Jermaine Johnson has this morning revealed in an interview with the Yorkshire post, that he wants to stay at Sheffield Wednesday and is working hard to earn a new contract with the Owls. Brian Laws signed the Jamaican international in January 2007 from Bradford City for a fee in excess of £250,000. Johnson has gone on to make 119 appearances for the Owls, scoring 13 goals. The Jamaican has mesmerised and frustrated Wednesday fans constantly throughout his Wednesday career. He has shown flashes of exceptional talent and prolonged periods of lack of desire and motivation. Having said this the pacey Jamaican winger always has the ability to change a football match and scored some wonderful goals in a Wednesday shirt. This morning Johnson said, "I would love to stay but there have been no discussions and we don't know what the gaffer is doing yet." he added. "As a player, you always want to play high in the league and, when you are playing well, teams are going to come and look for you – but I want to stay and do well for this club." Johnson has lost his place in the team recently and some would say rather unjustly as however frustrating he may be, in this division Jermaine Johnson will always cause problems, because of his sheer pace and dynamic twisting runs. For me, offering Johnson a new contract is a must, letting him leave on a free transfer would be criminal, and a team somewhere would be signing an absolute bargain. Johnson's age restrains him from bringing in a massive transfer fee also, but his pace doesn't seem to be dying any time soon. The only sensible option would be to offer him a contract and keep him playing at Hillsborough for many seasons to come, no matter how frustrating he may be.
Tuesday 25 January 2011
JJ working hard to earn new contract
Jermaine Johnson has this morning revealed in an interview with the Yorkshire post, that he wants to stay at Sheffield Wednesday and is working hard to earn a new contract with the Owls. Brian Laws signed the Jamaican international in January 2007 from Bradford City for a fee in excess of £250,000. Johnson has gone on to make 119 appearances for the Owls, scoring 13 goals. The Jamaican has mesmerised and frustrated Wednesday fans constantly throughout his Wednesday career. He has shown flashes of exceptional talent and prolonged periods of lack of desire and motivation. Having said this the pacey Jamaican winger always has the ability to change a football match and scored some wonderful goals in a Wednesday shirt. This morning Johnson said, "I would love to stay but there have been no discussions and we don't know what the gaffer is doing yet." he added. "As a player, you always want to play high in the league and, when you are playing well, teams are going to come and look for you – but I want to stay and do well for this club." Johnson has lost his place in the team recently and some would say rather unjustly as however frustrating he may be, in this division Jermaine Johnson will always cause problems, because of his sheer pace and dynamic twisting runs. For me, offering Johnson a new contract is a must, letting him leave on a free transfer would be criminal, and a team somewhere would be signing an absolute bargain. Johnson's age restrains him from bringing in a massive transfer fee also, but his pace doesn't seem to be dying any time soon. The only sensible option would be to offer him a contract and keep him playing at Hillsborough for many seasons to come, no matter how frustrating he may be.
SWFC Vs Yeovil Town pre-match news
versus
It has been an eventful few days down at Hillsborough, with Rumours flying round all over the place regarding Alan Irvine's supposed sacking or resignation and plenty of rumours about incoming players as well. After all the speculation about Irvine's future it turns out the main source of the rumour that he had in fact left Hillsborough, came from a fan, hacking a club staff email account. Yesterday Milan Mandaric came out and publicly backed Irvine in an interview with the BBC he said "I urge everyone - this is not the time for panic. This is the time for all of us to be together and get behind the team and give us a chance to get out of this league." Mandaric knows the disappointment and anger that a lot of the Wednesday fans are feeling right now, but he correctly states this is no time to panic. Mandaric has also stated "We'll bring two or three more players in to enhance the quality of the team and I believe results will be there." so Irvine significantly still has the financial backing of Mandaric. Some Wednesday fans are disappointed that Irvine has not left the club after the 4-0 hammering Wednesday received at Leyton Orient on Saturday. I am also disappointed with Irvine's performance in recent times and some of his tactics have left me scratching my head, but I am of the view that any manager deserves a season to prove what he's worth. Wednesday fans need to get behind the team and the manager and give Irvine a chance to spend his budget wisely in the next week. Then fans and Mandaric a like can cast a final judgement at the end of the season, depending on whether we are back in the second tier of English football or not. Personally I think Irvine needs to bring in a central midfielder, a left winger and a quick pacey striker, these components would make our team look more or less complete, and give us a real chance of getting back into the promotion race.
As for tonight's game, Yeovil Town find themselves 3rd from bottom in League one, but have ground out a run of decent form, unbeaten in five until they lost 1-0 at home to Rochdale on Saturday. Yeovil may be in the relegation zone but they are just a mere 8 points behind the Owls, showing the deterioration of the Owls recent league form and how tight this division truly is. It is a massive game at Hillsborough tonight, with Irvine's future possibly depending on the result and a chance for Yeovil to climb out of the relegation zone. Yeovil's recent good form which has seen them beat the likes of Swindon away, and Brentford and MK Dons at home has been down to some incredibly good defensive performances, they have kept an impressive 5 clean sheets in their last 6 matches. One man Wednesday need to look out for is the young defender Paul Huntington, who has been essential in the Glover's defensive success, but has also contributed going forward scoring goals in the games against Brentford and MK Dons. Another man Wednesday need to be aware of is Dean Bowditch who is the Glover's top scorer so far this season with 7 goals, including the winner at Swindon in recent weeks. Bowditch came through the highly regarded Ipswich academy and ended up playing 72 professional games for them. I expect Yeovil to play a tight defensive game against the Owls and try and frustrate us, as well as trying to snatch a goal or two on the counter.Wednesday fans biggest grumbles have been about the negative tactics shown by Alan Irvine all season. I, for one would love to see Mr. Irvine play with two out and out wingers in Jermaine Johnson and Gary Teale. With the huge Gary Madine expected to start, balls regularly coming in from both flanks would be a massive bonus. Another team selection, or should I say lack of team selection that has mystified Owls Fans is that of Paul Heffernan. He surely must start in tonight's game, as he at some point must be given a chance to show what he can do for 90 minutes, that he has done so prolifically before in this division, with the likes of Doncaster Rovers. Unfortunately for Wednesday, our most impressive central midfielder this year, Tommy Miller has been ruled out of Tonight's game through injury. Leaving much speculation to who will play central midfield tonight. Giles Coke is returning to full fitness, but it is unknown whether he could play a full 90 minutes, therefore the most likely option is Darren Potter and James O'Connor. This wont give much hope to Wednesday fans who saw the ineffectiveness of this pair consistently last year. As for the defence Mark Reynolds is expected to make his debut, I would expect him to partner Reda Johnson at centre back, leaving Daniel Jones at left back and Michael Morrison at right back depending on Lewis Buxton's late fitness test, as he also picked up a knock on Saturday. Having said this I see Michael Morrison sooner or later switching to centre back, as he is clearly a very good ball winner and also good in the air, furthermore he is not especially amazing going forward with the ball. Hence, a switch to centre half could really let his Wednesday career take off.
Monday 24 January 2011
Keep 606 going!
The news has come as a real shock to myself, as 606 is a vital tool that helps me follow my team and keep me updated whenever I need to know something. A lot of unrest has already been shown at the decision to discard 606 by most of the 606 users who also deem it a helpful, and educational tool. 606 allows followers of all football league clubs to communicate with other fans, write article or create polls. It consequently allows people to comment and debate those articles creating a real sense of community in an online form. There are already campaigns up and running in an attempt to save the fantastic forum site and I urge you to involve yourself in one of these campaigns and help to save a resource which at the end of the day is incredibly enjoyable. 606 gives ordinary people a chance to exchange views on their own club or other clubs and has thousands of users, surely making it a far more important resource than some of the other rubbish the BBC posts online or on television. For me it has handed out the opportunity to get involved in lively banter and debate and advertise my SWFC blog to anybody who is interested in what I have to say, making this issue incredibly aggravating for myself. The following link is an article explaining the value of 606 and opposing its cut from the BBC budget: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A80161733
If we didn't have 606 we would be extremely limited in our ability to grumble about our beloved club and for once this isn't just an issue for Sheffield Wednesday but an issue for all football and sports fans that wanted to get involved in a different way and share their views. There may be other forums available to comment on, but none have the same footballing community feel as 606 and therefore it must be saved! keep battling to save our sports forum, and sign the petition! http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-bbc-606-sports-forum.html
Sunday 23 January 2011
The ones that got away
This transfer window players have been linked with Wednesday and moved on to other clubs, leaving some of us a bit disappointed. For example, Ryan Harley joined the Swans after much hope that Wednesday were in fact ready to make an offer. Shane Lowry was also expected to make a loan switch to the Owls but instead moved to steel city rivals Sheffield United. These recent events got my thinking about players that have been linked with the Owls over the years, but moves never materialised for them. It was a welcome distraction to the doom and gloom surrounding Hillsborough over the weekend and certainly helped me to stop thinking about promotion favourites Wednesday, lying in mid table in a relatively poor division.
1. The one player that will stick in the mind of most Wednesdayites is of course the lengendary Eric Cantona. Often considered the best foreign talent ever to play in the famous Premier League. Incredibly, there was a time when Cantona was training with the mighty Owls in 1991 and was handed a trial by Trevor Francis, the boss at the time. The most depressing fact of the Cantona saga was his admittance that he was "there to sign". He also revealed that the reason he did not sign for Wednesday was because they wanted more time to decide whether to offer him a deal. Cantona trained with the Owls for a week and played in a 4-3 friendly fixture, scoring a hat-trick whilst doing so. Francis offered Cantona a weeks extension to his trial, but Cantona wasn't going to stick around and wait for the Owls to ponder whether to sign the French front man. Cantona wasted no time in making his move to English football, within a few days he had signed for Leeds United, Wednesdays fierce Yorkshire rivals. No one knows the impact Cantona could have made at Wednesday, but we all no for sure how great a talent he was and how much we would have loved to see him in our famous blue and white strip. Cantona went on to win the old division one title with Leeds whilst Wednesday finished third. He then secured a transfer to perhaps England's most famous club Manchester United, where he went on to become a legend and win 4 league titles in 5 years.
2. The next player that Wednesday were often linked with back in glorious premier league days was Henrik Larsson. Back then the prolific goal scorers head was full of dread locks, and Between 1996 and 1998 Wednesday were linked with the Swedish talisman on several occasions. Unfortunately for Wednesday, Larsson was happy at Celtic, and Celtic were never even considering letting their top goal scorer leave. I have always been a keen admirer of Henrik and would have loved to see him in a Wednesday shirt. He went on to score Bundles of goals for Celtic and then secured a transfer to arguably the worlds greatest football team, Barcelona. He then moved on to his home town club, Helsingborg for who he scored 38 goals in 81 appearances. Larsson's strike rate at Celtic was truly incredibly scoring 174 goals in 221 games. Considering the other players we brought in the 90's such as Darko Kovacevic and Nicolas Alexandersson, I would have much preferred to see Larsson joining the Hillsborough Ranks in place of other foreign names Wednesday pulled out the cheque book for. Maybe he could even have saved us from relegation to the Championship and stopped our on going rot in football, that doesn't seem to be giving up any time soon.
3. The third and final player I am going to talk about it Patrick Kluivert. Brian Laws made an attempt to sign the Dutchman in the summer of 2007. Admittedly Kluivert's career had been going down hill for a while, and he was seeking to leave his club at the time PSV. Kluivert said "I am flattered by the interest, but a transfer to Sheffield Wednesday doesn't fit in my future plans." Even if Kluivert's career was on its way downhill, no one can deny that he was a truly great goal scorer, scoring goals for some of the best teams in the world and on an international level with Holland. Kluivert averaged around a goal every other game for the Netherlands and scored an impressive 90 goals in 182 appearanced for F.C Barcelona. He also played for great clubs such as A.C Milan, Ajax and Valencia. He also had a one season stint in England with Newcastle, he scored 6 goals in 14 appearances for the Geordie club but didn't really excel or enjoy his time there, causing him to leave after just one season. Kluivert would have been a class act in the Championship, but Laws' attempt to sign him was never really going to materialise with the player having numerous other offers from first division clubs all around the world and eventually he joined French side Lille.
These are just a few of numerous names the Owls have been linked with over the last two decades, but there are plenty more Players the Owls have tried and failed to sign in the past. Does anybody have any stories of their own to add to this list? Any players you would have loved to see at Hillsborough, but the moves never materialised? Thinking about such matters has certainly distracted me for a while and stopped me thinking about the rather less inspiring goings on at S6 this season.
1. The one player that will stick in the mind of most Wednesdayites is of course the lengendary Eric Cantona. Often considered the best foreign talent ever to play in the famous Premier League. Incredibly, there was a time when Cantona was training with the mighty Owls in 1991 and was handed a trial by Trevor Francis, the boss at the time. The most depressing fact of the Cantona saga was his admittance that he was "there to sign". He also revealed that the reason he did not sign for Wednesday was because they wanted more time to decide whether to offer him a deal. Cantona trained with the Owls for a week and played in a 4-3 friendly fixture, scoring a hat-trick whilst doing so. Francis offered Cantona a weeks extension to his trial, but Cantona wasn't going to stick around and wait for the Owls to ponder whether to sign the French front man. Cantona wasted no time in making his move to English football, within a few days he had signed for Leeds United, Wednesdays fierce Yorkshire rivals. No one knows the impact Cantona could have made at Wednesday, but we all no for sure how great a talent he was and how much we would have loved to see him in our famous blue and white strip. Cantona went on to win the old division one title with Leeds whilst Wednesday finished third. He then secured a transfer to perhaps England's most famous club Manchester United, where he went on to become a legend and win 4 league titles in 5 years.2. The next player that Wednesday were often linked with back in glorious premier league days was Henrik Larsson. Back then the prolific goal scorers head was full of dread locks, and Between 1996 and 1998 Wednesday were linked with the Swedish talisman on several occasions. Unfortunately for Wednesday, Larsson was happy at Celtic, and Celtic were never even considering letting their top goal scorer leave. I have always been a keen admirer of Henrik and would have loved to see him in a Wednesday shirt. He went on to score Bundles of goals for Celtic and then secured a transfer to arguably the worlds greatest football team, Barcelona. He then moved on to his home town club, Helsingborg for who he scored 38 goals in 81 appearances. Larsson's strike rate at Celtic was truly incredibly scoring 174 goals in 221 games. Considering the other players we brought in the 90's such as Darko Kovacevic and Nicolas Alexandersson, I would have much preferred to see Larsson joining the Hillsborough Ranks in place of other foreign names Wednesday pulled out the cheque book for. Maybe he could even have saved us from relegation to the Championship and stopped our on going rot in football, that doesn't seem to be giving up any time soon.These are just a few of numerous names the Owls have been linked with over the last two decades, but there are plenty more Players the Owls have tried and failed to sign in the past. Does anybody have any stories of their own to add to this list? Any players you would have loved to see at Hillsborough, but the moves never materialised? Thinking about such matters has certainly distracted me for a while and stopped me thinking about the rather less inspiring goings on at S6 this season.
Saturday 22 January 2011
The Stubborn Scotsman
Wednesday were today absolutely demolished at the hands of Leyton Orient, yes you are reading that right, the Owls were indeed thrashed by Orient in today's league one fixture. The 4-0 hammering has left Wednesday fans infuriated including myself. The frustration from most Wednesdayites is being vented towards the gaffer, Alan Irvine. For the first time in the year that Irvine has been in charge of the owls, I have also found myself questioning certain aspects of the Scotsman's management.
In fairness to Irvine he came into Hillsborough at the worst possible time, with no money available for signings, and trying to save a side battling against relegation. Irvine failed to save Wednesday and has led the Owls to a lowly 12th position over half way through the league one season, leaving many Wednesday fans calling for Irvine's head. In my honest opinion, Irvine is a man full of passion for football and has an eye for very good signings in the transfer windows. This has been proven so far with Irvine signing bargain after bargain in the summer all on free transfers. With signings of the likes of Clinton Morrison and Gary Teale, quality player with experience in both the Championship and the Premier League. Irvine has continued his trend of bargain spotting even when he has money to spend with no huge fees being flashed about in the 4 signings made so far this month.
Unfortunately for Irvine, others parts of his management have been far more questionable, leaving the question well and truly open, is it time for Irvine to move on from the Owls? after just over a year in charge. The aspects of management that have angered so many Wednesday fans are tactics and team selection. There are plenty of examples of quite strange team selections from Irvine in the past and none more so than the involvement of Paul Heffernan this season at Hillsborough. Heffernan has impressed consistently whilst coming on as a sub for Wednesday and in last weeks come back draw, Heffernan was the man that led the way, scoring the first of the two goals and nearly grabbing all three points for the Owls in the dying moments. That time he was only to be denied by the post and the Goal keepers finger tips. Heffernan's all round play was also impressive and his composure in front of goal is clearly a great asset. The goal in the 6-2 victory at Bristol Rovers was another sign of his quality finishing. Heff's performance last week looked enough to have earned him a starting place against Orient, after Irvine admitted Heffernan was giving him something to think about after the game last Saturday. To my shock, when I looked at the team sheet around half an hour before kick-off, Heffernan was again on the bench and after 59 minutes of play Wednesday had used all three substitutes none of which were the impressive front man. I, along with other Wednesday fans must be asking themselves the question, what does he have to do to start a game?
Another questionable part of his team selection is Irvine's refusal to try new things and experiment with a consistently poor side. This could be seen early in the season where Irvine refused to drop Marcus Tudgay and tried every single strike partership including him for months on end. Tudgay was not scoring and playing poorly, of course there is no doubt that Tudgay has quality, but reputation should not guarantee any player a starting role at Hillsborough. This could be seen again with the likes of Darren Purse, who started game after game, making point costing errors, game after game, with no chance of the captain being dropped. Purse had started most of Wednesday's games this season and has the captain's armband and yet Irvine released Purse from his contract on a mutual termination. To me this just shows a manager trying to justify his error of ways. Although I believe Purse leaving will benefit Wednesday in terms of giving new and young players the opportunity to play, you don't see Carlo Ancelotti releasing John Terry, who is a guaranteed starter and captain at Chelsea.
Even more frustrating is Irvine's negative tactics. Irvine refuses to send out a Wednesday side with two out and out wingers. Very rarely have we seen Jermaine Johnson and Gary Teale in the same starting 11. Instead we either play 3 central players or Chris Sedgwick who is certainly not an out and out winger. Jermaine Johnson also helped change the game in last week's comeback at Charlton, but had to wait 59 minutes before coming on to the pitch in today's game, even though both Sedgwick and Teale both played incredibly poorly last weekend. Finally, Irvine has addressed the main problem of the defence in the transfer market, but the other huge void that needs filling is the central midfield. Miller is usually consistent but has dropped out of form in recent weeks. Both Potter and O'Connor have yet to impress the Wednesday fans with their incredibly inconsistent displays which lack any sort of conviction or influence week in week out. Giles Coke seemed to have stepped up to the plate, but he's struggled with injury problems showing a clear need for a player to come into this position.
Following the last year of Sheffield Wednesday football has been less than inspiring and I believe the time may have come for Alan Irvine to move on, but find it unlikely that this will happen with Mandaric backing him 100 percent in the transfer market, but how much more can he and Wednesdayites take of this rubbish...
In fairness to Irvine he came into Hillsborough at the worst possible time, with no money available for signings, and trying to save a side battling against relegation. Irvine failed to save Wednesday and has led the Owls to a lowly 12th position over half way through the league one season, leaving many Wednesday fans calling for Irvine's head. In my honest opinion, Irvine is a man full of passion for football and has an eye for very good signings in the transfer windows. This has been proven so far with Irvine signing bargain after bargain in the summer all on free transfers. With signings of the likes of Clinton Morrison and Gary Teale, quality player with experience in both the Championship and the Premier League. Irvine has continued his trend of bargain spotting even when he has money to spend with no huge fees being flashed about in the 4 signings made so far this month.
Unfortunately for Irvine, others parts of his management have been far more questionable, leaving the question well and truly open, is it time for Irvine to move on from the Owls? after just over a year in charge. The aspects of management that have angered so many Wednesday fans are tactics and team selection. There are plenty of examples of quite strange team selections from Irvine in the past and none more so than the involvement of Paul Heffernan this season at Hillsborough. Heffernan has impressed consistently whilst coming on as a sub for Wednesday and in last weeks come back draw, Heffernan was the man that led the way, scoring the first of the two goals and nearly grabbing all three points for the Owls in the dying moments. That time he was only to be denied by the post and the Goal keepers finger tips. Heffernan's all round play was also impressive and his composure in front of goal is clearly a great asset. The goal in the 6-2 victory at Bristol Rovers was another sign of his quality finishing. Heff's performance last week looked enough to have earned him a starting place against Orient, after Irvine admitted Heffernan was giving him something to think about after the game last Saturday. To my shock, when I looked at the team sheet around half an hour before kick-off, Heffernan was again on the bench and after 59 minutes of play Wednesday had used all three substitutes none of which were the impressive front man. I, along with other Wednesday fans must be asking themselves the question, what does he have to do to start a game?
Another questionable part of his team selection is Irvine's refusal to try new things and experiment with a consistently poor side. This could be seen early in the season where Irvine refused to drop Marcus Tudgay and tried every single strike partership including him for months on end. Tudgay was not scoring and playing poorly, of course there is no doubt that Tudgay has quality, but reputation should not guarantee any player a starting role at Hillsborough. This could be seen again with the likes of Darren Purse, who started game after game, making point costing errors, game after game, with no chance of the captain being dropped. Purse had started most of Wednesday's games this season and has the captain's armband and yet Irvine released Purse from his contract on a mutual termination. To me this just shows a manager trying to justify his error of ways. Although I believe Purse leaving will benefit Wednesday in terms of giving new and young players the opportunity to play, you don't see Carlo Ancelotti releasing John Terry, who is a guaranteed starter and captain at Chelsea.
Even more frustrating is Irvine's negative tactics. Irvine refuses to send out a Wednesday side with two out and out wingers. Very rarely have we seen Jermaine Johnson and Gary Teale in the same starting 11. Instead we either play 3 central players or Chris Sedgwick who is certainly not an out and out winger. Jermaine Johnson also helped change the game in last week's comeback at Charlton, but had to wait 59 minutes before coming on to the pitch in today's game, even though both Sedgwick and Teale both played incredibly poorly last weekend. Finally, Irvine has addressed the main problem of the defence in the transfer market, but the other huge void that needs filling is the central midfield. Miller is usually consistent but has dropped out of form in recent weeks. Both Potter and O'Connor have yet to impress the Wednesday fans with their incredibly inconsistent displays which lack any sort of conviction or influence week in week out. Giles Coke seemed to have stepped up to the plate, but he's struggled with injury problems showing a clear need for a player to come into this position.
Following the last year of Sheffield Wednesday football has been less than inspiring and I believe the time may have come for Alan Irvine to move on, but find it unlikely that this will happen with Mandaric backing him 100 percent in the transfer market, but how much more can he and Wednesdayites take of this rubbish...
Thursday 20 January 2011
Darren Purse leaves Wednesday by mutual consent
Darren Purse has left Sheffield Wednesday in the last hour by mutual consent. Purse has been linked with his home town club Millwall today and it looks as if his departure from the Owls is clearing the path for him to sign for the team he supported as a boy. Purse's time at Wednesday has been full of ups and downs, he has been an admirable leader but unfortunately led the team to relegation from the championship last season and hasn't been the same player this time round. The end looked near for Darren Purse at last Saturday's Hillsborough fixture against Charlton, in which his own fans turned on him. The club released a statement saying:'Sheffield Wednesday can confirm that defender Darren Purse has left the club by mutual consent.'
It continued: 'Sheffield Wednesday would like to thank Darren for his services and wish him the best of luck for the future.'
On the positive side Purse's departure will allow first team experience to come in bundles for likes of new signing Michael Morrison, Reda Johnson and Mark Reynolds adding to the already young and talented Defender Mark Beevers. Some Wednesdayites will be dissapointed at losing an experienced head and the club captain but Reynolds, Johnson and Morrison all have a lot of experience themselves for such young players and could also prosper from Darren Purse's departure. The only question remaining unanswered on this subject is where does the captaincy go? The likes of Tommy Miller and Nicky Weaver have got to be contenders for the arm band, both first team regulars and important players in the squad.
Good luck wherever you end up Darren Purse, but like many other Owls I felt the time was right for him to move on to the next stage of his career.
Irvine confirms Hughes and Westcarr enquiries.
S6 Rumour Mill overloaded this morning!
This morning Owls all over have been woken up to the sound of January transfer window rumours. Both ins and outs have been speculated today at Hillsborough and the first name that has hit the tabloids is that of Notts County's Lee Hughes. Hughes has scored an impressive 225 goals in his long career consisting of 495 appearances for clubs such as West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City at one point Hughes commanded a huge fee of £5,000,000 in a move from West Brom to Coventry. Although Hughes is clearly a natural goal scorer, there are many Wednesday fans not so keen on him. This could be largely due to his age, he is now 34 and spending a 6 figure sum on a man with so little time left in his career, could be seen as careless. As well as this during the 2003/04 season Hughes was involved in a car crash, in which a passenger of the other car was killed, Hughes and his passenger fled the scene only to hand themselves in a day later. Hughes was given a sentence of 6 years. His actions on that day have led him to become a very unpopular figure in football, so some Wednesdayites would be genuinely dissatisfied if Hughes were to sign for the Owls this month. Personally, I believe Hughes' age is the most determining factor. He is still a first team regular at Notts County and would therefore require a decent sized fee, which could be far too much of a gamble, even with a scoring record like the one he has.
The second name to crop up in the Rumour Mill this morning is Brentford's young pacey winger Myles Weston. Weston is a 22 year old winger and can also be used in a role as a striker. He started his Career at Charlton Athletic but never made a first team appearance, he went on loan to Notts County and then made his loan move permanent. The winger scored 3 goals in 73 appearance for County before turning down a new contract and making the move to his current club Brentford. He has scored 9 goals in 63 appearances for Brentford and is well liked due to his Pace and Trickery. The link to Myles Weston coming to the Owls came from Radio Sheffield, which is usually quite a reliable source. With no real natural left wingers currently in the owls squad, Weston's signing could be a god send. He could also be seen as a long term replacement for Jermaine Johnson, who still has bags of pace, but is 8 years Weston's superior, questions could be asked about when JJ will no longer have such dangerous pace. With Weston being so young his signing seems far more likely signing than that of Lee Hughes, as all Alan Irvine's signings so far have been aged 23 and under as he tries to build a squad not just for promotion this season, but for the long term future as well. Get him signed up Milan!
The third name which has been talked about this Morning, is Blackburn central midfielder Keith Andrews. His name has not only been bounded about this morning but for the past week or so. Rumours suggesting Andrews is on his way to Hillsborough in a six month loan move seem to be getting stronger and stronger. Andrews is a player of international quality having played 16 times for the Republic of Ireland and scoring 1 goal. Andrews has also played 66 games for Premier League Blackburn since his arrival in 2008 and scored 5 goals. Andrews Captained MK Dons previously and led them to the league one play-offs. When Paul Ince left the Dons for Blackburn he took his star player with him. The dynamic box to box midfielder is 30 years of age and has vast experience, having played 275 matches for a selection of clubs. A central midfielder, is what many Owls fans have been crying out for over the past few weeks. Darren Potter has never really excelled at Wednesday, James O'connor has all the energy and heart but lacks when it comes to creativity and quality and new signing Giles Coke has been hit back with injury problems after an impressive start to his debut Owls season. Leaving just Tommy Miller who has impressed in the central Midfield role, but has needed a consistent partner for some time. Andrews could be the answer to this problem as he has struggled to win a first team place at Blackburn this year and would be welcomed with open arms from myself and i'm sure plenty of other Owls.The final Rumour to be listed this morning, is the exit of Darren Purse. Rumours suggest that Purse has attracted the interest of his boyhood club Millwall. Purse has struggled this season and although he offers experience to an otherwise young back four, he has made countless point costing errors, which have left the Wednesday faithful exceedingly impatient with him. The impatience could be seen in Saturday's draw against Charlton, in which Purse's errors lead to two goals in the opening 5 minutes and some Wednesday fans stupidly jeering his every touch. Purse started his Owls career in a similar fashion, looking shaky a lot of the time but in the second half of last season really stepped up to be counted and performed admirably in his attempt to save the Owls from relegation. However, once again this season Purse has failed to impress and show his composed experience that he is so well regarded for in the game, having captained Birmingham, Cardiff and now the Owls. I remember as soon as Purse joined the Owls ranks, he was interviewed by the Sheffield Star and said he would like to end his career at Millwall if the opportunity came about, so if the rumours are true, I can't see Alan Irvine standing in his way or any fans for that matter. So, if a bid for Darren Purse did materialise and he left the club, I would like to say so long Mr. Purse, Thank you for trying...
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Another two fly in at Hillsborough
Over the weekend Wednesday announced the signings of two more players. Gary Madine the 20 year old Carlisle United striker and Mark Reynolds the 23 year old centre back/ left back from Motherwell.
Gary Madine is a young striker who has attracted interest from Championship Clubs as well as League One sides. This is essentially because of his strike rate in the current campaign for Carlisle, despite his young age Madine has played in all English divisions apart from the premier league. He has a lot of experience for such a young player. Alan Irvine has signed him as a target man, as he is 6"4 and is known for his aerial ability and good touch. Madine has scored 13 goals in 26 appearances for Carlisle this season and has been on loan at local rivals Chesterfield, Rochdale and Championship side Coventry. The latter were interested in a permanent transfer but a deal did not materialise. The fee is believed to be around £500,000 for Madine, a player who looks full of potential. This could be a fantastic signing for the owls who seem to have gone for Potential over experience in the January transfer window so far.
Another young starlet that the Owls have brought into Hillsborough this week is Scottish Centre Half, Mark Reynolds, who is also comfortable at Left Back. Reynolds has been a permanent fixture in the Motherwell side this year and Stuart McCall was extremely reluctant to let Reynolds slip through his fingers. Fortunately for Wednesday McCall accepted an offer from the Owls, because he feared he would not be able to replace Reynolds in time, if he was lost later in the transfer window. The deal was also undisclosed leaving rumours that the fee for Reynolds was around £100,000, rising depending on certain clauses. Despite being young Reynolds has played 166 games for Motherwell including games in the Europa league. Reynolds had attracted interest from plenty of teams of recent years and just two years ago, Scottish Champions Rangers made a bid of £750,000 for the young defender and Swansea City made a similarly large offer in the summer. Wednesday have clearly beaten off much competition for the highly rated Scot, and seem to have purchased him for a cut price with his Motherwell contract running out at the end of the season. The signing of Reynolds brings the tally of defensive signings in January up to 3 with Reda Johnson and Michael Morrison also being snapped up by Irvine. This will be of great relief to the Hillsborough faithful as defending from current squad members such as Darren Purse, Tommy Spurr and Mark Beevers has been less than inspiring in recent weeks.
Gary Madine is a young striker who has attracted interest from Championship Clubs as well as League One sides. This is essentially because of his strike rate in the current campaign for Carlisle, despite his young age Madine has played in all English divisions apart from the premier league. He has a lot of experience for such a young player. Alan Irvine has signed him as a target man, as he is 6"4 and is known for his aerial ability and good touch. Madine has scored 13 goals in 26 appearances for Carlisle this season and has been on loan at local rivals Chesterfield, Rochdale and Championship side Coventry. The latter were interested in a permanent transfer but a deal did not materialise. The fee is believed to be around £500,000 for Madine, a player who looks full of potential. This could be a fantastic signing for the owls who seem to have gone for Potential over experience in the January transfer window so far.Another young starlet that the Owls have brought into Hillsborough this week is Scottish Centre Half, Mark Reynolds, who is also comfortable at Left Back. Reynolds has been a permanent fixture in the Motherwell side this year and Stuart McCall was extremely reluctant to let Reynolds slip through his fingers. Fortunately for Wednesday McCall accepted an offer from the Owls, because he feared he would not be able to replace Reynolds in time, if he was lost later in the transfer window. The deal was also undisclosed leaving rumours that the fee for Reynolds was around £100,000, rising depending on certain clauses. Despite being young Reynolds has played 166 games for Motherwell including games in the Europa league. Reynolds had attracted interest from plenty of teams of recent years and just two years ago, Scottish Champions Rangers made a bid of £750,000 for the young defender and Swansea City made a similarly large offer in the summer. Wednesday have clearly beaten off much competition for the highly rated Scot, and seem to have purchased him for a cut price with his Motherwell contract running out at the end of the season. The signing of Reynolds brings the tally of defensive signings in January up to 3 with Reda Johnson and Michael Morrison also being snapped up by Irvine. This will be of great relief to the Hillsborough faithful as defending from current squad members such as Darren Purse, Tommy Spurr and Mark Beevers has been less than inspiring in recent weeks.
Charlton Athletic 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
After the first six minutes of Saturdays game Vs Charlton, it seemed unlikely that Sheffield Wednesday Fans would be gutted to only come away from Hillsborough with a point. Wednesday started the game abysmally with two defensive errors from captain Darren Purse leading to the Addicks being 2-0 up with some fans still taking their seats to watch what was to become an extremely eventful 90 minutes. Within the First minute Scott Wagstaff had lost his marker in the penalty area and calmly slotted the ball past a hapless Nicky Weaver, once again leaving more questions asked about the Owls defence. Only 5 minutes later a long punt up the field led to Darren Purse and Joe Ayinsah coming up against one another, Purse looked the clear favourite to clear the ball but the tricky Charlton winger made up a couple of yards with his pace and put Purse under enough pressure to lure the Owls captain into a challenge, which was to say the least clumsy. The resulting challenge led to a penalty which Jonnie Jackson composedly swept into the bottom corner, it could be argued Purse's challenge deemed a red card, but the former Cardiff City man was only booked for his late tackle.
Wednesday then managed to control the early Charlton onslaught, and were given a lifeline 5 minutes before half-time, when Reda Johnson, impressing on his home début was brought down in the penalty area, giving Wednesday the chance to reduce the deficit before half-time. Up stepped Tommy Miller, who had taken 30 penalties in his career and scored 100 percent of them, this his 31st effort was well struck by Miller but he was denied by a fully stretched Rob Elliot who went on to perform more heroics throughout the game. With disgruntled Wednesday fans letting the team know how they felt, things weren't looking good for the Owls, Darren Purse's every touch was being stupidly jeered by less intelligent members of the crowd and the team were surrounded by a chorus of boos as the made their way to the changing room at half-time.
A clearly furious Alan Irvine followed his players into the dressing room and one can only presume he gave the whole team the 'hair dryer treatment', Jermaine Johnson and Paul Heffernan were brought on for the second half in place of an ineffective Neil Mellor and Gary Teale who lacked his usual spark and creativity. Immediately Wednesday looked a better side in the second half and after just two minutes they were back in the game, Reda Johnson a constant threat in Charlton penalty area was there once more to flick the ball into the path of a grateful Paul Heffernan, who has not had many first team opportunities, Heffernan smashed the ball home, asking Alan Irvine the question when should Heffernan be given a starting role in the team, after coming on as a substitute in his last two Hillsborough matches to score goals. Just a few Minutes later the colossal new signing Reda Johnson was causing havoc once more in the Charlton penalty area. After good work from Chris Sedgwick on the left the ball came into the box and Johnson used every inch of his 6 foot 3 frame to power a header into the bottom corner, sending the Wednesday faithful into raptures. From then on Wednesday looked like they would be the only winners in this match, although Charlton did look a threat on the break. Daniel Jones was caught in an advanced position down the left flank leaving Reda Johnson to deal with the dangerous Scott Wagstaff, with a Brilliant hard sliding tackle Johnson dispossessed his man and had the composure to get up and safely dribble the ball out of harms way, leaving some Wednesdayites comparing him to the once so entertaining Madjid Bougherra who now play for Scottish Champions Rangers.
The second half also saw the introduction of former Wednesday Favourite Akpo Sodje who was well liked at Hillsborough, most notably for his opening goal in the Steel City derby two years previous. Fortunately for Wednesday Akpo was largely ineffective unlike so many returning former Owls. Charltons Defence tightened up with 20 minutes or so remaining and the previously dangerous Jermaine Johnson who has changed the game for a short period suddenly looked out of sorts. The game became had very little chances from then on until the fourth official announced there would be 4 minutes of stoppage time. This announcement was greeted by a huge roar from the 19,000 Wednesday fans, who were hoping for more than just a point against promotion rivals Charlton. Within seconds the players responded with the hard working James O'connor going close with a rare long range drive leaving fans all over the ground biting their nails. But with literally seconds left on the clock and fans from both sides resigning to the fact that this league one fixture would be a draw a long ball was floated into the box from new signing Michael Morrison. The stand in right back ball was an absolute peach and landed firmly on the head of the truly impressive Paul Heffernan who powered his header towards the top corner only to be denied by the finger tips of the point saving Rob Elliot, who tipped the ball onto the post, and then stood and watched as the ball dribbled along the goal line only to be cleared by a last ditch boot from a Charlton defender. Paul Heffernan was interviewed after the match and asked about his header, "When I headed it, I thought it was in; the keeper got a little touch on it, and even then I thought it was in; it hit the inside of the post and rolled across the goal. I was gutted". Contrastingly to the first half the team were given a standing ovation from the Wednesday Faithful, in a game they really should have taken all three points from.
Alan Irvine had this to say after the game, "It was a dreadful start, a good response in the second half; but for a fantastic save and the post, we would have ended up winning.
Their goals were terrible from our point of view. You can't defend like that and expect to get away with it.
I felt confident that Tommy would score with the penalty; he has a fantastic record. It didn't happen. I'm sure he will go on to score a lot more.
I was tempted to make three changes at half-time. But if you do that and pick up an injury, you're chasing the game with 10 men.
I told them at half-time it wasn't acceptable. it was time to take more responsibility. I felt a lot of players were hiding.
The impact of the two subs (Jermaine Johnson and Paul Heffernan] was dramatic. In the second half we were really looking dangerous every time we went forward."
.jpg)
Wednesday go on to play Leyton Orient away on saturday and the fans will be full of hope and expectation after Alan Irvine named 2 new signings on the day of the Charlton fixture. The signings of Highly rated Youngster Gary Madine and Scottish Talent Mark Reynolds combined with the second half performance from the Owls, could lead to a new positive outlook from Hillsborough as Milan Mandaric continues to back Irvine in the transfer market, with the team looking stronger and stronger every week.
Wednesday then managed to control the early Charlton onslaught, and were given a lifeline 5 minutes before half-time, when Reda Johnson, impressing on his home début was brought down in the penalty area, giving Wednesday the chance to reduce the deficit before half-time. Up stepped Tommy Miller, who had taken 30 penalties in his career and scored 100 percent of them, this his 31st effort was well struck by Miller but he was denied by a fully stretched Rob Elliot who went on to perform more heroics throughout the game. With disgruntled Wednesday fans letting the team know how they felt, things weren't looking good for the Owls, Darren Purse's every touch was being stupidly jeered by less intelligent members of the crowd and the team were surrounded by a chorus of boos as the made their way to the changing room at half-time.
A clearly furious Alan Irvine followed his players into the dressing room and one can only presume he gave the whole team the 'hair dryer treatment', Jermaine Johnson and Paul Heffernan were brought on for the second half in place of an ineffective Neil Mellor and Gary Teale who lacked his usual spark and creativity. Immediately Wednesday looked a better side in the second half and after just two minutes they were back in the game, Reda Johnson a constant threat in Charlton penalty area was there once more to flick the ball into the path of a grateful Paul Heffernan, who has not had many first team opportunities, Heffernan smashed the ball home, asking Alan Irvine the question when should Heffernan be given a starting role in the team, after coming on as a substitute in his last two Hillsborough matches to score goals. Just a few Minutes later the colossal new signing Reda Johnson was causing havoc once more in the Charlton penalty area. After good work from Chris Sedgwick on the left the ball came into the box and Johnson used every inch of his 6 foot 3 frame to power a header into the bottom corner, sending the Wednesday faithful into raptures. From then on Wednesday looked like they would be the only winners in this match, although Charlton did look a threat on the break. Daniel Jones was caught in an advanced position down the left flank leaving Reda Johnson to deal with the dangerous Scott Wagstaff, with a Brilliant hard sliding tackle Johnson dispossessed his man and had the composure to get up and safely dribble the ball out of harms way, leaving some Wednesdayites comparing him to the once so entertaining Madjid Bougherra who now play for Scottish Champions Rangers.
The second half also saw the introduction of former Wednesday Favourite Akpo Sodje who was well liked at Hillsborough, most notably for his opening goal in the Steel City derby two years previous. Fortunately for Wednesday Akpo was largely ineffective unlike so many returning former Owls. Charltons Defence tightened up with 20 minutes or so remaining and the previously dangerous Jermaine Johnson who has changed the game for a short period suddenly looked out of sorts. The game became had very little chances from then on until the fourth official announced there would be 4 minutes of stoppage time. This announcement was greeted by a huge roar from the 19,000 Wednesday fans, who were hoping for more than just a point against promotion rivals Charlton. Within seconds the players responded with the hard working James O'connor going close with a rare long range drive leaving fans all over the ground biting their nails. But with literally seconds left on the clock and fans from both sides resigning to the fact that this league one fixture would be a draw a long ball was floated into the box from new signing Michael Morrison. The stand in right back ball was an absolute peach and landed firmly on the head of the truly impressive Paul Heffernan who powered his header towards the top corner only to be denied by the finger tips of the point saving Rob Elliot, who tipped the ball onto the post, and then stood and watched as the ball dribbled along the goal line only to be cleared by a last ditch boot from a Charlton defender. Paul Heffernan was interviewed after the match and asked about his header, "When I headed it, I thought it was in; the keeper got a little touch on it, and even then I thought it was in; it hit the inside of the post and rolled across the goal. I was gutted". Contrastingly to the first half the team were given a standing ovation from the Wednesday Faithful, in a game they really should have taken all three points from.
Alan Irvine had this to say after the game, "It was a dreadful start, a good response in the second half; but for a fantastic save and the post, we would have ended up winning.
Their goals were terrible from our point of view. You can't defend like that and expect to get away with it.
I felt confident that Tommy would score with the penalty; he has a fantastic record. It didn't happen. I'm sure he will go on to score a lot more.
I was tempted to make three changes at half-time. But if you do that and pick up an injury, you're chasing the game with 10 men.
I told them at half-time it wasn't acceptable. it was time to take more responsibility. I felt a lot of players were hiding.
The impact of the two subs (Jermaine Johnson and Paul Heffernan] was dramatic. In the second half we were really looking dangerous every time we went forward."
Wednesday go on to play Leyton Orient away on saturday and the fans will be full of hope and expectation after Alan Irvine named 2 new signings on the day of the Charlton fixture. The signings of Highly rated Youngster Gary Madine and Scottish Talent Mark Reynolds combined with the second half performance from the Owls, could lead to a new positive outlook from Hillsborough as Milan Mandaric continues to back Irvine in the transfer market, with the team looking stronger and stronger every week.Sunday 9 January 2011
Reda Johnson and Michael Morrison
This is Reda Johnson, Sheffield Wednesday's new centre back signed from Plymouth argyle for an undisclosed fee. Reda impressed on his debut, but their has already typically been controversy surrounding his name following his transfer just a few days ago.http://menmedia.co.uk/trafford/news/s/1404376_footballer_reda_johnson_in_court_on_false_imprisonment_charges Although Reda is currently in court on allegations of false imprisonment, according to reports he played exceptionally well on is debut, when Wednesday put 3 past championship side Bristol City. Sheffield Wednesday's other new signing Michael Morrison from Leicster for an undisclosed fee also had a solid debut in the F.A cup third round tie. The two new defensive signings have been of a particular relief to me, as I can't stand watching Tommy Spurr and Darren Purse play at Hillsborough week in week out, so added competition from the likes of Morrison and Johnson is a breathe of Fresh air no matter what they get up to off the field....
I am looking forward to seeing both these new signings star in future matches for the mighty owls and am finaly excited at the prospect of more signings coming to Hillsborough with Mad Milan looking to splash the cash with at least four new signings before the Charlton match on saturday! Role the rest of this week is all I can say!
Introducing
Hello! My name is Tom, i am and have been a season ticket holder at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club for around 10 years. I am setting up this Blog for all Sheffield Wednesday and Football Fans, who want to keep updated and talk about Sheffield Wednesday and all other Footballing matters, from this weekends F.A Cup 3rd round ties to the constant sackings and pressure on football managers at the moment.
Thanks, will see you with my first post soon!
Thanks, will see you with my first post soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)