With the transfer window coming to an end not long after the 4th round tie, Milan Mandaric and Alan Irvine had some work to do, to get the targeted six playes in before the deadline. Isaiah Osbourne arrived at Hillsborough on loan until the end of the season from Aston Villa. Osbourne was once seen as a player with great potential under the management of Martin O'neill, but has struggled to get a look in under the reign of Gerard Houllier. Osbourne's contract at Villa Park expires at the end of the season, and if he impresses for the Owls he could earn himself a permanent deal at Hillsborough. Osbourne is known for his physicality and combative nature in the centre of the park, some Villa fans have been reluctant to hand out praise for the youngster, but in all fairness he is being compared to the likes of Albrighton and Abonglahor at Villa Park, who have set the premier league a light. With hours left in the January transfer window, Sheffield Wednesday made a move for the highly regarded Lee Cook. The deal looked almost certain to happen, but by the close of the window it had appeared that the player himself had pulled out, after all terms had been agreed. This brought the usual feeling of doom and gloom back to the Wednesday faithful, who felt that they had missed out on an exceeding promising winger, who could be the missing link in a Wednesday midfield which has lacked creative spark at the best of times.
A hectic week for Wednesday was already well under way, and Tuesday nights game at London Road, just added to the chaos currently surrounding the Owls. The evening started positively at London Road, in a game which had to be seen as a must win for both the club's chances of promotion and the manager's chances of survival. Wednesday were 1-0 up within 5 minutes as Jermaine Johnson continued to shine with a sparkling run down the left, he cut inside taking on two Peterborough defenders before smashing the ball home into the top corner. Wednesdays defence continued to look liable under pressure as it has done in the past few weeks and 5 minutes later Posh made it 1-1. Gary Madine continue his impressive start in a Wednesday shirt, by latching onto a loose ball before slotting his finish into the bottom corner, to make it 2 goals in 3 games for the Owls. Madine's goal sent the Wednesday faithful into raptures, only for them to be silenced once more, this time by the man of the match George Boyd, who I for one would love to see in a Wednesday Shirt. His sot crawled under Nicky Weaver who has certainly seen much better days in a Wednesday shirt. Neil Mellor who is currently not playing in the same manner as he was earlier In the season was hardly involved in the game, but with his first real contribution he played through Chris Sedgwick to smash home from a tight angle. Within the first 35 minutes there had been 5 goals in this match, and there was no sign of anything stopping those goals flowing in. Wednesday continued to impress going forward but still looked nervy at the back. In the 70th minute, last man Darren Potter failed to be Wednesday's knight in shining armour, he lunged in to take down the scorer of Posh' first goal Craig Mackail Smith. The referee deservedly sent Potter back down the tunnel for an early bath, leaving Wednesday really up against it for the final 20. Conversely to how Wednesday had reacted to the opposition having players sent off, nine days previous against Yeovil, Peterborough took full advantage of their extra man. Wednesday's defence crumbled and individual errors and lack of team moral effectively let Posh in to score 3 more goals with just 20 minutes remaining. An evening which had started so promisingly for Irvine and Wednesday had ended in disaster.Wednesday left London Road just 5 points clear of the drop zone and 7 points away from the play-offs. Considering Alan Irvine's target was automatic promotion this season such a dramatic collapse into mid table was putting the manager under some serious pressure. The Hillsborough camp was quiet all day Wednesday, and rumours were doing the rounds that Irvine was on his way out of the exit door. Earlier this morning it was announced that Wednesday had parted company with the Scotsman and the search for a new manager was already under way. Although Irvine has shown desire and know how in the transfer market, results do not lie and neither do team selections weak in weak out. Some may say that Irvine had no chance under the wielding axe of Milan Mandaric but personally I believe any manager in his situation would have got the chop probably much sooner than Irvine did himself. Most Wednesday fans I'm sure will wish Alan good luck, but be thankful for at least some sort of change to the dire atmosphere surrounding S6.
The names being linked with the Owls so far are Wednesday playing legend Gary Megson, former Peterborough and Bristol City boss, Gary Johnson as well as Kevin Keegan, Roy Keane and Chris Hughton. Tonight Milan Mandaric has told the media that he has also made contact with potential targets and has a shortlist of 4 managers, also confirming interest in previously mentioned, Megson. Personally the arrival of Megson would not upset me, but some Wednesday fans seem to be less keen, with the possibility of a big name manager coming in, due to Milan Mandaric's great footballing connections. This week could also see the arrival of 2 or 3 loan players which the new manager will get to bring in with funds from the Serbian chairman, rumours surround Lee Cook for whom a move may still be on the cards, as it is well known he would prefer a short term move to regain his fitness.Who would you like to see manage Wednesday next? and who would you like to see the new manager bring in on loan to boost the squad? Here's to a new start for Sheffield Wednesday! UTO
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