Wednesday - Hull OMDT & 2019 review

[Lord Snooty]

 

 

 

A year ago this  week I went out for a few quick ones before making my way back home to see in the New Year. As so often is the case that all went out of the window when I got the tastes for it and I came home 3 days later looking like  I'd been dressed by Vivienne Westwood... a facial wound that left my face looking like a stunt mans knee and a half eaten  tucked from Fat Leons tucked under my arm. But I digress.

 

Also a year ago this week The Wednesday were without a manager having parted company with Jos Lahuky , luhhooky... Jos.  Lee Bullen was in temporary charge and we were in decent festive mood after beating Preston and Middlesbrough -keeping almost unheard of clean sheets in the process- and then getting a point against much fancied West Brom, as we prepared to face Garry Monks Birmingham City.

 

If I'd told you then that within 12 months we'd have their manager in our dugout and had in-between times had Steve Bruce in and out the door you might well have thought I'd had a bang on the head, or at least shouldn't have had that -always fateful- last pint in the Nuns.

 

Indeed it was though that just 24 hours after Wednesdays 1-1 draw with Birmingham, Bruce was announced as the new Wednesday manager. Announced that is, but not unveiled, as he was away watching the cricket and wouldn't be taking up his post until the first of February. A full month later.

At first this was something of blow. The season had been in danger of going into freefall, even though Bullen had managed to slam the anchors on the slide. Wednesday fans wanted their new man and they wanted him straight away. He sent in his assistants in though, the two Steves, to preview the squad for him. Agnew and...erm...the other bloke.

 

 

The situation of having the backroom men in charge doesn't especially fill people with joy, not least since  we then struggled past Luton Town in the Cup and then, despite Bullen tightening us up a bit defensively, largely by bringing Hutchinson and Westwood in from the cold and going 4-5-1,  'Aggers' takes us to Hull to get spanked 3-0 and then to the Bridge where we make a routine exit from the FA cup, also by three goals to zip.

 

Wednesday fans however remain patient, in fact they get quite defensive about Bruce not coming in for a month when it's mentioned elsewhere. We stick up for him. We are a fan base with the human touch. Who understand the importance of mental health and people being shown respect.  Well, unless you play for us anyway. But that's has always been a bit different.

 

 

In February the boy Bruce turns up at last and we have our unveiling. Bruce is resplendent in a grey-check wool suit. He mentions his previous visits to Wednesday as a player. Talks about the fine tradition of the club and also how important it is that a Northern working class City has a manager who knows what they want to see.  He's a canny lad .Oh yes. He appeals right to our hearts and souls. He's well versed with the press.  He's a smooth operator  alright and ticks all the unveiling boxes. He's off to a winner.

 

 

He wastes no time either getting some players through the door. Achraf Lazaar

and Rolando Aarons come in on loan from Newcastle , though he insist both will need to get up to match speed and he brings in 'Big Dom' Iorfa for an undisclosed fee. (Though later rereleased to be £200k)

 

He's off to a winner on the pitch too sending his Wednesday team out in a new look 4-2-3-1 with Forestieri given a free role off Fletcher. However Wednesday struggle to make the break though until Lucas Joao is sent on late and bags in the 90th minute to steal the points.

 

Bruce ditches the plan after one game and goes back to basics with a 4-4-2 next and pairs Fletcher and Fernando in an old school bigman/little partnership down the middle but we fail to score and come away with a 0-0 stalemate.

 

We then travel to Millwall where we alway seem to struggle and there's changes once more as Bruce looks to find the way to Wednesdays goalscoring seam. This time it's a 4-4-1-1 with Lucas Joao given free rein to find pockets and do more or less what he wants.

We again fail to hit the net and draw 0-0.

 

Bruce tells the press that “We have to have that confidence to pass the ball to each other. We are caught at the minute between are we playing or are we not? To be honest, I think this is going to take weeks, if not months. It's a big big job ahead of us"

(Something to bear in mind for those who want monk out for not doing enough in his short period at the helm)

 

Against Rotherham Wednesday get back amongst the goals as Bruce decides to go back to the 4-2-3-1 that he initially went for when he first arrived. Fletcher is on the bench and Joao is the man charged with leading the line whilst Forestieri, Boyd and Reach make up the advanced midfield.

As it was ,the  relegation threatened Millers got at Wednesday from the off and were far the better side before Forestieri repaid the faith with a 35th minute opener. The Millers though ploughed back and made it 2-1 and it looked for a long while like Wednesdays hoodoo over them ( They hadn't beaten us at theirs in the league since the long hot summer year of 1976.) was over.

However right at the death up stepped Big Dom to be hero of the hour, prodding home a leveller in the 100th minute of the game.  The Millers were incensed  . But so was Bruce when the referee Darren England, in all the commotion, sent off Forestieri with a wave of his yellow card for excessive celebration. How none of the other players in the melee were cautioned no one knows.  Surely all 9 in the pack should have been booked?

 

 

Bruce then goes back to 4-4-2 for the next two games . Some wag on twitter says that Bruce is changing his mind about formations more than Jos, and is roundly hounded out of town and never heard from again.

We get past Swansea and Brentford with Fletcher and Reach starting to find a bit of form and Wednesday unveiling a new look left hand side with Aarons and Lazaar taking the spots.  This is pleasing on the eye for Wednesday fans who have been starved of pace for some time and had even been hallucinating about how good Jeremy Helan was having forgotten what it's like to see someone in blue and white cover ground at speed.

 

 

Next up Mardiola brings his all conquering Sheffield United.

 

They still have memories of the last time they came here in their minds and in the build up to the game they are mightily convinced that they will be doing the same again. However it's a stalemate and they can't break us down despite their revolutionary system (lol)  . They played into Wednesdays hands by upsetting their own rhythm and form by dropping McGoldrick (who later caused big problems when he came on) for Gary Madine.

 

This was classic Mardiola. He couldn't help himself could he but to put Madine in . He was so bothered about sticking it to the Wednesday faithful he put it before the team. He'd have loved Madine to score. But he shot himself in the foot. Madine largely just kept falling over and even his self styled hard man tag was put to bed when Liam Palmer laughed in his face when he tried to square up.  

Mardiola, who just months before when injury ravaged Wednesday got a point at the Stain, opined before the game that he would "Never celebrate a 0-0 like it was a win".

 

 

He then promptly marched to the Leppings lane end at the final whislte and erm, celebrated a 0-0 like it was a win.

Strange, strange  chap.

 

Lazaar picked up a strain, ironically done when he was running too fast, the type of injury that most Wednesday fans probably thought they'd never see again from one of their players and Liam Palmer was moved to left back. Surprisingly Palmer looked better at left back than he did at right back, enough in fact to persuade the manager that he might have a future there and offer him a new deal.

 

Lazaar. Quick. Too quick for his own hamstring!

 

Now settled, eventually, on his 4-4-2 Bruce's Wednesday started to pick up results and amazingly as the season motored on the tiniest chance that we might be able to make the play-offs suddenly registered on the radar.

 

The Play-Offs, is it really possible?

 

What the manager would start to refer to as our results improved as "A squeak" of a chance.

A draw with Derby and wins over Blackburn and Bolton saw a surge towards the pack. 

 

Did we dare to dream?

Wednesday went to Stoke and many hearts sank as Wednesday went with the front pairing of Forestieri and Hooper bringing horrible flash backs of our Toothless Wembley attack. Surely Bruce of all people would know this wouldn't work.  Another 0-0 provided back up to those fears and left  us frustratingly  3 points outside the top six.

Was this a fatal error of judgment? Or standard of a team that had struggled all year?

 

Wednesday faced Villa at home knowing that anything less than a win now would surely end all their hopes. Steven Fletcher was brought back in to partner Hooper. And it was Hooper, out injured for so long in his Wednesday career that ignited hopes bagging after just 7 minutes.

Could Wednesday do ?!?!

John McGinn levelled but Wednesday fought back. Barry Bannan with the bit between his teeth was having one of the games of his life...but then his hamstring twanged and he was off. Still Wednesday pressed and when the oaf Mings brought down Fletcher and we got a penalty and the whole of Hillsborough held it's breath....and Jed steer got down to it and saved.  Typical!

 

A point might be ok though we thought if other results go our way...then deep into injury time (92 and 94) Abraham and Adomah sank owls hearts.

92 and 94. Just remember that.

Because it's not just a recent thing...

 

 

We went to Forest not expecting anything and what happens. Marco Matias of all people suddenly springs to life and looks a player bagging two and being a constant threat with the pace that we all assumed he'd completely lost in his years in the Almen Abdi Suite.

 

 

So cruel is football. The faintest of glimmers of the play-offs was there. Like a train slowly pulling away...that stops briefly at a station Junction....giving you that little flutter in the chest that we could still catch it if we sprinted.

 3-0 The Wednesday. We're off on a gallop it's just in touching distance again.

 

Next to Elland Road. A defeat.  So typical. So many highs and lows in so short a period of time. Truth be told they were all over us like a cheap suit and Westwood kept the score down, but we were clinging in there. Nails bitten until Harrison made the breakthrough.

 

Bruce knew that was that  -: 

 

" We had a little glimmer. A little chance. A squeak. But we understand where we are at…but there's a big summer ahead. A lot to be done here if we're being honest" he conceded.

 

Typically after the Lord Mayors show we then beat Bristol City no problem and play out a 3-3 thriller with Preston.

The final game at QPR we lose in.... the 93rd minute.

(See, these late brain farts are nothing new and not all down to Monk)

 

So a season which promised nothing suddenly offered us hope, then delayed hope, then "a squeak" and ultimately, as so often is the case was little more than a bit of excitement followed by a frustrated dribble down the trouser leg.

 

But still. There were those glimmers.

 

The Summer

 

The biggest thread views on any forum always surround new signings. Any forum of any team , the whole of twitter , nothing gets people excited as much as the thought of new players. Nothing garners the attention or views like transfers. That said transfers don't often do anything when they arrive is by the by. Or buy the buy!  Look at the clamour for Rhodes! Look at the excitement. Folks were (DJ Mortimer, Gurujuan and yours truly excluded with one or two others) besides themselves at the prospect. But such is the excitement of the Transfer windows like smack heads we devoured every rumour. And there was plenty to get excited about.  This window we didn't mess about.

 

Bruce wasted no time. The old Crocs were rushed out the door. Well, as fast as you could expect them to go really with the myriad of injuries they had picked up whilst on the pay roll.  Matias, Abdi and Pudil were gone. The latter though with most peoples best wishes for some sterling displays during his early days and also for a terrific performance during the end of his stint as a stand in centre half in the 0-0 at the lane that many had feared would be a hammering.

Also out were the big earners Hooper, Boyd and £300,000 per week David Jones. ..

 

Bruce had got his backrooom team working tirelessly through the summer putting together a proper transfer strategy.  

In come Julian Börner , Moses Odubajo and Kadeem Harris.

 

No one had heard of Börner but some lads who play computer games tell us that he's 6 feet 1.  On first appearance he looks shorter but I think that's the way he wears his shorts and socks. Nevertheless it always seems to make it look more impressive when he beats someone to a header. Optical illusions isn't it. 

 

Odubajo is someone everyone has heard of and everyone seems to be glad we've signed. He was a menace against us when he played for Hull and such a threat at Wembley against Pudil that we ended up wasting our most creative spark-Bannan- on the left where he ended up playing as auxiliary full back helping out Pudil. But I promised I wouldn't mention that game and the tactical shoe-horn feck up again!

 

 

Harris comes from Cardiff and some people are initially sceptical that Warnock would ever do us a favour. Afterall, here's a man who persuaded David Pleat to part with £2.75m for Andy Booth. Which is probably about £5.2m these days. Gordon Bennett. Anyway..."He's been injured a long time" my nephew tells me "He's probably a crock". "We'll just have to wait and see" I tell him.  Though with our record for crocks I wouldn't be surprised if he was right.

 

Poor old Kadeem turns up at the door. Probably all set to go with his "Yeah I wanted to come here and as soon as I heard the gaffer wanted me.." When he  had to have a rehash of his script because The Boy Bruce isn't here. No, he's off "walking his Dog."

Walking it all the way to a Premier Inn in Newcastle by all accounts.

 

 

Aye. Just as we were all rubbing our hands together -"This is our year"  Fat Mike Ashley comes calling and ruins it all. Newcastle want the manager.  A cheap option manager. Ashley is reviled on Tyneside, and with good reason and he's looking to take some of the flak off himself, as all Chairman and owners do to some extent and has come to an conclusion that by getting in "one of our own".  It might appease the masses. It's been a classic trope down at Bramall Stain over the years. Appoint a manager who is a fan, it might buy a bit of time with the fan-base and they'll usually do the job for bugger all money and even if they fail it takes the blame away from the Chairmans door for a while.

 

And so it all kicks off.  Wednesday fans don't want him to go. Newcastle fans don't want him to arrive.

 

And Chansiri. Well, old Chansiri is not a happy bunny. And rightly so. He's waited for Bruce when Jos went.  He took some stick for not getting someone in straight away. Then he went for the fans choice. He gave the extra compassionate leave to make sure we got him, because the fans were so desperate for him. We were accommodating. And it was all done with a shake of the hand, because Brucie assured us he was an old school gent.  Chansiri must have been thinking he was getting used to the ways of the English game at last and then..BANG Bruce wants out.

'Hang on' thinks the Chairman, what about our agreement.  This is more than a contract. This was a gentlemen's agreement. "You can't talk to them, I refuse. You can honour our handshake. "

 So...Bruce quits.

 

"I had to go really," Bruce tells his mates in the National press leaks, "it's my boyhood club."  A trope that Wednesday fans are sick of hearing from their departed managers- The good ones at least.  Shades of Ron again isn't it. Why is it always us where they are housed when the boyhood club came calling. I wish I'd known Alan Irvines boyhood club. I'd have rung them myself.

 

Where was I?  This is taking longer than I had planned. 

I'll have to rush through a bit or we'll be here all night.

Oh yes. Bruce wanted to talk to Newcastle but Chansiri wouldn't let him….So Bruce quit…. but Chansiri didn’t let him quit ….but he went anyway….

 Fat Mike Ashley offered us a Sports Direct Mug and a £5 golf driver so Chansiri told him to cobblers…. but never the less. He vanished.

 

A terrifying prospect

 

The bookies wasted no time and had Zola installed as favourite for the Wednesday job causing 20,000 Wednesday fans  to have a mental breakdown...and hundreds pumped money on random names , including Rui Silva and Jesus H Christ and even me ,just to push Zolas name off  the top spot so that Chansiri wouldn't think he was who we wanted.

 

Then it was former Brighton man Chris Hughton as favourite….though some people thought it was Ray Houghton....and some people thought Hughton was Houghton....no one had a clue what was going on truth be told.

 

Then there was pre-season bombshell!  - there were no kiddies socks in the Megastore!! Absolute pandemonium!.

Hughton it was then reported turned us down... twice…maybe it was three times, who knows. Maybe we hadn't talked to him at all.

 

Gary Rowett became the new favourite but he said he hadn’t spoken to the club….  body language experts say he had spoken to the club because when he was interviewed on 5-live he kept “looking up and to the left”, which is apparently a classic and well known tell-tale sign of someone who is lying …However the body language experts seem to have forgotten to take into account that there are live-feed TV screens in the 5 live studio attached to the wall in the corner which means guests have to glance up and to the left if they want to keep an eye on the cricket scores..

 

 

.so he was lying or watching a sticky wicket..

Megson threw his hat in the ring for the job…..but as gaffer only,he didn't want   to play number 2 to Pulis @Simaniac Owl  threw his backing behind this and led chanting in the woods. 

 

Pulis had also  thrown his cap in the ring and nobody at all wanted him

 

Chansiri  was still raging at Snake-Bruce and announced he wanted £4m for him and then went on holiday to Disney land.

At home Bullen was once more in caretaker charge.  Jordan Rhodes surprised everyone by scoring goals again in pre-season friendlies but friendly goals (like Nuhiu taps-ins & headers)  don't count .

 

Norwich offered to take Rhodes permanently for ten bob , two pear drops and a toffo with a hair on it….Chansiri told them to get fecked. He really wasn't in the mood and his holiday was being ruined.

 

Newcastle then paid up for Bruce, it was 1,2,3, or 4 million depending who you believe…

 

Meanwhile there was more trouble as some of the fans didn’t get clapped in a friendly game which it was widely agreed meant  Bullen couldn't have the job if he wanted it because teams not clapping fans is the sign of a bad manager.

 

The fans were going berserk at this stage. They've lost the best manager they've had in years. Or at least, the best manager potentially we've had in years, we don't really know because he wasn't here long enough.

 

We then find out we've been in a soft embargo! What a soft embargo is, no one is really sure. Only that it delayed Kieran Lee getting an extension being announced by a month to fool the auditors.

 

Fernando gets banned by the authorities for being  allegedly racist over a year ago. Even though he's already been banned once and seen it thrown out of a law court.  Still, the authorities have to be seen to be doing something to confront the problem. What better way to make a statement than to ban a second division player for something no one heard iin a meaningless friendly.

 

A big statement from the suits! Not.

 

 

And so the season starts. No one had high hopes. There's a bit of an under the weather feeling as we take on Reading.

It's a slightly different looking Wednesday that come out onto the field. We're back in blue and white stripes for the first time in a long time.

 

Harris and Reach Flank Fletcher and Bannan and Lee line up in front of Sam Hutchinson as we saw them used in a way they should have been used 4 years ago when they were all young and full of beans.  Harris gets off to a flyer bagging a debut goal and Sam bags too.  The only slight dampener on the parade is when Westwood is sent off.

Wednesday eh. It's never simple.

 

 

Next up are the Dingles and in comes Jacob Murphy on loan from Newcastle. Some people are asking if we've got him as a favour from Bruce for allowing him to  take the other two Steves with him. Y'know, Agnew and the other one.

 

Murphy bags a debut strike too! His first touch. Gordon Bennett. Against all the odds Wednesday have won two out of two and are having their best start for many a year.  Of course, there's still unrest in the fanbase even if the players are enjoying themselves. Many can't get past Bullen being in charge and point to a defeat against Burton 3 years ago as firm evidence for a reason why.  Some say he's never been a manager yet. Other says neither had Bill Shankly until he was a manager.

 

Most though agreed that we needed a proper manager. Though no one can quite agree on what one of those is.  Apart from a user on here called "..." (Not to be confused with ",,," who's an argumentative joggger in the non football sections.) Anyway, "..." assures us all that he does know what a proper manager looks like, it looks like Gary Rowett and infact he knows for a fact it's Rowetts job and that we should all lump on and make a fortune. And many do. Lump on that is. Not make a fortune. Mostlose a fortune. 

 

We go to Millwall and lose.  We really don't like them do we.  We're actually looking good until they go down to ten men. Which is a cliché, but also true. We can't break them down .

 

We beat Luton and it actually gives us our best start in a season since we were promoted in 2012!

Plenty to be happy about. Especially as Bruce before the season had said this was a team which needed a lot of work.  

 

"We are only beating the teams below us!" says Lacoste-man to his son in front of me.  "Of course they're below us Grandad. We've just beaten them!" says the lad. Surprising not only his Grandfather with his quick and sensible appraisal but also me in wondering at what age Lacoste-man had his first child!

 

We go to Deepdale. Bloody Deepdale. It's a nice little Ground and Preston are a proper old club with a proper name. Preston North End. But in their modern incarnation they are bloody annoying. Niggly, sodding Darnell Fisher and sodding Pearson,  and we never get anything from them at theirs. Daniel Johnson, someone we should have had a sniff at when he left Villa, bags a double. And now panic is setting in.

 

We edge past Rotherham a theirs in the League Cup, or whatever the bloody hell they call it these days thanks to Big Atdhe in the 96th minute.

 

 

The next clamour is the boys from Lincoln.  They do things their own way. They have a history of promotion. They are young and hungry.  Funnily though the camp is split. Much like the Blunts were when Mardiola went there. Some wanted managers who'd cut their teeth lower down and earned their chance, others felt they weren't experienced enough for this level.   The Cowleys turned down an approach from Huddersfield. Many felt this was because they were waiting for Wednesday.

 

P.E teacher turned gaffer. Familiar tale round these parts

 

Whether they were or not...it didn't matter, because they soon ended up Huddersfield bound anyway. There was a suggestion they were always going there and knocked them back the first time and used Wednesday as leverage to get a better deal at Leeds Road. Or whatever their ground is called these days.

 

So the best start seven years....but there was panic. "Why isn't Chansiri f*cking doing anything!" said one particularly stressed out poster on here.  Well, chances are he was doing something, just because he didn't tell us who he was talking to didn't mean he wasn't talking to anyone. Maybe he didn't want to the press finding out. Maybe he didn't want gazumping by another club. 

 

In some ways you just can't win . Bizarre the idea that Chansiri was on sunning himself whilst the club had no manager.  It's funny how we had the patience to wait for the right man in Bruce...but ran out of patience when Chansiri wanted to make sure he got the right man the second time around isn't it.

 

 Perhaps he was asking all the candidates who their boyhood clubs were.

 

After some time though Garry Monk was announced!

 

At the press conference the Owner looked absolutely cream crackered. He'd jetted half the way around the globe about 4 times in a week and it had clearly caught up with him.

 

Some said it was the look of a man who was annoyed with football and desperate to sell the club. People will find a story where there is none.  I find it tiring doing the long stint to Cornwall for my hols, and I'm not evening driving. God knows how lagged the owner was. He looked worn out bless him.

 

He did rouse himself briefly from his slumber though to tell the assembled masses that the aim was promotion. To the clear shock of a wide eyed and astonished Garry Monk!

 

Monk was realistic , much to the early upset of some fans when he placed Wednesday in a group of

 

"13 or 14 clubs that would want to have a pop at promotion."

 

Balance rather than bollockings he insisted was the way he worked....

 

Quote

 

"The word I always use when I walk into a changing room, especially at half-time, is balance. When I'm angry my players know it, but you don't have to go absolutely mental. If I spend five or six of my ten minutes just bollocking someone, I haven't really helped him, or the group. If I've gone nuts, I haven't given him the information to make him better.

Put yourself in his position. Number one, you probably don't know what you've done wrong. Number two, you probably don't know how to correct it. Number three, you go out there, p****d off. You'll probably end up trying harder, but still making the same mistakes.

It's far better for me, as manager, to concentrate on the next half. I give them three points defensively, three points offensively, as a group, so they have clear information. What's done is done at that point. I can show them what was wrong the next day in the post-match reflections. That's when accountability kicks in, because there's no hiding place."

 

I want players with game intelligence. Weed out the the ones who can't think. They stand out like a sore thumb in the sort of training we do.

You're doing a passing and movement drill, a shooting drill, or whatever, and you see the ones that get it straight away; bang, and they're into it.

They're the thinkers. I need more of them."

Garry Monk

 

 

 

Monk gets off to a flyer against Hudddersfield who have appointed the Cowley brothers.  The result has no bearing on how successful either man will be at their clubs. But fans like to think the result means we go the right man. We are a funny lot.  Monk starts with a 4-2-3-1 but makes subs and finishes the game 4-4-2 with Winnall coming from the bench to score.

 

He performs the same trick at Fulham, keeping things tight as possible against their top attacking line of Knockheart, Mitrovic and Calalerio before sending on a striker at the end as opposition legs tire and getting a 1-1.

 

"He certainly know how to use his subs" says one thread.  Ironically 15 games later his subs would be getting pointed out as his weakness.  

 

Quickly though, bearing in mind Monk is just 3 league games into his tenure others though are already tiring of the defensive-first football he has brought.

 

 Monk responds and says that whilst it's all well and good wanting to get the ball down and play and have a fluidity, controlling midfield and making nice passes, it doesn't mean anything if you haven't got the players to really do it.

 

 

 "Of course, I want us to play good attacking football. But you also have to play to your strengths. To your players strengths. In the long term of course you have a way you want to play, attractive possession football  but in the short term to ensure you get to the long term then you have to get results by getting the best from the players you have. A platform. That's football.

Garry Monk

 

Almost to emphasis the point Monk plays Fletcher and Nuhiu up front in the next game. One has to wonder if to prove a point to the moaning mob about who the gaffer is.  I suspect he does have that side to his personality.

 

Doom was asking why Fernando wasn't playing. Monk played it with a straight bat. He's getting himself fully fit. There's no point until you are fully fit. We don't want people breaking down.

 

We lose by the odd goal at Hull having largely been the better side and Monk rages about a penalty decision. It won't be the last time.

 

We beat Wigan and Stoke, and would have beaten Cardiff with Borners first goal for the clubs had Lee Tomlin not kicked Luongo and somehow been awarded the free kick. The absolute cheatingbastard.  The standard of refereeing. FFS .

 

We also played out a thrilling 0-0 with L**ds United. Is there such thing as a thrilling 0-0? I think so. I think this was one. Again unlucky not to win. It was a battle of the goakeepers with Kiko Casilla performing heroics and Westwood rolling back the years with a magnificent save when it looks like poncy striker Bamford and stolen the points.

 

 

The late late show

 

Then came the start of it. The late goals. How and why no one knows.  It happened too in a run under Bruce. What brings it on is open for debate. Confidence? Mentality? Mental Stamina?

What ever the reason it started at Blackburn as we turned victory to defeat in 3 short minutes.  (88+91)

 

Next up Swnasea at Hillsborough and it looked to all the world like we were back to winning ways when Morgan Fox fired home in the 91st minute.  Only for them to level in the 94th!

 

 

Against West Brom it's 88 minutes again when the game is lost.  Ok, it's fair to say that when you look at the team sheets, it's probably not the Swansea and West Brom games that you are expecting to win. It's the teams round about you.  But it sure as hell is frustrating when the lads are working their socks off , doing really well, one might even say performing above expectations for the sum of their parts. And to then let it slip away at the death.

Cant they for once defend for the full bloody game! I can feel a migraine coming on

 

We beat Charlton and Brentford.  Steven Fletcher is in the form of his life and looks to be on course to beat his season best record of 14 goals.  He is really enjoying life under the new manager.

 

 

"He's been brilliant. Everyone likes the way he is. He works on absolutely everything; everything!  Things I would never have thought about working on. He does sessions himself, doesnt leave any stone unturned. Hes in all day! It has been really good and I am really enjoying working with him"

Steven Fletcher 

 

We get a point at Derby when they steal a penalty when their man fouls Odubajo. Which sends me into a rage as it reminds me of Tomlins bought free kick for Cardiff.  These cheating swines are getting away with it week in and week out.  We need some of these cheating lobbers on our books to help us steal points we don't deserve!

 

We batter Forest and Jordan Rhodes bags a perfect hat-trick.  I check outside the window to make sure there isn't a TARDIS on the lawn because

I genuinely thought I'd never see the day

 

.

 

"If he can have the effect on Rhodes he's had on Fletcher then....then...kin hell this could be it. Goal-a-geddon!"

 

Sadly though Fletcher got the flu. And I mean the proper flu. Not a bit of a cold that you can snot out and be all right with 2 swigs of Benylin to every Christmas pint.

 

Without him we looked toothless.  Rhodes looked a shadow again.  The truth is.  Rhodes, Winnall, Nuhiu. They all look better with Fletch. But with each other.... they don't look partnerships.

 

Perhaps with this in mind and with the the ball coming back too time after time against Stoke and Bristol (where we actually had a bit of fortune with a penalty for once) Monk opted to go for the 4-5-1 cum 4-3-3 for Cardiff. The system he used early in his rein to tighten things up when we were nicking points.  It didn't work as we conceded two early goals.

 

Disappointment all around. But at least they weren't in the 93rd and 97th minute like against Stoke! 

Better to get that sinking feeling out the way early doors eh, then look forward to trying a fightback than the nerves of clinging on and losing!

 

Monk out! Eh?

We're now at the stage 19 games in where despite having an average squad in the play-off spots, Monks every decision is being questioned selection, tactics, subs, everything,  and already one or two are sticking their heads above the parapets to have a pop and say they want him sacked.

 

I do wonder how much thought is given to the fact it is these same players that were conceding late goals under Bruce by these people who want him gone. Those players will still be here. He hasn't signed anyone yet.

 

As I said yesterday , whether he's the right man or not he cannot be judged this soon. A man who no pre season and in terms of recruitment is still having to wear a hand-me down Ill fitting suit. 

 

Let's see what he does when he can cut his own cloth rather than hammering his choice of moth bitten sock. Dare I say lets look down the road and see what a hungry young English manager can do when given time to put his own stamp on things.

 

We can't sit here saying "Nuhiu, Fox, Rhodes, Winnall and Palmer are all terrible players and not good enough for what we want."

And then mump that the manager hasn't got those players in the top two!

 

The man will never win when people can't see the irony in what they are saying.

 

However there is some sense and as @frastheowl showed in his excellent analysis Monk is actually doing better than Bruce. And everyone was in uproar when Bruce left!

 

Agnew/Bruce

Played - 21

Won - 12

Drew - 2

Lost - 7

xG For - 25

xG Against - 21

xG Points - 38

xG Points/Game - 1.8

 

 

Monk

Played - 19

Won - 11

Drew - 5

Lost - 3

xG For - 27

xG Against - 23

xG Points - 38

xG Points/Game - 2

 

-----------------------------

 

Lets give him a chance chaps. Lets have some normalcy around the place for a while.

We'll back him till he leaves. That's all we can do.

Starting tomorrow with Hull. We're all in it together. 

Come on what do you say?

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

UP THE OWLS

 

=======================================================

 

Wednesday -V- Hull City

 

Wednesday 1st January 2020!!!

15.00PM: Kick off

Hillsborough

 

=======================================================

 

TEAM NEWS

 

Sheffield Wednesday could again be without leading scorer Steven Fletcher for the visit of Hull City.

Fletcher has resumed training after being hit with a virus, and there are also doubts over Massimo Luongo after suffering a head knock on Boxing Day.

 

 

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

---------Possible------- 

Dawson

Iorfa    Lees    Borner     Fox

Reach  Hutchinson   Bannan Harris 

Rhodes  Winnall

 

========================================

 

Hull bring in Brandon Fleming or Eric Lichaj as there are hamstring injuries for Callum Elder and Stephen Kingsley.

Elder went off in the the loss to Nottingham Forest, with Kingsley doing the same against QPR three days later.

 

 

HULL CITY

---------Possible------- 

Long

Lichaj Burke De Wijs Fleming

Irvine    Leonardo

Lopes    Honeyman, Grosicki

Bowen

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Match facts

 

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost their past two league games against Hull City.

 

• Hull are looking to complete a league double over Sheffield Wednesday for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

 

• This will be the first New Year's Day meeting between Sheffield Wednesday and Hull since 2007, when the Tigers won 2-1 at Hillsborough.

 

• Hull have won three of their past four league matches on New Year's Day, including a 6-0 win over Bolton in 2019.

 

• Wednesday have not won their first league game of a calendar year since 2016 against Fulham, drawing two and losing one since.

 

• Owls boss Garry Monk has not beaten Hull in any of his last three league matches. He has lost the last two without seeing his side
• score.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

COME ON WEDNESDAY!

 

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Maddogbob

[Holmowl]

Brilliant.

 

If Ive a criticism it’s that it’s too short. 
 

Well done mate and a huge thank you for all the wonderful fun and insights throughout 2019.

 

Best wishes for the next one.

[Lord Snooty]

5 minutes ago, Holmowl said:

Brilliant.

 

If Ive a criticism it’s that it’s too short. 
 

Well done mate and a huge thank you for all the wonderful fun and insights throughout 2019.

 

Best wishes for the next one.

 

Left it all a bit late corky, I'm out for a few sherbets soon!

[Holmowl]

Just now, Lord Snooty said:

 

Left it all a bit late corky, I'm out for a few sherbets soon!

Iwas joking! Took me flippin ages to read it. But read it I did, and it’s great.

[Lord Snooty]

5 minutes ago, Holmowl said:

Iwas joking! Took me flippin ages to read it. But read it I did, and it’s great.

 

You always remember things after you have posted that you could have put in, but that's always the way!!

He gist is there anyway!

[Drewswfc]

Glad you got it done early Snoots wouldn't have fancied reading that lot tonight... Off to get leathered now. All the best everyone

[Tommycraign10others]

Great reflection toon on the last year. Interesting to remember the views of Bruce, that it was going to be a big summer and that there was a lot to be done.  Despite carrying little or none of that out the squad was passed onto Garry Monk, who is now being criticised for getting them into the play offs. 
Hopefully he will be ale to get some wheeling and dealing done in January and demonstrate how capable he is. 

[Hookowl]

47 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

 

 

Meanwhile there was more trouble as some of the fans didn’t get clapped in a friendly game which it was widely agreed meant  Bullen couldn't have the job if he wanted it because teams not clapping fans is the sign of a bad manager.

 

 

 

[Luke]

Please no one quote that 

[Rev Owl]

Thanks MiLord.

Quality and v.funny.

Perspective is something Owlstalk struggles with.

Hope you enjoy tonight's roister.

I've predicted two defeats for the last two games so I'm keeping my thoughts to myself this time.

UTO

[areNOTwhatTHEYseem]

7 minutes ago, WelshOwl74 said:

Please no one quote that 

 

Quote it?

 

No bugger's going to read it!

 

[Ian_D]

Stopped reading at "A year ago"

Soz but don't have the attention span 

 

[Turkey Owl]

Couldn’t fault that. Great read (apart from kick off time). Thanks for entertaining us all during 2019. 

[Doghouse Daz]

Outstanding persiflage milord. New Year, new dawn. Another injection of Monkspunk into the squad, and we're all set for the promotion revival. 

 

I'll take nowt less than a 6 - 0 mullering of Hull tomorrow, to settle mi angst. 

 

Fletch, Harris, Rhodes and a Reach hat trick to put us back on track. 

 

COME ON YOU BLUE AND WHITE WIZARDS !!! 

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

Nice one M’Lud 

Happy new year to Owls everywhere!

[antof]

Happy new year everyone.

[Nero]

Great stuff. 

I reckon Mardiola reads this and is on owlstalk all the time.

[Guest Ferkorf]

Happy new year everyone!

3-0 Wednesday win

[TommyCraig]

Fantastic OMDTs this year @Lord Snooty really adds to the match days and wouldn't be the same without it. Many thanks for your hard work. I've got the grandson tonight so although attending a party at the famous Jubilee club, I will not be able to imbibe more than a couple of pints of the golden throat charmer. I need to have my wits about me when the little blighter is in my care. We'll have a great time regardless and would both like to wish you and all Wednesday supporters all the best for the New Year. May it bring you health, wealth and happiness and more importantly success for our beloved Owls.

Happy New Year.

[nevthelodgemoorowl]

Brilliant summation Snoots. At last we finally get to wipe our arses on the reams of paper that logged the last disappointing decade.

 

Who knows what will happen tomorrow but tomorrow is the beginning of a new decade, there is no more paper to wipe our arses on. Results are often imposters we must begin to build our own future and shape our own destiny; In the market, In the courts with our Rag and Tag Council, the E F L. But most of all on the Pitch !  

 

COME ON WEDNESDAY TURN THE KIN CORNER FFS WAWAW !