Well with
January coming to a close here we are again to look through the first
month of 2020. It's been a busy one to say the least.
The
Matches
Hull
City
2020 started with a home game against Hull City, we hadn't beaten the
tigers since 2007 on home turf so it would have been nice to end that
run. Lets pull no punches here, it was rubbish. It was a poor game
that lacked quality and a less than inspiring start to the new year.
Hull won it 1-0 with the only real moment in the game where Jarrod
Bowen popped up with the winner. There's a lot that's gone on since
this game and to be honest I could have a rant in a few of them but
these kinds of games are the problem for me, at home, against a side
that isn't great where we have to set the tempo and we don't do it.
Yes you could argue it was just a few days after Cardiff but that's
no excuse really. All round a disappointing display.
Brighton
The FA Cup started with a long trip to Brighton, I have to say with the weird way football is that I fancied us to do something. A changed Wednesday team went down there and did very well and fully deserved the 1-0 win. Brighton also made changes but there were still some very good players on show and in fairness to Wednesday were still probably favourites. Obviously the inclusion of Osaze Urhoghide in the first team was a talking point. We played well and didn't look out of place in the side. His post match interview of course has caught the eye and brought about some much needed good publicity for the club. Overall a good performance and result and for a team that hasn't done much in the FA Cup for a long time now it would be nice to have a real run in it.
Leeds
After that good win at Brighton another big trip to Leeds United. Obviously whenever we go to Elland Road it's a big game. This year seemed slightly bigger given both clubs were in a decent position and have spent time in the top six. Leeds started the brighter as you'd expect but a lack of finishing cost them as despite having a number of chances they failed to penetrate Wednesday's defence. In the 2nd half Wednesday grew more into it and had chances through Sam Winnall who just couldn't find the target before Jacob Murphy late on managed to find the back of the net from a tight angle. Atdhe Nuhiu rounded off the win late on after a wonderful cross from Adam Reach. Both moves for the goals were excellent and showed exactly what this team can do when on it. Also I saw a number of people criticising Leeds' keeper for not saving Murphy's shot, while I get what they're saying you still have to give Murphy credit for the finish. A fantastic result for Wednesday away at Leeds who I still think will end up in those top two personally.
Blackburn
Ah yes, Blackburn. I think if there's one game in this month's review that people might look for straight away it's this one. Lets make it clear a 5-0 defeat at home is unacceptable. Everybody has said it and we all know it anyway. It was a very flat, uninspiring performance and Blackburn were better in all departments. If you let players who can play play then you run the risk of them battering you and that is exactly what they did. Downing, Armstrong, Holtby, Nyambe. We let them all just do what they want and while they might not be household names they are still good players who we allowed to have the freedom of Hillsborough. Gallagher as well up front was a menace. Obviously the red card had an impact but for me we'd still have lost that game. The response to going 1-0 down wasn't good enough. We'll get into that in a bit more detail later on but it's a massive concern. Fans were leaving before half time, fans that did stay had given up. It was a snapshot of the feeling within the fanbase at the moment and sadly it's not good.
QPR
On the flipside of Blackburn we did see something of a response the following Friday with a trip down to QPR in the FA Cup. Both sides made changes but it was Wednesday who for me at least looked more likely to progress. Goals from Morgan Fox and Sam Winnall in a 2-1 win gave Wednesday a place in the 5th round. While the stats tell the story that QPR were better it was really only a 10 minute period in the second half where they had the majority of their chances. Wednesday managed to halt that particular storm and take advantage late on through Winnall and for me it was another good away performance. Cameron Dawson received a bit of stick for his mistake late on that lead to QPR's goal. Personally I think it's incredibly unfair to dig him out for that and especially since coming back into the team has barely put a foot wrong.
Wigan
The last game of the month saw Wednesday take a trip over to face Wigan. Now without wanting to sound disrespectful of Wigan they hadn't won at home since October and hadn't won at all since New Year's Day. If you have the expectation of the top 6 then you have to be going into these games and winning them. Especially if you're 1-0 up at half time. Which we were thanks to another goal from Jacob Murphy who I have to say is putting in some good performances after a shaky start to life at S6. The 2nd half at the DW Stadium was unacceptable, lack of ideas, lack of drive and a comedy of errors defensively. It was very much like a number of other games we've had where either we need to set the tempo or lift it. At 1-1 in that game teams that finish in the top six would at the very least not lose it, we capitulate so easily. I really don't want to go to far in on the players because they are capable and we're still in a decent position and things can change but it wasn't good enough at Wigan.
What
now?
These has been a lot of discussion about a lot of different things over the last few weeks, Season tickets, desire, players, manager, chairman, atmosphere. I think we can all sit there and talk about all those subjects for a while and we all have our own opinions on them. For me some things are easier to fix than others. Firstly it all comes back to expectation, for me I said we'd finish 9th at the start of the season and I have seen little to change that opinion, don't get me wrong I like to be as positive as possible and feel that on our day we have the quality but we lack that consistency. January proved that and without an overhaul of the squad, which was never going to come in January. it is unlikely to change. I say overhaul, facelift would be a better word for me. The idea of ripping it up and starting again isn't really the way forward for me. Bringing in players in the positions we need while moving on players who aren't required any more. Looking for value in the market, I do think the recruitment since January 2018 has been quite good, the likes of Borner and Iorfa have been logical signings. Kadeem Harris another one. Others who might not have worked out still weren't as big a financial gamble as previous years. Ultimately the situation we find ourselves in with the EFL (which nobody knows what will happen come the end of that) is because we had no back up plan for not going up in 2016/17. That's two and a half years ago now and things I believe have moved on.
One thing I did also want to touch on was this thing about desire, do they players care and that kind of thing. We seem now after every game to get at least one or two people saying they didn't see effort and desire from the players. Personally I think it's an easy cop out to say that. They do care, I think the big issue here is that we have a very reactionary fanbase and also quite a reactionary squad of players. This leads me onto another point, the home atmosphere. Now this one has been done to death over the years, do the players have to give the fans something to shout about or do the fans create an atmosphere for the players? In reality it is both and while that sounds like a cop out answer it is true. What I will say is In my opinion there is no reason to try and create an atmosphere for one game and not the other twenty odd games a season. The Hillsborough atmosphere has to a large extent been non-existent this season baring the odd game here and there. Yes a lot of the games have been tight but that's where in my opinion the life from the fans has to come. It's probably a discussion for another day in all honesty but with four home games coming up in February it's vital we get back to winning ways at home after three straight defeats.
One thing I think can help all that is being a bit more positive from the get go, we don't seem to be able to set the tempo of a game at home as well as we should. Don't get me wrong this isn't a criticism of Garry Monk, he's doing the best he can with this squad. One thing that frustrated me against Hull was the amount of times there centre backs passed it around together with the other defenders only to not really go anywhere with it and we didn't get near enough to them. Same against Wigan away we didn't seem to close them down from the front as well as we could. All this might be down to the way Monk wants us to play which is fair enough but as a fan it's frustrating at times.
As I've already touched on before and Monk has come out and said this squad needs refreshing. He's taken a bit of stick in recent weeks and some even calling for his head after the Wigan game, for me that's ludicrous and another example of the desperation in the fan base for me. Garry Monk has arrived here six games into the season, not worked with any of the players before, only been able to bring one of his preferred staff members in, only signed two players one of which is an U23 player and the other we haven't seen play yet (Welcome to Hillsborough by the way Higaldo and Da Cruz). I do think it's time this club allowed a manager to build a squad and follow some kind of plan through and I'll say it again. Steve Bruce leaving the way he did at the time he did thoroughly screwed us over, it set us back and Monk has had to pick up the pieces. The squad mentally I don't think is good enough and that was set in long before Monk arrived. We've dropped 19 points from winning positions this season. That tells you a hell of a lot.
Anyway I've gone on enough for now. Lets hope a busy February will bring an upturn in the Owls' fortune.
Thanks for reading
Tom
WAWAW
