The Matches
Ipswich Town
Steve Bruce's first game in charge of Wednesday was a trip down to face struggling Ipswich Town, the Tractor boys have had an awful season and in fairness Bruce probably couldn't have picked a better game to make his bow as Owls boss. Wednesday played well, creating a lot but without that cutting edge. Overall the 1-0 scoreline probably flattered Ipswich more than Wednesday. It was Lucas Joao who got the goal from a superb run from Adam Reach. Reach himself had missed a great chance earlier in the game as well as Fernando Forestieri but the key was the fact we'd won when a few weeks before we'd have probably lost it. We'd created plenty and it was clear the team had that energy you often see from a change in management. Overall a pleasing start to the Steve Bruce era.
Reading
Steve Bruce's first home game in charge of Wednesday was a visit from another side struggling at the bottom of the division in Reading. First of all I have to say I thought the reception he got when he came out of the tunnel was very pleasing, it showed a togetherness and a backing of a manager that hasn't been at S6 for a while. As for the game, the first half was very good. Wednesday created a lot and had it not been for former Owls loanee Emiliano Martinez it could have been 3 or 4 very easily. Reading looked like a team that would concede a few if the first one went in but credit to them they defended well and in the end got a point. It was frustrating but given some of the games we've had this season I'd rather create and not quite score than create next to nothing. Four points from a possible six was a decent start for Bruce.
Millwall
Millwall away on Tuesday night never exactly fills you with much excitement. I say that firmly accepting I have never been or intend to go to Millwall. I was one of those people who watched it on the red button. The first half was drab, it was quite simply a really boring half of football. Millwall edged it and probably should have scored, Wednesday started the 2nd half quite well. We started to run at Millwall and try to force an error. Sadly the goal didn't quite come and 0-0 was probably fair. It was a night where the critics were out in full force but it's worth noting that again a few weeks before we'd have lost it. On another night a chance might fall for us. There had been quite a bit of talk about possibly catching the play offs before Reading and Millwall but that appeared to be off the agenda after the results of these two games.
Rotherham United
Next up was a trip to local Rivals Rotherham United, it's always interesting when Wednesday play Rotherham. Something always seems to happen. Rotherham, another side struggling at the wrong end of the division needed points and Wednesday needed to respond after the two 0-0 draws. Bruce had got under the Rotherham fans skin earlier in the week with his pre match comments that it was their cup final. While I can kind of see why this would annoy some people he isn't exactly wrong is he? This game always sells out, this game's hospitality section at the New York Stadium actually sold out on the day the fixtures came out. It's fair to say it's the only one that did. Onto the football, Rotherham were the better side and deserved to win the game based on the chances they had. Although Wednesday started better and took the lead through Fernando Forestieri we surrendered it quickly after Jon Taylor equalised for Rotherham. The Millers then took the lead through Irishman Richie Towell, a goal not too dissimilar to the one he scored at Hillsborough. Wednesday equalised right at the death after debutant Dominic Iorfa, who'd had to be patient in getting an opportunity took it when Jordan Thorniley had to be replaced after a horrible clash that left him needing treatment. Iorfa scored the goal to make it 2-2 with what appeared to be his third touch. Not quite Lloyd Owusu all those years ago or more appropriately Kieran Lee in 2015 but scenes none the less in the away end. After that the real controversy happened, Fernando Forestieri sent off for..well I still don't know. Initially on the radio they said he'd gone into the crowd, at the time I thought fair enough. You can't do that so by the letter of the law it's a red but there is no evidence he did. I've heard about 15 different accounts and they all say something different. From the footage available it's hard to see what he's received his 2nd yellow card for. Overall it was a day to forget for referee Darren England who fail to send Michael Ihiekwe for a horrendous tackle of Forestieri. For Wednesday it was a point gained given the performance.
Swansea City
We went into the game at home to Swansea with a lot of people possibly thinking about next season more than this one. Swansea themselves marooned in mid table were the opponents and it was seen as a bit of a 'dead rubber'. After the disappointing display at Rotherham it was important I felt that a response was given and we got. A first half where Wednesday dominated and were 3-0 up at half time after two goals from Adam Reach who ended his own personal drought and an overhead kick from Steven Fletcher who kept up his own person 'How can I outdo the last goal I scored' competition. What I mean by that is if you look at Fletcher's goals this season a lot of them are goals you wouldn't expect him to score, Birmingham at home, Wigan at home, this one against Swansea. All very low percentage shots of actually going in, it's a good trait to have. After that Wednesday probably could be accused of sitting off Swansea a bit, they've got some good players and had a bad day at the office but the pleasing thing from a Wednesday point of view is we punished them for it. Quite a few teams have come here and played poorly but we've not punished many of them. Even in some of the wins we've been hanging on. To effectively have the game wrapped up at half time was pleasing. It was great to see the likes of Rolando Aarons on his first start and Achraf Lazaar on debut have such a good impact. It's been a long time since someone had as good a debut as Lazaar. A good day at the office.
Brentford
A 2nd of three consecutive home games saw Brentford visit Hillsborough. Brentford were in good form and with Wednesday winning it made for an interesting game. If Swansea was the best performance of the season, this maybe topped it. Mostly for me for the feeling of, we're not going to lose this from about 10 seconds in. The kicked off and Sam Hutchinson immediately won the ball. We played really well and deserved to take the lead through Steven Fletcher. A lead doubled by Fletcher in the 2nd half after Adam Reach should have scored himself. Brentford did have their chances but they were few and far between. They weren't helped by losing South African midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo to injury in the warm up. A similar situation with what happened to Wednesday at Griffin Park when Adam Reach was injured in the warm up down there. Overall it was a really comfortable, professional display and it was pleasing to have so many players to praise. Tom Lees, Sam Hutchinson, Steven Fletcher, Liam Palmer and Adam Reach all came out with great plaudits. The only downside really was an injury to Achraf Lazaar in the first half. Liam Palmer did very well to step in to that position while Dominic Iorfa again came off the bench to play at right back. It seems we still can't shake the injury luck off at the moment. Steve Bruce said something interesting in his post match interview which I really agreed with. He spoke about the fans enjoying watching the team again and I really had. Even the Reading game there were plenty of things to be pleased with. It's been fun watching the team again after a difficult few months.
Off the pitch
During the month we saw the departure of CEO Katrien Meire, there has been a lot of debate and conversation on social media since she arrived January 2018 over he role and whether she was 'doing a good job'. For me the job role was misleading. She was a more a head of the commercial department. Which over the last twelve months has improved considerably. Everyone who's spoken to her has said she was a very competent, intelligent person who was doing a good job. I was surprised to see her go and while the reasons for her departure remain unknown it's tough to give a proper opinion on it and unfair to speculate. What I will say is the amount of "Thank god for that she ruined the club" and "I'm glad she's f*cking gone". Tweets I saw from people who claim to be Wednesday supporters was weird and disappointing. I very much doubt any of those people actually did any research into her role and just read what a few Charlton fans may have said. On that, with all due respect to Charlton fans the situation there and the situation here are completely different and you can't really compare the two.
Onto the future and it has the feel at the moment that Steve Bruce is making a lot of the decisions. Effectively we've gone back to the old school manager approach which a lot of fans wanted. Bruce making the decisions over who comes in and goes out is important and significant. Over the last few years the recruitment policy has been talked about a hell of a lot and all without knowing who really had the final say. Now it's in the hands of the experienced Bruce is surely the wisest and safest move.
That's about it for this month, my next blog will be a preview of Monday night's Steel City Derby.
Thanks for reading,
Tom
WAWAW
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