Open Letter to Sheffield Wednesday Football Club

[myHero]

My comments below are based on a feeling that we are not heading in the right direction since the start of the year. I am sure that most fans agree that looking to change the Manager before the 150th anniversary celebrations would have been the wrong thing. My fear was that would lead to today's result against a team who finished as Champions in League One playing good attacking football. That combined with facing opposition which played with local rivalry and passion and guile which gave them the extra edge which we lack. This was exposed in the playoff final, and was repeated last season in big games.

 

The writing for me was on the wall following the derby game defeat against Leeds United on the 1^st of October 2016. (Fifty one weeks ago) This was another big game which we approached with a cold clinical playing style playing the kind of football which is required when you are two nil up and you "have earned the right to play". The last comment is in quotes as it’s a generally accepted principle of football repeated by many past successful mangers of Sheffield Wednesday who have not had the blessing of the transfer budget that Carlos Carvahal has had since he replaced Stuart Grey who was a typical Wednesday Manager of the 21st century who worked miracles on a shoe string budget with loan players and a style of play and philosophy who allowed us to over achieve based on our financial budget.

 

When I hear people talking about all the things Carlos has achieved and the fact that Carlos has move us on to the next level I constantly am reminded that Stuart Grey and Brian Laws both achieved seventh place finishes. So let’s remember that all the fabulous wealth that Carlos has spent, which was invested into our club by Mr Chansiri has been spent on finishing three places higher than his predecessors.

 

The current style of play at our club, demonstrated by today's lamentable performance constantly reminds me of Chris Turners, philosophy that you win games in the first twenty minutes. Now he was also a one trick pony, because when we weren’t ahead after twenty minutes his prophecy would always come true. He however had the defence of being asked to work miracles without financial resource and the expectation of fans to recreate past success with youth team and journeymen players. The youth team players he picked all went on to greatness away from Sheffield Wednesday as the club could not hold onto their talent. (Grant Holt, Chris Brunt and Glenn Whelan to name three)  This is truly where our club has come from, and Carlos played no part in the great efforts which brought us to being an established side in the top half of the Championship. He has maintained the direction of progress all though at a disappointing rate. All the fans want, including Mr Chansiri is for the club to move onto the next level. Namely the Premier League. We now see our neighbours today on a similar shoe string budget to Carlos’ predecessors able to surpass our efforts

 

Here is my advice to the key players involved in today’s game what brought us today's foreseeable result:

 

1.       Mr Chansiri. You are taking advice from the wrong people, no other single Wednesday fan has poured in as much money as you have in the history of our club. I'm afraid to say the money has not been invested wisely and as a fellow Wednesday I cannot stand by and see money being bled out of your pockets in the way it has been without making these comments. Poor and questionable signings yet to deliver on the money you have invested include Jordan Rhodes, Almen Abdi, George Boyd, Adam Reach and now Joost van Aken. Some of the younger player still have the potential to improve individually and collectively. Today my use of the word investment is questionable. You ultimately need to decide when and how change occurs.

2.       Carlos Carvahal. You are the third most successful Manager in our clubs history and I wish you every success in the future either at or away from our club. Things must change either with or without you at Sheffield Wednesday. If you stay then you need to start pointing the finger at the players who are not putting in the effort, guile or endeavour to match the fabulous money they are earning. Tactically you need to question your own judgements. Ticket prices have nearly doubled and the Chairman has put an unimaginable amount of money into this club. You cannot take passion and emotion out of big games. What we need is a Manager who can channel this energy into the correct results in big games. The players have to take more responsibility on the ball and have the belief they can take the ball past the player in front of them. This is especially the case of our wingers (or lacks of them) taking on full backs. I don't see any evidence our midfielders have this confidence. Lucas Joao was the only player I saw today with that kind of belief, which led to his goal. This confidence needs to be instilled by the philosophy and belief of the Manager. It also starts with the right players being brought to the club in the first instance. Pace, skill and endeavour on the wings at our club is missing and ironically when we come up against the same we are constantly undone. Our defensive record appears to be based on a defensive midfield. This will not move us on to the next level in my opinion. 80pts is not good enough for the money invested. The target this season should be 90pts and today’s result sees us miles away from that mark.

Starting Eleven

3.       Barry Bannan. You are a key player in our first team and a player loved by the fans, but although you are often hailed as such by the Wednesday believers you are not “better than Zidane”. Please get this out of your head as football is a team game, which does rely on the skill of certain key individuals of which you are one. You can be better than the Barry Bannan we have seen since the play off final. You are one of the players who takes responsibility on the ball. However, you need to take more responsibility with simple forward passes and forward runs. You have the ability, and showed the vision at the end of the game today. You need to show this same belief in the first twenty minutes when defenders are cold. No more distributing passes across the half way line leading to us losing the ball in dangerous areas of the field and putting your team mates under pressure.

4.       Kieran Lee: As above, but for me you are competing with Barry Bannan for a start so one of you would lose out in my starting 11. You would get the start in the next game for me as you understand that forward runs and forward passes are what our team needs from midfield. Sideways passes put us under pressure today and led to a number of their goals as moves broke down in midfield.

5.       Dave Jones: You were taken off at half time as we were chasing the game, you or a player like you needs to be there to keep the ball moving forward and chase down when we lose possession. We are expecting you to keep it simple not lose the ball and win possession. A midfield cannot operate without your kind of player.

 

From my seat in the stand I cannot pinpoint the individual errors of the three central midfielders above, but the way they collectively approached the game was not good enough today and will not win us promotion if we repeat the same mistakes of losing the ball in front of our defence in the middle of the park. The fact we started with three central midfielders against our local rivals is the fault of the manager.

 

6.         Steven Fletcher. Keep up the good work. You were one of the few players at the start of the game who understood that starting the game well was critical to our success. Keep on chasing the ball down and getting into the right places in and around the box. Hopefully, things will change in the mentality of our midfield.

7.         Gary Hooper. As above one of the few players who turned up today. Scoring one of the two goals today should have been enough to get us the three points today.

8.       Lucas Joao. (Half time substitute). You looked dangerous and were prepared to believe you were better than the opposition defenders. Keep on believing. You scored the equalizer and kept running even at 4-2 down. 10 out of 10 for a player who for some reason has not been in and around the first team in 2017.

9.       Ross Wallace: A big game player who consistently turns up and causes threats in wide areas of the field and has the ability to score from the edge of the box. Quality balls and runs into the box are what we need, combined with a will to chase down the ball when we are not in possession. 10 out of 10.

 

The back four: You have collectively let the team down, but in your defence a three man midfield should have given you plenty of protection today, instead their sideways passing when being chased down by a team with the will to win led to us conceding four goals. A clean sheet would have led to a win so you are among the SEVEN (7) players who lead to our defeat today.

 

10.   Jack Hunt. Full of attacking endeavour. Please concentrate on the basics and don’t give the ball away. In fairness I saw you put under pressure with cross field sideways passes, if in doubt put the ball in the stand. That goes for your opponent too.

11.   Adam Reach. As per the above. You have the unfortunate possession of a five million pound price tag which leads to expectations which you have not lived up to. You cannot not give away possession in the way you have today at any level. You have youth on your side and time to improve your game. Look to replicate the strengths of Ross Wallace’s game. In midfield you need to have the belief that the United forwards had that you can beat the opposition full back. You also have to have the vision and ability to put to ball onto the heads or feet of our strikers. Putting the ball into the box and expecting them to do the rest will not win us promotion.

12.   Tom Lees: A consistently good performer. In your defence you were put in too many situations where the United players were overloading our defence or one on one with you in the box. If in doubt put the ball or the player in the stand. You understand the basics and we need you to start the next game.

13.   Joost Van Akin: A player with a £4m price tag. In your defence, you have no experience in this league and were also let down badly by midfield. I can see you have attacking strengths and you are only four games into your career and it has been a baptism of fire, especially today. However, you have to realise that at this level you have to start with the basics, keep it simple until confidence in the team is restored. If in doubt put the player or the ball in the stand.

 

14.   Kieran Westwood: A good solid player who cannot be blamed for what went off in the middle of the park or by the inability of the defenders in front of you to stop United forwards from running into our box with the ball. Ironically, as opposed to our midfield, when you had the ball you recognised the importance of getting the ball forward quickly.

 

Substitutes

15.   Jacob Butterfield: The game was lost when you arrived on the field. Please mark my comments about the midfield. No sideways passing, chase the ball until they bring you off the field and always look to move the ball forward.

16.   Jordan Rhodes: The best performance I have seen from you was away at Bolton last month. A similar game which was lost by a poor start. When we were three nil down and we started to knock the ball long in behind their defence, you looked dangerous in the last 20 minutes of that game and scored two goals, proving that you still have the ability to score goals at this level. Still this seems to have gone unnoticed by the Management of our club. If we started games in the same manner that we finished that game we would not be in the mess we are in today. However, in the absence of service you have to adapt your game and chase every ball and keep running into space. For £10 million pounds you have to be personally ensuring you start every game regardless of the questionable tactics which have led us to today’s woeful result. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. The fans at this club wanted you here years ago when most of them could not see it was financially impossible. The financial circumstances have changed, but other problems have taken their place.

 

The only person guaranteed involvement in the game at Bramall Lane on the 13^th of January is Mr Cansiri. His effort and individual financial contribution cannot be questioned and is second to none in the living memory of our club. If any of the other above people have the opportunity to be involved that day then be of no doubt that you are in for more of the same. Additionally, the atmosphere will be hostile, a million miles from the support you received today. Please do not allow these mistakes to be repeated again that day or at any of the remaining games this season.

 

Our fans will not forget what happened at Hillsborough today as they will be reminded of it by United fans for the rest of their lives.

[ramone]

Oh good, another open letter... 

[Halfway-owl]

Stopped reading once I got as far as Wallace consistently turning up and 10 out of 10.

[ramone]

Just now, Halfway-owl said:

Stopped reading once I got as far as Wallace consistently turning up and 10 out of 10.

You made it that far?

[DobbinTheDonkey]

Wallace 10 out of 10? 10 out of 10?

Is this a typo?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wallace 10 out of 10?

Edited September 24, 2017 by DobbinTheDonkey

[Miffed]

Bloody hell, calm down Tolstoy.

[Halfway-owl]

Just now, ramone said:

You made it that far?

 

Unfortunately so

[Salmonbones]

Too much time on hands.

 

Personally I skip read most posts.  

 

I skipped over 90% of this one.

 

I'm guessing I did the right thing, i'd probably be far more critical otherwise.

[S36 OWL]

I like open letters 

[East Suffolk Owl]

I'd stick a couple of stamps on that envelope just to play safe... But i agree with your comments fully ... By the way have you ever read war and peace?

[myHero]

Ross Wallace, now well into his thirties was the only attacking threat from midfield today, in itself that is embarrassing. We scored two. That should always be enough to win a football game. He was among an few players who started the game well in my opinion

[Ballmeist]

You lost me at Wallace 10 out of 10. 

 

The bloke was absolute garbage today, and has been poor for a while. It's painfully predictable what he's going to do every time he gets near their full back. He's got an inability to go past a man or use his weaker foot. Added to that his deliveries were atrocious today from both open play and set pieces.

 

4/10 - and that's being generous! 

[myHero]

3 minutes ago, East Suffolk Owl said:

I'd stick a couple of stamps on that envelope just to play safe... But i agree with your comments fully ... By the way have you ever read war and peace?

 

I love War and Peace: It reminds me of Carlos' comments on Sky News last week. He said today's game "was a game not a war". It was that exact opposite. Today he said he won't point the finger as he "has dignity" so someone else has too. One way or another its time for a change either in tactics or management.

[myHero]

2 minutes ago, Ballmeist said:

You lost me at Wallace 10 out of 10. 

 

The bloke was absolute garbage today, and has been poor for a while. It's painfully predictable what he's going to do every time he gets near their full back. He's got an inability to go past a man or use his weaker foot. Added to that his deliveries were atrocious today from both open play and set pieces.

 

4/10 - and that's being generous! 

I'll revise to 7/10, but based on a 3/10 team performance. Technically that is 2.1 out of 10. we have spent money to replace him. Its not his fault he was the best (only) winger on the park for Wednesday today.

[DJMortimer]

Some of the comments are justified and understandable, some of them presumptuous and ridiculous.

 

But why would a fan believe they are in position to lecture the club on just about every aspect of how it operates and expect to be taken seriously? 

[Pulcinella]

When I saw the team sheet I couldn’t criticise it. But when I saw them play, everything was down the right side. Very predictable. And few of our efforts lead to anything threatening. In that respect, we would have been far more threatening to have Reach in the midfield on the left. And maybe our defence could have handled them better.

[mogbad]

Thought I was reading an assessment of our squad today, then read Wallace 10/10, quality balls & willing to chase back & realised I was reading a comedy sketch.

[Ballmeist]

1 minute ago, s8owl75 said:

I'll revise to 7/10, but based on a 3/10 team performance. Technically that is 2.1 out of 10. we have spent money to replace him. Its not his fault he was the best (only) winger on the park for Wednesday today.

 

Im not even going to ask about your above calculations.

 

theres no getting away from the fact that his delivery and movement was crap today. How you have him a 7 is baffling 

[myHero]

13 minutes ago, DJMortimer said:

Some of the comments are justified and understandable, some of them presumptuous and ridiculous.

 

But why would a fan believe they are in position to lecture the club on just about every aspect of how it operates and expect to be taken seriously? 

 

Anyone who bought a ticket to watch the shower of poo served up today is entitled to comment on today performance, and the entire management of the club leading up to today. Its not a one of result. I have been saying for many weeks to friends that Carlos would be sacked at half time in the Derby match if we carried on with the sideways football which has been on offer since the playoff final. Its a miracle that Fletcher came good towards the end of last season.

 

We'll carry on getting bad results until someone fixes the problems above and firstly the way the team approach the first twenty minutes of the game. Absolute Garbage. However, certain players gave there all in the first twenty minutes. Ross Wallace, Fletcher and Hooper all pressed their defense.

 

Ultimately, once again the sideways passing gave the opposition their opportunities to score.

[damianb1]

What an absolute load of drivel. Opinions are fine but when you get 2 basic facts wrong in your opening paragraphs you instantly lose all credibility. Firstly we played Leeds in August 2016 not October 2016 and holt, brunt and whelan were not youth players. Holt was signed from Barrow, Whelan from Man City and Brunt from Middlesbrough.