As the football season is literally hours away (Sunderland play Derby tonight and Nottingham Forest host Millwall if you didn't know) I'd like to offer my thoughts ahead of the 2017/18 season and offer an opinion of one of the positive members of the Sheffield Wednesday fan base.
This years aims and objectives
The obvious objective this season is promotion to the Premier League, that has been underlined by those at the top and at the beginning of Dejphon Chansiri's third full season as owner of the football club I think it's a fair assessment that if we don't go up questions will be asked. Weather it be automatic or via the play offs, promotion has to be the aim. In my opinion (and I accept I find myself in the minority) the style of play wasn't the problem last year. In a lot of games we beat ourselves, missing chances that we would have buried the previous season, poor decision making in some games. This year if we start the way we finished last season ignoring the play offs and the Fulham game which was a training session then we'll be right up there. We all know we lack a centre back or possibly two. I have every confidence that this will be sorted. We didn't need to add a lot from last year, I think a lot of the moaning that has happened over the last three months mostly comes down to the fact a lot of fans still aren't used to the idea that we're actually a good side and that we don't need to rip everything up and start again like we did so many times in the past. We've built a good team, lead by a good manager.
The Key Men
If you look at the squad we currently have and compare it to past squads there for me is one big difference, there isn't one or two names that you pick out and say, "It's all on him" or "Well if he doesn't perform we're in for it". There is quality all around the pitch. Keiren Westwood is the best goalkeeper in the Championship, that's worth 7/8 points a season which could be huge in a race for the top two. Tom Lees and Glenn Loovens at the back are one of the best partnerships in the division. The likes of Hutchinson, Bannan, Lee, Jones and our new addition George Boyd are among the best in the division with plenty of Championship experience. Almen Abdi if we get him fit can dictate games, he was the key man in a Watford team that won promotion in 2015. Then we come to the strikers, the striker force at Hillsborough is the best in the league. Forget Middlesbrough, forget Aston Villa, forget Fulham. Sheffield Wednesday have a group of strikers that at this level should be the envy of all. Jordan Rhodes, Gary Hooper, Sam Winnall, Steven Fletcher, Atdhe Nuhiu, Lucas Joao and if you count him as a striker Fernando Foresrieri all do different things. Some are more prolific than others and some will have to work hard to earn their place but in terms of options we've got them. The final key man himself is the manager, Carlos Carvalhal. How people can't be behind a manager that has guided us to our two best league finishes since relegation from the Premiership is beyond me. He's shown he's got the ability to get a team challenging and with another year of Championship football under his belt he should have everything he needs to finish the job. Listening to the press conference yesterday I got the feeling that he believes this team will take that next step. George Boyd as well a man who has promotions on his CV as well as match winning ability was extremely positive facing the media. You get the sense they want it as much as the fans do.
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| Rhodes has a proven track record in this division. |
My Own Personal Prediction
Personally if you offered me a Play Off Final place now I'd take it, I think most of us would. However I feel the top two is more than realistic, yes Villa have spent money and signed some good players, yes Middlesbrough look strong and have also signed some good players. If you had to push me for 3 to be in the Premier League this time next year they would be it. Wednesday, Villa and Boro. I think Norwich will be strong, Derby and Leeds both have made shrewd signings and will be in the Play Off picture. The likes of Reading and Fulham who went close last year will be in the battle for the top 6 as well. As much as it is a tough division there isn't the sense of inevitability there was last year that Newcastle would ultimately have to much for the rest of the league and Brighton were just so consistent. There isn't that this year, it's more even. The only Brighton -esque team I see in the league this year is ourselves. If you look at what they had in 2016/17 compared to 2015/16 was another option to Tomer Hemed up front. They identified that and got Glenn Murray. Everything else was pretty much the same. We've done a similar thing, continuity can be key especially in a division like the Championship where if you're not up for learning and adapting you'll be found out. The likes of Wolves who've made massive changes might struggle even though everyone seems to be tipping them for success. Ultimately weather we are successful or not will come down to consistency, we lacked it for a long period of last season for various reasons but if we get off to a good start tomorrow at Deepdale then we have every chance. The one thing I'd say to any supporter unsure about Carlos or the players is let's see where we are in a few weeks time. Even if we aren't 'playing well' but winning stick with it, this team has shown in the past that positive results bring positive performances. We'll need to dig in and scrap at times, I don't imagine Saturday being anything other than a battle. It always is at Preston. Let's get behind them, last season I don't think enough of the fans got behind the players when they really needed it and it possibly cost us more than people realise. Let's go back to what we're best at, getting behind the team and pulling them through. We all want the same thing at the end of the day.
Thanks for Reading
Tom
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