Leon Wobschall: Yorkshire's immediate footballing future seems bright ... while their Midlands rivals toil

THE SUNLIT uplands suddenly do not seem so far away for Yorkshire. For most of it at any rate.
CONTRASTING FORTUNES: Sheffield Wednesday are enjoying a better campaign than their West Midlands counterparts, Aston Villa. Picture: Steve Ellis.CONTRASTING FORTUNES: Sheffield Wednesday are enjoying a better campaign than their West Midlands counterparts, Aston Villa. Picture: Steve Ellis.
CONTRASTING FORTUNES: Sheffield Wednesday are enjoying a better campaign than their West Midlands counterparts, Aston Villa. Picture: Steve Ellis.

After spending too long - much too long - struggling to make ends meet amid a largely desolate footballing landscape so far this century, suddenly things are particularly stirring in the south and west - the two industrial and sporting epicentres of the county.

Yorkshire. The sick man of 21st century football. Well, maybe the patient is close to being discharged and the ones with the ailments are those further south down the M1 in the Midlands.

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It is perhaps a salutary lesson that all that glitters is not quite gold when it comes to foreign investment.

FALTERING: Derby County boss Steve McClaren has seen his expensively-assembled team stutter in recent weeks in its bid for promotion from the Championship.FALTERING: Derby County boss Steve McClaren has seen his expensively-assembled team stutter in recent weeks in its bid for promotion from the Championship.
FALTERING: Derby County boss Steve McClaren has seen his expensively-assembled team stutter in recent weeks in its bid for promotion from the Championship.

The West Midlands’ big four of Aston Villa, Wolves, West Brom and Birmingham City may be part of a much-heralded Far East ownership axis, but it has not extremely panned out as the brochure suggested so far, aside from the events of The Hawthorns where Tony Pulis continues to prove there is a place for good, old-fashioned footballing virtues.

Heading east, Derby County have spent plenty, but the club’s owner Mel Morris has not exactly got too much bang for his buck, while two-time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest have been plunged into a maelstrom by the River Trent.

A bit of sanity there may be at Stoke City, with the club under the wise stewardship of Peter Coates – cut from the same footballing cloth as the likes of Dean Hoyle and Steve Gibson. It seems to be chaotic in Leicester. And as for Coventry ...

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It will be a test of resolve and commitment in the boardroom, perhaps no bad thing. Just as Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri soon shrewdly realised that Rome was not built in a day, so those in the Midlands are having to take note and look at the long game.

Calmer footballing waters in Yorkshire?. More please and long may it continue. It is about time.