International Break Brings Time To Reflect

The end of the 2018/19 season brought renewed optimism after a couple of seasons of doom and gloom at S6. The arrival of Steve Bruce, a proven manager at Championship level, was a popular one amongst the fans and an upturn in results and performances in the second half of the season further cemented that.

It's fair to say when pre season started again in the summer, there was a buzz back around not only the squad but the fans and about what could be again. Not even a soft embargo could dampen spirits.

The squad came back looking fitter and sharper than they had for a while and with a trip to Portugal on the horizon, excitement for the new season began to take hold. The soft embargo was still in place but Steve Bruce carried on behind the scenes and having identified where the team needed improvement and which players he could snap up from the bargain aisle, made some very astute additions. Kadeem Harris, Julian Borner and Moses Odubajo had all joined the squad and Harris in particular showed early signs he would be a fan favourite.

Rumours are here, there and everywhere in football, they create talking points but you learn to take most of them with a pinch of salt, so during the Portugal trip when there were mentions of Steve Bruce been touted for the Newcastle vacancy, not a lot of people rushed to pay it much attention. After all, Steve Bruce had barely got his project started of moulding together his own team that could take The Owls back to the big time and in turn become a legend at the club. He had the backing of a chairman in Dephon Chansiri that any manager can only dream of. How many clubs have a chairman who chucks money at everything he can in a club, with no intention of wanting it back. A chairman who gives managers time to turn around results when things aren't going right, sometimes loyal to a fault. Compare that with Mike Ashley at Newcastle and you can be forgiven for being confident that Steve Bruce, no matter how much it tugged at the heart strings to manage his boyhood club in the premier league, would remain at Hillsborough and see through his project with a much more stable set up behind him.

Steve Bruce walked out on The Owls before the start of the season

By the time August came around, Bruce had indeed left the club, with Wednesday fans left in anger and dismay at what felt like utter betrayal by someone who was given time and respect by the chairman and fans when he'd been announced as the manager back in January. Lee Bullen was placed in temporary charge.

The opening day fixture of Reading away was one that brought confidence diluted with hesitation. How much had the Bruce saga affected the players and could Bullen maintain the feel good factor amongst the squad?

Come 5 o'clock, Wednesday were top of the league after a 3-1 win. 'Bully' seemed to have carried on where Bruce left off and all of a sudden supporters were wondering if it was time to give the fan favourite a chance in the hot seat on a permanent basis.

By the time the next match came around at home to Barnsley, the transfer window had shut, but not before Bullen had further strengthened the squad with the signings of Massimo Luongo, Jacob Murphy and David Bates. It was Murphy who made an instant impact in the Yorkshire derby, taking just over a minute to put The Owls a goal up, before Steven Fletcher scored his first of the season to secure the win and keep Wednesday's 100% start intact.

'Bully' was now really becoming a front runner. Chansiri couldn't have wished it any better considering what had happened just before the start of the season. He was able to sit back and assess, not having to rush to make an appointment. Had those first two games been lost then maybe a little panic could have started to set in. Instead he could quietly keep looking at candidates whilst pondering whether the right man was already at the club.

Millwall away, always a tough one for any away team and at half time after a toothless first half performance, Wednesday were a goal down but going into the second half against ten men after a sending off for Jed Wallace late in the half. The second half is best summed up by a combination of a little luck and some backs to the wall defending by Millwall, and some poor finishing from Wednesday. Despite peppering The Lions goal with 21 shots during the game, Wednesday failed to score. It was put down as one of those days.

A somewhat lackluster display at home to Luton followed but a second half Kadeem Harris goal earned The Owls another three points and with three wins from four games, it was hard to argue it was not a solid start to the season. However, patches of the Millwall game followed by the uninspired performance during the Luton match started to draw questions from supporters and talk of Wednesday "having no Plan B". When everyone was firing and the likes of Kadeem Harris was squaring up defenders and blazing past them, or Bannan was unlocking defences for strikers to get shots off, great. But when you come up against stubborn opposition who cut that out at the source, then what?

Preston away only added further fuel to the fire. It didn't help that Moses Odubajo had a nightmare game, giving away two stone wall, needless penalties that had The Owls two down just after an hour. The "Plan B" was to bring on Nuhiu and Forestieri but not until the final 20 minutes did Wednesday finally start looking threatening. Fletcher grabbed a goal back but that was all The Owls could manage.

A cup tie at Rotherham brought a chance for some much needed rotation and game time for players who could be forgiven for thinking they should be playing more of a part in the league campaign, but a stuttering performance was only saved in the 96th minute when Nuhiu turned in a cross at the back post at the second attempt. It's hard to read too much into these games. When you factor in nine changes, a cup tie and Yorkshire derby, you can somewhat excuse a bit of a disjointed performance, the win is what mattered.

With the international break looming, QPR stood in the way of what would either be a good start to the season, or a poor run of form and an average start considering the big boys were still to play. What played out was uninspired to say the least and despite taking a first half lead through a Steven Fletcher penalty, two quickfire Jordan Hugill goals in the second half condemned Wednesday to their first home defeat of the season and their third defeat in four league games. Lee Bullen came out after and declared, "I've been at the football club long enough to know the demand of the support and that performance, especially in the second half, was nowhere near acceptable for a club of this size."

With just over a week to go until Wednesday resume league action against winless Huddersfield, Chansiri it would seem has the window to now make decisions. Lee Bullen has kept the ship steady but does he have what it takes to get this team firing and looking like promotion contenders again? The last four league games would be harsh to judge him by but they have been less than flattering to say the least, especially after the first two games where Wednesday looked menacing and drove forward at will.

Danny Cowley at the time of writing has been rumoured to be in advanced talks with The Owls, having ironically just turned down the Huddersfield job. He's a young manager who has worked on a tight budget and done wonders at Lincoln and it would be a massive blow for them to lose him, but a lot of Owls supporters are keen for him to take the job at Hillsborough. That could be for a couple of reasons. Cowley is young and driven. His Lincoln side recently put in a brave performance against a strong Everton team in the cup before bowing out but they still occupy an automatic spot in League One after a solid start. It's hard to not notice the job he's doing at Sincil Bank and do anything but admire it.

The main candidate initially who fans wanted was Chris Hughton but having apparently turned down the chance to manage the club, there haven't been many other stand out names. Tony Pulis and Sol Campbell are two that have been heavily linked at various points but seem to massively underwhelm the supporters. Others names like Gary Monk and Gary Rowett have been linked and been received more positively but again, having seen how they've recently coped at clubs in the Championship expected to challenge, they don't get the juices flowing too much. "Steady", I think would be fair to say if either got the job.

One way or another, you feel come Huddersfield away, The Owls need to have a permanent manager in place to drive the team and rid the uncertainty from around the club. The season is still young and with a squad containing quality like Wednesday have, everything is still there to play for.