Q: Thoughts on Huddersfield Town’s recruitment and start?
DG – “I have been super impressed with Huddersfield’s transfer business. Alfie May is possibly the icing or the cherry on top of the cake, really. They have had a brilliant transfer window so far.
“What was really impressive is that they got their work done pretty early. It was a clear statement of intent. They appointed a new manager in Lee Grant, and said, Right, this is what we want to do.’
“They got the players in and beating Leyton Orient on the opening day 3-0 was a little bit of a statement, because there were eight new players who started that game for Huddersfield. Orient only lost the playoff final a couple of months ago and went to Huddersfield and beat them 4-1 at the back end of last season.
“So there are loads of positives for Huddersfield, and they didn’t even play anywhere near as fluidly or as well as I anticipate they will be able to. There’s also lots of improvement for them still to come as the players gel.
“I fancy them to be a big player in the promotion race and, in Alfie May, there is the possibility that they might have signed the Golden Boot winner if everything goes their way.”
Q: Do you share the concerns of Plymouth fans?
DG – “Yeah, look, I think they’ve lost key players in Ryan Hardie, Maksym Talovierov and Mustapha Bundu. They were three massive players. Hardie and Bundu got 10 goals each in a team that got relegated and Talovierov had a brilliant second half of the season when he arrived.
“So they’ve lost 3 key players, and when you look at the additions that they’ve made, they may have got some quality, but they’re unknown. We don’t know yet what they’re replacing those players with. You’d have said the same of Talovierov, Bundu and Hardie when they signed, though. Did we really know too much about those three players?
“So, look, you can’t judge Plymouth Argyle on one game, albeit a 3-1 loss at Home Park, which is supposed to be the foundation on which they build, and I’m sure it will be.
“It was one game and there’s still plenty of time left in the transfer window. I’d be surprised if things aren’t looking better by the end of the window.”
Q: What transformation can we see in Rubin Colwill as Cardiff City captain in League One?
DG – “There’s a phrase, ‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’, and one good game doesn’t make a player. But I loved his free-kick against Peterborough, it was great technique.
“We need more of that from him. Not necessarily the free kick, but the performance, because he’s an unbelievable talent who has been unbelievably inconsistent in his short career so far. But he’s 23 now and has over 150 appearances for Cardiff City.
“Brian Barry Murphy gave the players a vote on who they wanted to be captain, and as the vice captain, they voted for Ruben Colwill. That’s a massive vote of confidence and respect from your own teammates. It could act as extra motivation that will make him feel a need to get Cardiff back to the Championship. But he needs to find that consistency, week in, week out.
“At League One level, he has to take those games by the scruff of the neck and really influence them, just the way he did at the weekend.”
Q: What is your reaction to Russell Martin’s passionate full-time interview following Rangers’ draw against Motherwell? Is it encouraging to see such emotions?
DG – “Honesty is probably a tool that isn’t used enough in modern football, because I think sometimes home truths and brutal honesty can be the best policy.
“I saw Russell Martin deliver something not dissimilar in the early stages of his Southampton career. There was definitely an interview, at least one, possibly two, where he let rip at the players, particularly about running and intensity, and it was almost a carbon copy in terms of him telling the players you’ve got to run, that if you do nothing else in football, run and run hard.
“I feel he probably based his interview on the reaction he got from his Southampton players. I thought he was probably empowered because he saw the similarities between Southampton in the Championship, who expected to be at the top, and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership, who expected to be at the top but got off to a poor start. He’s put his foot down.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a tactic you can use on a regular basis, but for me, if you pick and choose your moments, your isolated moments, once every now and again, it can be quite a powerful tool.
“I would say he’s embracing the pressure because the spotlight is now firmly on Russell Martin, and he won’t mind that because he’ll believe that he can get the best out of that group of players.”
Q: Adam Idah has been criticised by Celtic fans after his performance on Saturday. How do you view him as their first-choice striker? Is he good enough for them to progress?
DG – “I would say it’s difficult to be critical of a player after one game, which is what the Celtic fans might be basing their criticism off the back of. Or maybe it was last season’s performances, but he scored 20 goals in 53 games.
“They’ve had some fantastic strikers in the past like Mark Viduka and Henrik Larsson, and while Adam Idah isn’t comparable to those guys and it wouldn’t be fair for Celtic fans to do so, and I don’t think they are, all I know is that he’s a Celtic fan.
“So, he’ll be desperate to do well at Celtic Football Club. But from Brendan Rodgers’ perspective, I think they look a little bit light in that area to me. While there is time in the transfer window and we may see another striker come in, I wouldn’t write Adam Idah off just yet.
“Like I said, he scored 20 goals in 53 games last season. I don’t think he’s a prolific scorer in general terms, but it’s hard to be critical after one game, I would say.”
Q: Your thoughts on Leeds United’s window and their prospects?
DG – “I have liked the business that Leeds United have done, I mean, it shows ambition. I think of the three promoted Premier League clubs, most people would give them the best chance of survival on the back of the last six all getting relegated.
“They’ve strengthened pretty much the spine of the team and I know Burnley matched them point for point last season, but for me, with respect, Leeds were a much better all-round team.
“You’ve then got Daniel Farke, who’ll be really keen to prove himself. I think too many people have got hung up on how he did at Norwich City in the Premier League, where he wasn’t backed. I think he spent less than 3 million pounds in that first season they were promoted. It was bonkers, really, and they were doomed from the first kick of the ball of that season.
“And then they spent a little bit more the next time, and then it didn’t go well, and they sacked him, but I think he’s starting with a much, much stronger hand than he ever did at Norwich, and I don’t think that the recruitment is finished yet.
“I think the opening 10 games, whilst there are some tough games in there, there are also some games that they will look at and think ‘We can do well.’ If you look at last season, Southampton, Ipswich, Leicester, they all got off to terrible, terrible starts, and it’s hard to recover. If you’re a promoted club and you get off to a terrible start, you get your confidence knocked and self-belief goes out the window.
“I like the business they’ve done and I genuinely give them a chance of survival.”
Q: What do you make of the signing of Granit Xhaka? How important can his experience be to Sunderland?
DG – “Granit Xhaka is a massive, massive, massive signing for Sunderland. He was so underrated when he was at Arsenal. He’s a huge character, he’s got quality and he’s got experience. He’s an old-style leader, and he’s going to drive standards very, very high at that football club.
“He’s going to make demands of those young players and I’m thrilled that Sunderland have gone out and paid good money for somebody in their 30s, because that is going right against their grain, but they’ve seen the value in it and power to them.
“They made a slight adjustment last season to their recruitment method when they brought in the likes of Chris Mepham, Alan Browne, who are senior players that have played lots and lots of football. Even Wilson Isidor was 26 when they signed him.
“I think that was a little acknowledgement that okay, we can buy these young lads, develop them and sell them for massive profit as they’ve done with Joe Bellingham, who is a great example of what their model is, but if they’re serious about trying to stay in the Premier League, they had to do something different.
“They have done so by signing Xhaka and Reinildo Mandava from Atletico Madrid, who I think played six Champions League games last season. They offer serious experience, and they are two players who can really help that young group improve.
“I know there’s this big thing about the last promoted six clubs being relegated, but I think the recruitment of all six of them was awful, and I say that with respect. I like what Sunderland have done and I like what Leeds have done. Those two have probably got more of a chance of survival than any of the previous six promoted teams.
“It’s not going to be easy, and they may go down, but if they do, I think they’ll make a much better fist of it.”
