In one game at Hull City, Joe Gelhardt played more minutes than he did at Leeds United in the entire first half of the Championship season.
No wonder the 22-year-old opted for a fresh start this month.
Gelhardt swaps Leeds for Hull on a short-term loan deal until the end of the current campaign. By his own admission, Gelhardt needs to play regular, first-team football again, and he should get his wish on Humberside.
As the Ruben Selles revival starts to take shape, the former Wigan Athletic prospect could yet prove to be a difference maker in the battle against the drop.
Joe Gelhardt’s first Hull appearance, replacing Mason Burstow just past the hour, coincided with only The Tigers’ fourth away win of 2024/25. A Jake Cooper own goal saw Selles’ team past Millwall in Saturday’s tension-seeped early kick-off.
And while Gelhardt would not add to the only goal of the game, coming with 58 minutes on the clock, he certainly posed a threat to the Millwall backline during a brief if exciting cameo.
Moments after stepping off the bench, the Leeds United loanee slipped in Regan Slater, only for his shot to miss the target.
Hull City fans really impressed by Leeds United loanee Joe Gelhardt
No debut assist, then, but a performance of real promise.
One which has the Hull fans hoping for more as they move three big points closer to safety.
“Selles was fantastic with his substitutions today,” one fan writes on X, fellow January recruits Nordin Amrabat and Matt Crooks also making their mark at The Den. “Amarabat and Crooks showed their value [and] experience.
“Gelhardt looked really positive.”
“Gelhardt, for me, already can start,” another supporter adds. “He’s quality.”
“Gelhardt looks tidy,” smiles an Amber Army fanatic. “Great bit if business by Hull City.”
Ruben Selles uses Gelhardt in wide role in Millwall win
Interestingly, during his official unveiling as a Hull player this week, Joe Gelhardt indicated that his versatility appealed to Ruben Selles.
The former Southampton and Reading coach, it seems, values the forward’s ability to play all across the frontline even if there are still doubts over Gelhardt’s most effective position.
While bursting onto the scene as a striker at Wigan – he once earned comparisons to a young Wayne Rooney – Gelhardt played in a wider role on his maiden Tigers appearance.
With Selles preferring to use the veteran frontman Joao Pedro through the middle, it appears that Gelhardt will have to get comfortable with one of the supporting roles in Selles’ three-man attack. Though, if this is anything to go by, it’s a position he should fit into pretty neatly.
The youngster showed real maturity, too, when he cynically stopped a Millwall attack late on, picking up a booking for his troubles.
“Straight into the action, he fed Slater who fired wide from the edge of the box,” the Hull Daily Mail write, handing Gelhardt a 6/10 in their post-match player ratings. “Picked up a clever booking late on.”
Speaking of ‘clever’ pick ups, Hull City appear to have landed one themselves.
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