So after a summer of World Cup excitement and pre season, we're now only a few days away from the beginning of the 2018/19 Championship season. Wednesday's season last year was one to forget but will this year be one to remember for Owls fans?
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Wednesday players exchange handshakes with Spanish side Villarreal
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The Squad
If you look at the squad at Hillsborough on paper it ranks up there with the best in the league. At the time of writing only Jack Hunt and Jordan Rhodes have joined the released players in heading out of the door. The Hunt deal while at the time seemed an odd one makes more sense the more you look into it. Despite a good season last year he spent a lot of time on the side-lines and with one year left on his contract to get around £1.6M for him is good business. As for Jordan, I don't think I've ever wanted a player to succeed more here than him. It was all set up for him and unfortunately it just hasn't worked out. We can go into the details of why but that might be another blog. I wish him luck at Norwich and with it being a loan the door isn't completely closed on him at Sheffield Wednesday.
As for the players still here we have three top keepers in Keiren Westwood, Joe Wildsmith and Cameron Dawson. All of which I think would have the fans backing if they started, several options at centre back. Despite the disappointment of missing out on signing Frederico Venancio in the summer we still have several players capable of playing in a back three. Lees, Pudil, Thornily, Van Aken, Nielsen, Fox, Jack Lee, Connor O'Grady and Sam Hutchinson have all played at centre back. While some of course are youngsters and will need time it's not quite the crisis that has been painted. In the wing back role we maybe don't have the depth we do at centre back but I still feel we have the players to play that system. Liam Palmer gets a lot of stick however his performances over the last couple of seasons have been good. He'll benefit from more regular football following the departure of Hunt and that's a good thing. Wednesday fans have to accept that he will likely play the majority of the games and need to get behind him. It's clear that in some games the stick from the crowd has got to him which is massively disappointing. Ash Baker will also be hoping for a shot at playing more regularly, a very impressive debut against Norwich on the final day of 2017/18 including a wonderful recovery tackle gave a glimpse of the promise he has. At left wing back Adam Reach will likely occupy that position. George Boyd has played a lot there under Jos and in fairness to him has actually done well there. His versatility could be important, his performance there against Villarreal at the weekend was impressive, good link up play with Fernando Forestieri in particular was pleasing to see. Also Matt Penny who's name has been around for a while will look to break into the team. Another versatile player who can play all along the left gives Jos another option.
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Cam Dawson will hope to build on 2017/18
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Liam Palmer. Mainstay of Wednesday.
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In midfield we have number of options depending on what system we play. Going off pre season and the back end of last season a 352 is the likely starting formation. Towards the back end of last season Barry Bannan and Joey Pelupessy struck up a good partnership in the middle. They will more than likely start at Wigan. Sam Hutchinson who also started against Villarreal will be an asset. We all know Sam's history with injury and nobody will expect 46 games out of him but if managed correctly we know what he can bring to this side. He provides an energy in midfield and an enthusiasm for playing that goes down well with supporters. Despite looking like he won't be fit for a while yet Kieran Lee's return will be a huge positive. Possibly the biggest goal threat off those already mentioned. Youngsters Connor Kirby and Alex Hunt will hope to get game time as will the likes of Jack Stobbs and Fraser Preston. David Jones and Almen Abdi are still here and capable Championship players. While Jones has played a bit on pre season it's difficult to see him in this system as a starter. While he's not a fans favourite (he was booed by someone behind me on Saturday before he even got on the pitch) I think he is a useful player to have. You don't get four promotions from this division for no reason.
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Joey Pelupessy celebrates his goal against Millwall
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Up front we have a number of strikers/wingers/attacking midfielders that if given the service will score goals. Lucas Joao, Atdhe Nuhiu, Steven Fletcher, Gary Hooper, Fernando Forestieri, Marco Matias and Sam Winnall. Baring Matias who I'll come onto later. All have a relative amount of goals to there name. Joao and Nuhiu should and most likely will start at Wigan on Saturday. They deserve to, they saved us from a very difficult situation last season and not only that did more than there fair share of lifting the other players. I've been a massive fan of Nuhiu ever since he arrived and I was delighted he got the rewards for his hard work at the back end of the season. Joao potentially could play in the Premier League. He does things on a football pitch that make you think 'wow'. Fernando Forestieri is a wonderful footballer, he can turn games in the blink of an eye and his performances upon his return to the team last season proved just how much we had missed him. We must keep him if we want to challenge at the top end of this division. Fletcher while I've been very open and honest about not being his biggest fan does still have some qualities that hopefully Jos will be able to get the best out of. A lack of match sharpness was all that denied him a goal against Villarreal. Gary Hooper when he returns will be like a new signing. His ability to read situations and pounce on them is to be admired and if we are to say that Atdhe's 14 goals last year saved us then we must credit Gary with his 14 in the first half of the season. Sam Winnall returns from his year at Derby with a question mark of his head and an ACL injury. If it had not been for that injury I think he'd have already left Wednesday but in all likelihood he'll still be here come the deadline on Thursday the 9th. If he can get fit then he could be a really good addition to this squad. His goal record cannot be denied and under a new manager he might well find himself back playing at Hillsborough. Now we come to Marco Matias, I fully appreciate that a lot of fans will have given up with Marco Matias and feel it's a waste of time talking about him but hear me out on this one. Under Jos he's been involved in every match day squad in which he has been fit for. He's played him when he could have played others. He's also from the outside looking in a well liked member of the squad. He has had bad luck with injuries and I know some people will read that and roll there eyes but it's fact. He has. He's also been unlucky in that the system under Carlos Carvalhal changed and he had to play in different positions when he did play. Under Jos he's had an impact in games. I genuinely feel he could be a really good player for Sheffield Wednesday if given the time.
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So Close. Fletcher's first appearance at Hillsborough since December nearly had a goal to mark it.
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Expectations
From my point of view a clubs expectations should be judged on a variety of different factors. From our point of view factoring in the disappointment of last season, the previous two years with a similar group of players and the other teams in the division I see no reason why Wednesday can't be around that bunch challenging for the top six. Two things often that are never spoken about with predictions are confidence and momentum. Two things Wednesday didn't have last season baring the last 9 games. Winning breads both and when you have high expectations as we rightly did this time last year it can lead to a difficult situation as we found out last season. We have a squad that on it's day can beat anyone in this division. Last year's Championship I felt was a poor year and that isn't me saying that as a bitter Wednesday fan because we didn't do well, it's my genuine opinion. Credit those teams that went up but it wasn't a great standard of division. A lot of underperforming sides, we at one point went on a run of 2 wins in 21 games yet didn't spend anytime in the bottom three. I don't see that happening again this year. If any side has a run like they will drop into it. For me if we challenge for the play offs, I'll be fairly content. We need to get off to a good start and build some momentum going. Wigan away is a tough start, they have the momentum and confidence as well as a good manager and are my tip for a dark hoarse this season.
Transfers
So we come to the murky world of transfers. We all know the situation or at least we all know that Wednesday haven't made a signing so far. If we are completely honest did we expect much? We all know we are close to the line regarding FFP (now called Profit and Sustainability). Weather we are or aren't under a transfer embargo the most important thing for me is keeping hold of our better players. To turn it on it's head, maybe nobody coming in is a good thing. Giving Jos a chance to actually coach the players, in the long run we need to be a club that can make players better weather they arrive here from another club or come through the academy. For anyone who hasn't listened to it and wants to know more about the whole FFP situation I suggest listening to this. http://www.thewednesdayweek.co.uk/twwoa-ffp-special-3/ Good insight from The Wednesday Week podcast and the Owls Americast.
Social Media and General Negativity
Now this is a can of worms I'm still not sure I want to open. First of all I really really really want to stress that this isn't a case of me coming out and saying anyone who disagrees with me is 'negative'. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course they are. Too often I think sometimes the lines between disagreement and actual negativity are blurred and I accept I've been guilty of this in the past. What I do find irritating is the major overeating to certain things. Pre Season results being one of them. For example of Saturday the team that finished 5th in La Liga beat us 3-1 at Hillsborough. Now if we did a direct comparison with the Premier League that would be Chelsea. Would we be complaining if Chelsea beat us 3-1? No I don't think so. I saw a comment the other day saying La Liga football is equivalent to mid table Championship football and that comment is utter nonsense. I've seen people going mental because we lost to Mansfield, yet said nothing when we beat Lincoln (who finished above Mansfield last season by the way). Surely if we are going to have these major overreactions they need to be both positive and negative? We've got to the point where any defeat or negative headline and there has to be a meltdown. That's not healthy, and despite what some people think it does transpire occasionally into the stands. A nonsense rumour spreads like wildfire on twitter and can find it's way to places it shouldn't. All I'm saying is can we not have a little bit more perspective? Can we not think before hitting send? If a player has a bad game tweeting them or sending them a message on Instagram giving them abuse won't do any good. Footballers are human beings as well.
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Wednesday fans in full voice on the kop
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Thanks for reading,
Tom
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