all the sides at the bottom.
Does replacing Jonathan Woodgate with the 71-year-old make it harder for Hull to stand by Grant McCann? There is no reason why it should, but pressure does not always follow logic.
Warnock’s reputation is based largely around promotions, but he is a dab hand at relegation battles too. Keeping Rotherham United in the 2015-16 Championship might have been “probably the best thing I’ve done in my career away from the promotions” but it was no one-off.
Danny and Nicky Cowley had never been in a relegation fight before joining Huddersfield. McCann’s Peterborough United and Doncaster Rovers careers were about competing for the League One play-offs. Liefering and Wolfsburger were at the comfier end of the Austrian tables when Barnsley’s Gerhard Struber cut his teeth there.
It must be easier to take belief from Warnock’s stature and track record, and belief goes a long way. Boro and Hull could have done with some on Saturday.
“It’s okay saying we’ve got loads of ability, but ability never wins you games,” warned Warnock in his maiden press conference.
Barnsley’s youngsters have ability but can they bridge the gap to their inexperience? The pressure of outside expectation is off. Going down from where they restarted the season would not really be a failure, whereas staying up would be a huge achievement.
Struber praised their character after victory at Queens Park Rangers. “We stood shoulder to shoulder,” he said proudly.
Huddersfield, by contrast, expected better against a Wigan Athletic side used to end-of-season scraps. Danny Cowley was “bitterly disappointed with the levels of our performance” in the 2-0 loss, McCann dismayed at the lack of cutting edge in either box which let Charlton Athletic not only beat but leapfrog Hull.
In any late season, uncertainty is difficult, but this year more than ever. Leeds United will live with it when the best-case scenario – Premier League football – is so enticing.
But Barnsley, Hull, Middlesbrough, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday have faced contract decisions not knowing what division they will be in next season. The financial difference is not as stark as the one facing Leeds, but as things stand, TV revenue and solidarity money drops from £7m a year in the Championship to £1.5m in League One.
Normally, these decisions can be made after a season but normal was put on hold three months ago. Barnsley’s Dane Murphy tells today’s The Yorkshire Post he hopes fans will be back at Oakwell for the start of next season, but even that date is unknown.
Things will be no more straight-forward on the pitch. Trust Warnock to make it more difficult still.