How Sheffield Wednesday's performance can prevent a repeat post-Manchester City slump

Frank Lampard attempts to breach the Owls' back line

It was heartbreak of a different kind this time out as the Owls lost 2-1 at City despite a resolute defensive display. The blue and white half of Sheffield had a Wednesday to forget in September, humbled 7-0 by rampant champions Manchester City mid-week in the Capital One cup. A promising start to the season typified by excellent away form and a mean defence had inflated the tyres as the Owls navigated the ever bumpy road of Championship football.

But the Man City mauling proved to be a decisive moment in the season. Despite the fact few expected Wednesday to win the tie, not least as manager Stuart Gray fielded a weakened team, its significance as a turning point in the season cannot be underestimated. 

After the game, Wednesday failed to win any of their subsequent 10 games with four nil-nil draws summing up an alarming lack of guile, luck and bite up front this term. However, the stodgy run (and a pre-Christmas 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Fulham) was put behind them with back-to-back league wins over the festive period. The S6 team now sit in 10th, our highest league position at this stage since 2000.

This time out it was a remarkably positive performance at the Etihad in front of 44,300 fans. Against a Man City side of good strength and with a stronger line-up ourselves, the men in yellow acquitted themselves well with strike partners Stevie May and Atdhe Nuhiu holding the ball up and the likes of Semedo, Palmer and Loovens working hard to keep their big money opponents quiet for the first 60 minutes. 

The performance will lift the profile of a number of our players and, despite the sucker—punch of James Milner's brace, give heart to an Owls side who ultimately aspire to become City's Premier League peers.

So can Wednesday avoid a re-run of the grim form which followed their last trip to Eastlands as they enter the second half of the season? The first priority, which Gray will surely look to attend to in the transfer window, is a lack of goals. Wednesday have scored three times in the league on just one occasion this season - the 3-2 win at Middlesborough in August - and their strike force of Stevie May and Atdhe Nuhiu have mustered just nine league goals between them. May has won fans' hearts with his work ethic since arriving from St Johnstone, often appearing unlucky, however a lack of composure often appears the problem. 

The giant Nuhiu offers little pace and an excuse for midfielders to simply lump the ball at him but an unusually outstanding performance today and the winner at Wigan will doubtless encourage Gray to stick with him. A glance at their peers - Daryl Murphy at Ipswich, Chris Martin at Derby and even former Owl Michail Antonio at Forest reveal calm finishing in frenetic games is the key to bagging goals in the Championship.

Meanwhile, Gary Taylor-Fletcher's baffling month-long loan failed to yield any goals and Gary Madine's loan spell at Coventry has been extended, with his chequered career at Wednesday looking doomed. Maguire and Lavery, both introduced as subs today, also need to show more determination in front of goal.

So what can Gray do on a tight budget with 20-goal strikers hard to come by as he aims to retain the fine balance the Owls have found at the back? A more sophisticated look to the midfield would certainly help. The likely retention of Watford midfielder Lewis McGugan on loan could well prove a smart move, he has looked bright in his seven appearances so far and adds pace in the middle of the pitch not offered by the likes of Kieran Lee. 

What's more the return of Chelsea loanee and defender/midfielder Sam Hutchinson could further boost Wednesday's abilities. He has looked assured on the ball and able to find space with deft passes in his four outings this season. Behind him, keeping goalkeeper Keiren Westwood - who has been astonishingly good this campaign - will be Gray's priority and the Irishman has already snubbed a move to Liverpool in favour of first team football at Hillsborough. However, the fact he didn't play today suggests Gray was mindful of him being cup tied and detracting a potential suitor.

So I expect hanging on to the solid back line he has assembled and looking to add finesse further forward to be top of Gray's agenda this January. Whether he can do that will decide whether today's match at Eastlands will be viewed as a valiant performance or the start of another puncture to the team's confidence.

Sheffield Wednesday's thrashing by Manchester City lays bare the task in hand

The last time the Owls took on Manchester City at home, I had a splitting earache. This time round, it was more of a headache as I sat in the pub as the goals racked up. 

The pain of watching underwhelming former England forward Darius Vassell score the winner in that particular 2007 FA Cup tie was only outmuscled by the vice-twisting pain in my right ear watching the match in my uncle Len's living room. 

A quick glance back at the highlights does little to make the memories happier. A relatively strong Owls side who have not been surpassed in terms of league position by following squads in the intervening seven years attempted valiantly to stave off Stuart Pearce's Manchester City with a team consisting of Joey Barton and Steven Ireland alongside the hapless Vassell. 

But if the years between the two ties have been defined by success (City's clutch of trophies, star players and two league titles) and lack of it (the Owls endured another stint in League One since), then tonight's match can be seen as immaterial.

The Blue and White Wizards entered the game in fine form, with defensive fortitude ironically proving the bedrock of a side who have calmly and rightfully taken up sixth position in the league unexpectedly this season. 

Whilst few of the #WAWAW ('We're all Wednesday aren't we?') chanting faithful harbour serious confidence a promotion push is possible despite the Owls' lofty position, there's still plenty of the emotion carried in the name of Everton loanee Hallam Hope. Even a failed takeover by Azerbaijani businessman Hafiz Mammadov, which collapsed after a long summer earlier this month, has failed to dampen spirits around S6.

But tonight's game proved that dreams of promotion need to be tempered. The realities of the modern game mean that, without investment, the Owls cannot expect to compete with a team that were so long their counterparts in near-achievement. Not least as boss Stuart Gray fielded a weakened team against their big money opponents.

Wednesday proved resolute and confident at times in the first half against the holders. A defensive line up led by lone striker Gary Madine valiantly fought off a Sky Blues team featuring several players who appeared in this summer's World Cup including Edin Dzeko and Frank Lampard. 

And it was Lampard, fresh from bashfully sticking a knife into Chelsea hearts at the weekend, who clipped the Owls' wings, slotting home from James Milner's cross just after half time.

There was, predictably, only one winner after the Romford boy's finish as Man City showed their class. Kamil Zayatte's sending off aided the inevitable and Lampard's rounding off of the victory summed up a night which said a lot about the last 15 years for Wednesday.

The margin of the eventual victory may have punctured the Hillsborough team, who have undoubtedly been looking forward to this glamour tie, but it's irrelevance must be noted. Wednesday's league position both now and at the end if the season will dictate whether a buyer - and thus a future - can be carved out for the much-patronised 'sleeping giant'. 

A flashy win against globally recognised opponents fielding a strong side would have been nice, but not essential in attracting the kind of overseas investors we need. Chairman Milan Mandarić this week claimed he turned down a multi-million offer for an Owls player in the transfer window, but he needs to stick or twist in deciding whether to invest in the Owls or ship out quickly. Could this be the decisive season in Wednesday's rudderless recent past? 

The evolution of live blogging on football

Live blogging on football matches has become an established medium over the last decade as fans’ desire to access the latest updates on games and improvements in technology across platforms has driven an increase in its use. But competition is hotting up as new providers with innovative features square up; Alex Lawson takes a look at the tactic.

“1635: This match is petering out for a nil-nil, looks like the players, too, indulged in the half time steak and kidney pies. There’s not a hint of invention as both teams look content to take a point home.

“1637: GOAL! Fantastic strike from the left winger after a jinking run skinning four defenders and arrowing it into the top right hand corner. Astonishing.”

Such is the life of a live blogger, one minute attempting to make a quip about a paint-drying type scenario, the next describing incredible scenes at lightning pace. The discipline is a difficult one but represents one of the true innovations in modern journalism. While live blogging is now used to cover everything from court cases to elections, it was in sport that it found a mainstream audience as its structure suited the technique well.

BBC Sport online was among the first to offer the service as users logged on to keep abreast of the action at the cricket over-by-over. The broadcaster harnessed Radio 4′s Test Match Special’s colloquial, informal commentary style and passion for talking about unrelated oddities alongside the match in its text coverage. This tone continues to be the prevailing style employed by live bloggers.

Some of its journalists, including tennis coverage’s Caroline Cheese and live football boss Andy McKenzie, have gone on to form LiveWire Sport – a live blogging specialist set up in August 2011 which has covered major events including the Olympics, Euro 2012 and the Ryder Cup.

McKenzie tells FootyMatters.com the discipline has evolved significantly. “Live blogging has come a long way in the past decade when there weren’t too many media organisations covering the major events other than the likes of the BBC, the Guardian and Cricinfo,” he said. “If you look back to when England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 the clockwatch, as they were called at the Beeb, was very different to what they are now: no pictures, no video, no interaction, no live stats, no pre-match build-up or post-match reaction or analysis. No personality, just a pretty dry description of the action. Looking back now they seem about as exciting as watching a clock.”

McKenzie adds that faster connections, increasing use of mobile and the growth of social media have spurred on the development of live coverage of sporting events. But if the market was dominated by several players initially, businesses like LiveWire are rolling up their sleeves for a fight now as new services launch. Cover It Live offers users several distinctive features including question and answer sessions and photo slideshows while US firm Scribble Live works with global giants including ESPN and CNN to deliver a similar service. Sports Mole, too, offers a rudimentary version of the service while Deltatre’s Diva service, aimed at TV rights holders, has introduced multiscreen video highlights. 

And then there’s Liveplayer. Introduced at the start of this season, Liveplayer is a product developed by digital marketing agency Aqueduct in partnership with LiveWire Sport to allow clubs to embed a live match centre feature on their websites. Aqueduct, which already had a strong relationship with Manchester City, launched the service with the Premier League title contenders this season.

In essence it offers the kind of live blogging service the BBC and national press sites currently offer – esoteric commentary complemented by quotes and tweets. However, Liveplayer’s offer adds a number of new features including player heat maps, manager’s programme notes and integration of local radio coverage.

The service is also designed for different missions – with one tab offering the basic facts of the match for those scanning on the move and another offering detailed commentary and highlights from social media. “The social media side of the match is of course important, and our research indicates this is especially so for younger fans,” says Aqueduct strategist Robert Quantrell. “Manchester City have used this research to increase the level of social media activation within the Liveplayer commentary stream, using image tweets, fan tweets and Instagram and Vine videos to provide alternative content sources for their fans.”

Quantrell says that adding a live match centre to their site can also help clubs connect with fans, creating a ‘digital stadium’ for those following the game remotely across the globe. “Innovation in social is key, of course, but being better than your competitors in the live matchday experience you offer to fans who can’t be at the game is, we think, an invaluable string to any football club’s bow,” he says.

The next steps taken in live blogging on football are likely to be significant ones. Quantrell believes multi-screening is likely to be key while online TV rights to matches could also shape its future. “The question is how we can fit in with a club or federation’s plans to use these rights, whether they choose to screen them behind a subscription paywall, registration wall, or by keeping the content free and exploiting sponsorship and advertising opportunities.”

BT Sport’s power play in inking its £897m deal to show the Champions League from 2015 may also drive this forward as the telecoms giant has experience in live blogging and screening matches online. McKenzie believes live sports blogging is on the cusp of a new era. “I think you’ll see things developing now that most broadcasters, clubs, governing bodies and even sponsors and brands are seeing the benefits of covering events live in terms of the huge audiences it can drive, the increased dwell times and engagement,” he says.

“Some of the things we’re working on are better integration with not just video, stats and social but also the possibilities with gaming and betting and how to maximise revenue from those audiences.”

The coverage of live matches online has developed rapidly from bland minute- by-minute descriptions of the action to interactive hubs for entertaining information often not even related to the game and shaping online communities in the last decade. As users habits continue to change rapidly, it appears likely the demand to feel like you’re at the match with the rest of the globe quipping in your ear will ratchet up significantly.

Article originally appeared on FootyMatters.com

Review: Running with the Firm by James Bannon

You could be mistaken for thinking James Bannon's new firsthand account was yet another hooligan biography, giving graphic detail of a thug's adventures in and around football matches. However, beneath the menacing cover lies a much more intriguing tale of an undercover police officer who, as part of a team of four, infiltrated Milwall's notorious 'Bushwackers' firm in the late 1980s. 

The story itself has already been documented by 1995 film I.D, a brutal re-imagining covering an unidentified firm and anonymous club. However, Bannon's decision to break his twenty-year silence gives a fresh immediacy to this book. 

We follow Bannon as he quickly makes friends with some of The Lions' 'top boys' posing as a painter and decorator from Wandsworth named 'Jim'. The operation gives a fascinating glimpse into police tactics at the time, with some clubs - including Manchester City - afforded whole undercover squads with high tech surveillance systems to catch hooligans. 
It is Jim's transition from high flying young copper to Milwall hardman which is perhaps most engaging. 

We follow him as he struggles with his new identity and his guilt over the enjoyment he gets adrenaline of the violence and potentially stitching up his mates. There are also questions over whether he is following or leading the violence which are never quite addressed. 

Elsewhere the account features a love dilemma, Bannon's unlikely continuing support of Milwall to this day and plenty of worries over getting discovered. We also get humour, most notably when Jim and several other hardmen attempt to stake out a chemist's using cans of hairspray.

His potential discovery provides the momentum through the book however given his status in being able to write it the suspense is limited.

There are other problems too. The relentless chronology of the piece - including what time he gets to work each day and what drinks he had - become waring and perhaps hint there was not enough material to create a truly compelling piece of work. 

The story ark, being a work of non-fiction, is excusably a little disappointing with little real climax to key issues. Perhaps what is really lacking is the football. A few references to Sheringham here and there don't really give the flavour of supporting the club and, while clearly not the point of the piece, more colour around the atmosphere in a crowd as the team was promoted to the first division would've been welcome. 

Moreover, Bannon is often critical of senior management decisions but makes no comment on the historical context of the operation at the height of 1980s hooliganism and a year before the Hillsborough disaster in which the police's role remains under scrutiny. 

Running with the Firm is an entertaining and interesting first-hand account of a key point in British football history. The violence at Milwall's FA Cup semi-final against Wigan at Wembley in April showed how unfortunately prescient Bannon's story is but more context and commentary on this could have lifted this to the next level.

James Bannon explains his operation and actions

Article originally appeared on Footymatters.com