Sheffield Wednesday: 2014-15 season in review

On the pitch 

There's been few seasons which have not ended in shredded nerves over the last decade, but this was one such. In fact, not since the 2007-08 Championship campaign have the Owls truly not challenged for promotion or fought to stave off relegation in the closing weeks. However, head coach Stuart Gray will be pleased to have seemingly consolidated the Owls' position in the second tier and shown signs they can challenge wealthier rivals, albeit falling away after early promise amongst the play-off contenders. This season's iteration of the Blue and White Wizards have been far more defensively resolute than previous incarnations, thanks largely to super-keeper Keiren Westwood and it will be intriguing to see if Gray continues to focus on a mean defence (the Owls finished 13th with -6 goal difference, above Forest who had +2). 

The owner
Sheffield expects. When Dejphon Chansiri bought the club in January, the expectation that the Thai seafood tycoon, inspired to take an interest in football by his son, would splash the cash was clear. With the first full transfer window under his stewardship opening in July, the trio at the top of the club - Gray and new recruits and Glenn Roeder and Adam Pearson - will be looking to strengthen. A relatively light-weight midfield and an inconsistent attack will doubtless be at the top of their list of problems. For Chansiri, this will be the first test of how willing he is to put money where his mouth is to achieve his bold target of bringing Premier League football back to S6 by 2017.

The manager
A mid-season fan campaign to force Stuart Gray out of a job after a cluster of lacklustre performances, not least at home, could easily have succeeded. With a new owner in, the man in the blue sportswear looked fairly likely to be shown the door. However, with Roeder and Pearson alongside him, there appears to be a recognition that Gray is a good man manager and a move to a more collegiate recruitment approach - with Chansiri's cash behind them - could well prove a canny move. I have my doubts about Roeder, given his patchy management record, but contacts in the upper echelons of the game are vital for Championship teams to nab nifty loan deals.

The players
Gray would have hoped to have named a more settled team through the season than he was able to. A combination of injury and form meant chopping and changing was the order of the season. A strong defence has been undermined by a midfield - with the exception of fan favourite Keiran Lee - that has lacked resolved, whether from the inconsistent Lewis McGugan or Jacques Maghoma, who needs to rediscover his finishing after bagging 26 goals in his four-year stint at Burton Albion. Up top, Stevie May has failed to delight. His record in Scotland made him an attractive signing, and his industry is an asset, but what looked at first like bad luck has spiralled into a host of missed chances. The £800,000 signing needs to be replaced with proven Championship quality. Alongside him Atdhe Nuhiu has probably done enough - not least through his dramatic party-pooping equaliser at Watford - to retain a starting position, although his lack of pace is a continual frustration and leaves Wednesday lacking when compared to the strike forces of Blackburn, Ipswich and Brentford this season. 

Player of the season
No contest. Westwood's form - which landed him in the Championship Team of the Year - will doubtless have caught the eye of bigger fish. If the Owls can hang on to the Irishman, and keep Chris Kirkland happy as understudy, then the defensive solidity his wonder stops have provided will prove the bedrock for development. The magnitude of those saves - worth around 15 points no doubt - cannot be underestimated. 

Moment of the season 
The turnaround at Rotherham, in which Wednesday turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win with the help of Lee, ranks among the great last gasp wins thanks to an enormous seven minutes injury time. Nuhiu's sharp finish at the Etihad in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester City comes a close second. 

New teams in prospect

With a new season, will come some interesting away games. Sunderland or Aston Villa could potentially fall out of the Premier League, so a trip to the Stadium of Light or Villa Park could provide tasty fixtures, as well as QPR and Burnley who could make swift returns to the division. At the other end, a return to Bristol City's Ashton Gate will provide Owls fans with happy memories of numerous victories although MK Dons' soulless Stadium MK is a less appealing prospect. Naturally, the Blades play-off challenge will be watched keenly by their neighbours and a Steel City derby for the first time since 2011-12 could be on the cards. 

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.

London Sports Writing Festival: Football journalism, with a brain

Football is a simple game. In fact, it's one of the few games where everywhere you go in the world, it's played with the same few rules and garners almost the same level of popularity. But that doesn't mean it can't be complex, and analysed if that's what you want. 

Last night's The Blizzard panel discussion at the excellent London Sports Writing Festival, took place at the home of cricket, Lords. Chaired by the Football Ramble's always funny everyman host Marcus Speller, it featured France Football magazine's Philippe Auclair, freelancer Miguel Delaney and Blizzard founder Jonathan Wilson. The Blizzard is a magazine/book which features long-form writing on football history and the modern game. Its deliciously printed pages are a hive of long-forgotten detail and emotional responses to football.

The esteemed panel essentially spent an hour answering a variety of rather disparate questions from Speller and the audience whilst consuming red wine. Subjects ranged from their favourite Roy Keane anecdote (Auclair's recollection of the fierce Irishman backstage at the festival switching over from El Clasico raised a laugh) to pontifications on the imminent future of the Africa Cup of Nations amid the ebola crisis. Wilson, who writes for the Guardian, appears on its ever-glorious Football Weekly podcast, and has authored some of the best football books in recent years, was in fine form.

Watching him discuss the evolution of tactics - the subject with which he is most associated - and how different managers adapt and introduce their ethos is impressive. Wilson moulds his off-the-cuff knowledge of a mind-blowing array of facts with a genuine love of the beautiful game. Listening to him, alongside the likes of Barney Ronay, Amy Lawrence, Barry Glendenning and host of others on the podcast, there's a benchmark for football journalism which is, and should be, widely recognised. Special mention should also be given to the BBC's Tim Vickery, one of Auntie Beeb's biggest talents whose status as the UK's foremost South American sports journalist was laid bare during the World Cup this summer. 

Clearly many see beard-scratching pontification over tactics or unknown lower league European players as the domain of the football hipster - those keen to look cool by knowing about different things than the average bloke down the pub. 

But for me, football is as much about the stories behind the game - the people, the politics, the decisions and the history - as what happens on the pitch. So much football journalism is a simply '[INSERT NAME] player said [INSERT BANAL COMMENT] about [INSERT FORTHCOMING WEEKEND FIXTURE]'. 

As a journalist, I understand how pages are filled in this way but I think it's condescending to increasingly well informed football fans to assume they just want to read platitudinous comments, match previews and reports. As with the banal, ex-player pundits who stalk our TV football coverage, there's no reason to assume we can't handle intelligent, genuine analysis. This week I blindly enjoyed a lively 0-0 away draw for Sheffield Wednesday at Brentford which gave me the opportunity to sing, shout and jump up and down, the following night I marvelled at Real Madrid's tactics in putting Liverpool to the sword. 

Wilson, Auclair, Delaney and Speller created an hour-long reminder that journalism is about informing people and football, at its heart, is about taking what you want from a simple game. 

Sheffield Wednesday's Yorkshire derby draw at Leeds highlights the Blades' absence

There was plenty of blood and thunder to be found on the pitch in this Yorkshire derby, it's just a shame it wasn't happening in south, rather than west Yorkshire. 

For all the excitement of a fiery game which could have gone either way, a feeling that this is a secondary sideshow to the main event of yesteryear couldn't help but prevail. 



Perhaps it's because my dad is a Sheffield United fan so it adds extra spice in our house.

A average-sized faithful of 1,300 Owls fans travelled to Elland Road - with many put off by the early kick-off, the fact it was on telly and, crucially, the obscene 45 quid ticket demands - and were in fine voice. Plenty of back-and-forth between the fans, shots of angry managers and crunching challenges definitely gave this the feeling of a derby, particularly in the second half, but the empty seats and consigned nature of the players at the end belied a game which just wasn't against the Blades.

But the game itself was an entertaining affair. A bright start from the Owls was backed up by their usual defensive resolution - playing the offside trap beautifully as the partnership of Loovens and Lees continues to mature, albeit with some frailties. Keiren Westwood behind them - later named Man of the Match - was again in fine form showing great agility and was modest in saying the final result was a “fair reflection” of a game which would have been lost without him. 

Leeds' goal, stroked home from a high ball by defender Giuseppe Bellusci, was a bitter pill, not least watching controversial president Massimo Chillino dance on the sidelines but came after a host of chances early in the second half.

Up front, the second half partnership between Stevie May and Gary Madine for Wednesday looked lively and both could have scored via a cluster of chances but for a lack of composure. The Owls' goal, rifled in by Chris Maguire from the edge of the box after good work by Jacques Maghoma, was a delight. With the ball on the bounce, the first time finish was a fantastic moment, and one which fans will hope he can repeat consistently if the blue and white wizards are to stay in the top 10. Fans will also hope the result heralds a repeat of last season, when a 1-1 draw at Elland Road was followed by a 6-0 thrashing of Leeds at Hillsborough.

Wednesday's squad remains unfeasibly shallow to compete for the play-offs at this point but, after a nightmare start to last season, we're basking in the glow of a team with a rare tight defence and good endeavour.

On this evidence, only enduring the sight of the Blades making a successful promotion push will bring our arch enemies - and a true derby game - back to S6 soon. 

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? 

Sheffield Wednesday: Where next from here after failed takeover?

As Sheffield Wednesday's proposed takeover by Azerbaijan-born magnate Hafiz Mammadov crumbled to nothing this week, questions again resurfaced over the club's future. 

Fateful photo: Hafiz Mammadov and Milan Mandaric

The fate of the £40m takeover, first announced as a done deal with just Football League ratification needed by current owner Milan Mandaric in June, had felt inevitable since the first reports Mammadov was in financial difficulties began to surface. 

Despite denying the reports, the silence from Mammadov over the deal, and Mandaric's increasingly desperate comments meant fans' hopes of a deal had pretty much gone when first the start of the season, and then the transfer window, came and went. 

For Mandaric it has proved an embarrassing disaster. Updating fans of his every dinner meeting and allowing the Owls to carry the dubious Land of Fire logo on their shirts before the deal was done have further led to the continuing feeling of farse that surrounds the club. He has admitted his desire to please the fans clouded his judgement, hardly the actions of a canny businessman.

Mandaric's open desire to sell the club he purchased in 2010 and aided the promotion in 2011-12 has proved a saga typical of modern football. A number of figures have appeared in the executive box, chequebook remaining firmly in the pocket during his tenure and the Mammadov 'deal' was met positively by the fans. With the squad, and ground, in need of investment a takeover by an owner with deeper pockets has felt like an inevitability. 

On a personal note, while I understand the realities of competing in the modern game means a big bucks owner is almost a pre-requisite for any club with hopes of reaching the glitzy Premier League, I was uneasy when the deal was announced. Here is a club with rich heritage, strong links to a football mad city and with a large and loyal fan base. The idea of selling out to an oil and energy tycoon with links an Azeri regime with a poor human rights record, albeit one of owns RC Lens and FC Baku already, does not sit well with the ethos of the club.

It has pained me to see how Nottingham Forest, a club I worked for for five years, have seemingly turned around their ailing financial situation so easily. Forest-mad Kuwaiti owner Fawaz Al Hasawi took over in 2012 and, despite being unafraid to flex his muscle in hiring and firing managers, has invested in a squad that are looking strong and sitting pretty at the top of the table. Is there no equivalent for Wednesday, a club of similar stature?

Of course, the pain over the protracted takeover has been overshadowed by an unexpectedly bright start to the season. On a shoestring budget, manager Stuart Gray has assembled a squad lacking depth but with a defensive solidity rarely associated with Wednesday. If Mandaric is to find a new buyer for the club, and he insists (rather unconvincingly) the offers remain out there, then it's vital the team are performing and at least hinting that promotion is a possibility in the near future. 

If a new owner is not found then it appears unlikely Mandaric himself is likely to step up his spending on the squad. I was proved wrong in my unease when the controversial Serbian took over, with his reputation at Leicester and Portsmouth distinctly tarnished, but he has backed the club so far. 

But in the here and now, significant investment is needed to keep a club whose fans deserve good times to return to Hillsborough but have far from earned the right to compete at the highest level on the pitch during their 15 years out of the top flight. Without investment, middle table mediocrity appears most likely, and relegation remains a realistic fear.

Troubled times as ever in S6 then, but a resolution of sorts could prompt some imminent decisive action.

Opinion: Football ticket price march - a refreshing reality cheque?

Fans of dozens of clubs from the Premier League and Football League marched on their shared headquarters in London last week to vent their fury at rising ticket prices.

I’ve discussed on this blog before the extent to which clubs care about the huge stress their supporters put on their own finances – ie not a huge amount. However, I was heartened – in covering the event for the Evening Standard and London Live – by the sense of reality most fans seemed to have.

Chatting to those on the march, most understand that the clubs are businesses which won’t simply slash prices because they’re asked to and that fans are a captive market whose single-minded loyalty can be exploited.

It is worth noting the sense of pride I felt in seeing a bunch of bedraggled but noisy football fans walking down Oxford Street singing with the Primark-addicted masses and tourists open mouthed watching on.

When the march reached the FA headquarters, however, without any obvious, pre-planned chants the crowd perhaps didn’t make Richard Scudamore and co really hear their fury. Simply standing there briefly and heading for a much-needed pint was probably not the best tactic regardless of the rain. This report gives an interesting insight into the meeting.

Whilst I don’t agree with some of the Football Supporters’ Federation’s goals – it needs to recognise football does move on and change with the modern world – the pricing of football tickets in the UK is obscene and the federation's campaign an excellent one. To pay more than to go to a gig or the theatre, often to see your team lose in the rain following an awkward kick-off time, feels greedy and that’s before time, travel and frequency of matches are brought into the debate.

A recognition that this is a long battle was a feeling in abundance, which was refreshing, and in the short-term if prices could simply plateau that would feel like a real victory. Ultimately, no one wants to watch games played in empty stadiums and more needs to be done to prevent this from happening.