2019/20 - Consequences as yet unfulfilled? A football story pre-lockdown

After finishing the season on a slight downer all attention quickly turned to next year. Under Steve Bruce we had picked up hugely. As an experienced manager and someone hugely respected within the game his mere presence was enough to elevate the players to play above themselves. After some strong performances and turning relegation fodder into a play-off squeak I was quietly confident that if he could recruit to a similar standard as he had done in January, using his network of contacts, that we would be there or there about’s come the end of 2019/20. 

And then Rafa Benitez left Newcastle. 

I paid little attention to the rumours at first however everything came to a head on the day of a pre-season double header. Half the squad was at Lincoln City, whilst I chose to travel the shorter distance to watch a 5-0 run-out at Stocksbridge Park Steels, where amongst others new signing Kadeem Harris was on show after completing his free transfer from Cardiff. A few days later Bruce was confirmed as the new Newcastle boss, and whilst I was massively disappointed in all honesty would anyone have turned down the opportunity to go back up to Premier League level to manage their boyhood club? I know I wouldn’t turn it down if it was Wednesday for me. 

And so for the third time 2005 promotion winning captain Lee Bullen stepped up from the background and took the reigns. Two flat performances out in Germany on a short tour, no doubt impacted by the sudden departure of Bruce, ensued followed by a decent draw with Espanyol at Hillsborough. I was able to view the Espanyol game from a sun lounger as the game was broadcast on youtube. Whilst disappointed to miss the opportunity to watch the owls take on the spaniards I was consoled by the fact I was watching from beside the beach in Jamaica where I was attending a wedding of friends who live out in that part of the world! 

The summers pre-season action was rounded off as I took the kids with some friends to watch a Wednesday IX take on Staveley Miners Welfare. The owls registered a 4-2 victory in the evening sunshine with Bulgarian Preslav Borukov and a brace from Liam Shaw registering on the scoresheet. 

We went into the start of the season with a will-he-won’t-he saga of would 2018/19 player of the season Michael Hector return to the club? We had already added our first German signing Julien Borner, full back Moses Odubajo and Kadeem Harris. Before the close of the summer window we would also add midfielder Massimo Luongo, winger Jacob Murphy and defender David Bates (who would play just one game) to the ranks. Whilst it wasn’t immediately obvious at the time this summers recruitment appeared to be a shift in transfer policy from big spending to a more frugal approach. 

3rd Aug - Reading 1-3 Owls

Lee Bullen led the owls to an opening day of the season victory at Reading. Kadeem Harris looked a world beater and despite a red card for Keiran Westwood we clinched victory with an impressive goal from Lucas Joao. The inconsistent Joao was sold to Reading a short time after the tie. 

24th Aug - Preston 2-1 Owls

First away day of the season saw me lose my unbeaten record at Preston with summer signing Moses Odubajo turning in a terrible performance. Despite rallying late on led by an inspired Atdhe Nuhiu we were unable to find an equaliser in the baking sunshine. 

31st Aug - Owls 1-2 QPR

A flat poor performance from the Owls saw them slump to a home defeat to QPR. Steven Fletcher gave us the lead but we showed a soft underside to allow the visitors back into the game. This pretty much sounded the end of Bullen’s chances of getting the job full time. 

21st Sept - Owls 1-1 Fulham

Promotion hopefuls Fulham came to town for Gary Monk’s first home tie. After taking a lead the visitors began throwing themselves about wasting time. That tactic came back to bite them with Wednesday showing some resolve and Nuhiu grabbed a late stoppage time equaliser to start celebrations akin to a late cup final winner. In fairness for the efforts it was nothing short of what we deserved and maintained an unbeaten start for the latest Wednesday gaffer. 

24th Sep - Owls 0-2 Everton EFL Cup

This league cup 4th round tie was over within the first ten minutes as a strong Everton side eased to a two goal victory courtesy of early strikes from former blades striker DCL.

2nd Nov - Blackburn 2-1 Owls

After a decent months form we travelled to Blackburn in good spirits. A pretty uneventful game came to life in the last ten minutes when deadline day loan signing Murphy scrambled home to give us a lead. And despite some more pressure we succumbed quickly to an equaliser but a deflection from former Wednesday loanee Buckley in added time saw the home side turn the tie around, and to send us home into the rain pointless.

22nd Dec - Owls 1-0 Bristol City

After a mixed November we really got going during December. And despite some murmurs of discourse relating to style of play (or more a lack of it) we went into Christmas in third place in the league following a hard fought 1-0 win over Bristol City, courtesy of Barry Bannan’s penalty. 

The Christmas period going into 2020 saw a collapse of biblical proportions. Going into added time on boxing day the owls led Stoke 2-1 before the mother of all collapses saw us lose 3-2 to 93rd and 97th minute goals. This kickstarted a run of five defeats in six league games - the highlights include a 0-1 home defeat to Hull without a shot on target, a 5-0 home defeat to Blackburn after Luongo was wrongly sent off after 23 minutes and a last minute defeat to Wigan who were on a long winless run, with their winner came in stoppage time! During this period we were able to win at Brighton in the FA Cup 3rd round with youngster Osaze Uroghide excelling on his professional debut.

To counter this under pressure boss Monk brought in attacking players Alessio Da Cruz, Josh Windass and Connor Wickham to try to arrest the slump.

8th Feb - Barnsley 1-1 Owls

A 16th minute debut goal from Windass put us in front in the south Yorkshire derby however a goalkeeping error from Dawson allowed Barnsley a soft first half equaliser. We then spent the remainder of the game hanging on in the game as we struggled to retain possession or get any form of foot hold in the game. A lucky escape. 

22nd Feb - Birmingham 3-3 Owls

After horrible defeats against Luton and Reading we travelled to Birmingham chasing our second win in 11 games. After falling behind on six minutes to a Murphy own goal we bounced back with a Bannan equaliser. Despite falling behind once more Fernando Forestieri equalised before half time. We then took the lead through Murphy on 65 minutes and could have wrapped the game up with we had turned our dominance into goals. But with the clock ticking we again switched off and allowed the home side a soft equaliser against the run of play in the 91st minute. 

26th Feb - Owls 1-0 Charlton

We finally ended our winless run by scoring our first goal at Hillsborough in 2020 - Steve Fletcher, returning from injury as a substitute, notching the 95th minute winner to unbridled joy in the stands! The game itself had been nothing to write home about - Wednesday dominated, Charlton’s one chance was a long range shot from Lyle Taylor that struck the bar, whilst Wednesday huffed and puffed to little avail until late on.

4th March - Owls 0-1 Man City 

Gary Monk’s side took on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side at Hillsborough in this televised mid week fifth round FA Cup tie. Both sides made changes for the game but it was the Premier League champions who progressed into the sixth round thanks to Sergio Aguero’s strike slipping past Joe Wildsmith in the Wednesday goal. 

The following weekend Wednesday weakly surrendered to a 5-0 defeat at promotion chasing Brentford. We were in the middle of a disastrous slide, the manager was was under severe pressure against a backdrop of poor results, awful performances and having ostracised vocal members of the dressing room Westwood and Hutchinson. And that is where we left matters. A week later the footballing authorities took matters into their own hands and postponed all football fixtures in wake of the growing threat of the Covid-19 coronavirus. A week later the whole country went into an unprecedented national lockdown. With no idea when things would return to normal the footballing world went into hibernation... 

Lockdown 2020 had begun... 

2018/19 - False dawns & snake eyes...

Rumours of financial issues relating to FFP regulations dominated discussion going into the summer. Although at the time the club denied that it was under a transfer embargo no permanent signings were forthcoming over the close season for Jos Luhaky’s side. 

Wednesday bid farewell to popular players Glenn Loovens and Ross Wallace - both released and Jack Hunt who was sold to Bristol City. Reserve goalkeeper Jake Kean and youngster Sean Clare both left, the latter after refusing a new contract offer. The most notable departure however was record signing Jordan Rhodes who left for Norwich City on a season long loan deal. 

Pre season began with a lovely little Friday night trip to Lincoln City where they ran out of food and beer before the game kicked off, and the only goal of the game was scored by Fernando Forestieri. 

After a behind closed doors tie with NAC Breda we then lost at Mansfield in a tie marred by accusations of racial abuse made against Forestieri, who was also sent off for a wreckless challenge that resulted in a 22 man brawl. 

Our final friendly saw us take on Spanish side Villarreal. The visitors took the lead but a collectors item goal from Liam Palmer levelled. We succumbed to their greater quality second half but it had been a nice little warm up for the season. 

4th Aug - Wigan 3-2 Owls

New day - new dawn? Not quite. Newly promoted Wigan tore into Wednesday who notably had senior player Keiren Westwood missing, fuelling rumours of a rift. The pace of the game appeared to take us by surprise as wave after wave of attack came at us  We fell behind after 11 minutes but Nuhiu levelled against the run of play on 20. Wigan were soon ahead again, and stretched the lead in the second half with some questionable goalkeeping on display. Forestieri pulled a goal back but it wasn’t enough. Nuhiu also saw red late on for a second bookable offence. 

28th Aug - Owls 0-2 Wolves

After a poor start we had just secured back to back wins before the visit of last seasons Championship winners Wolves in the EFL cup. 

Despite being on holiday in Flamingo land the lad and I drove back to watch the game after we won tickets in the competition sponsors draw. 

A scratch Wednesday side laboured and actually did ok at times, forgotten man David Jones had a pretty decent game in midfield. Sadly we succumbed to their greater quality and fitness with Adams Traore ripping us to pieces at will. Ah well, concentrate on the league. 

Wednesday did eventually manage to complete some transfer activity with the deadline day loan deals for Tottenham midfielder Josh Onomah and Jamaican international defender Michael Hector. However Jos had tried to move the club in a more youthful direction with players such as Matt Penney, Ash Baker, Jordan Thorniley, Connor Kirby, Fraser Preston and all making first team contributions in the first months of the season. 

15th Sept - Owls 2-2 Stoke

After picking up some form Wednesday found themselves two down after twenty two minutes against Stoke, with ex-Owls loanee Benik Afobe on target twice courtesy of some poor defending. Luckily Marco Matias pulled a goal back within a few minutes of the second goal, and we completed a comeback with Barry Bannan finding the back of the net with a free kick. 

22nd Sept - Aston Villa 1-2 Owls

Wednesday made it consecutive wins at Villa Park. Marco Matias opened the scoring, before a stunning volley for our hosts equalised. We were the better side for long periods aside from a purple patch after they equalised. Steven Fletcher Knocked home a winner to cap a great day out! 

3rd Oct - Owls 2-2 WBA

Facing West Brom at Hillsborough we put in really strong performance for 85 minutes. We were two up at half time through Reach and Forestieri however poor game management saw us surrender the victory in the last five minutes, which coincidently was around the time brought the inexperienced Connor Kirby on, when they had just introduced former England international Gareth Barry. 

9th Nov - Blades 0-0 Owls

It’s fair to say despite being heavily criticised during the season we had Cameron Dawson to thank for a draw at Bramall Lane, particularly as he saved a penalty from ex-Wednesday loanee David McGoldrick. The game was pretty much a carbon copy of the previous seasons stalemate in the end. This game ended a four game losing run for the owls too!

22nd Dec - Owls 1-0 Preston

Lee Bullen took caretaker charge for a second time as Jos was given the boot after a run of one win in nine games. Jos’ sweary post match press confernace following defeat at Swansea was host last act as Wednesday manager. Bullen’s first act was to recall senior players Westwood and Hutchinson who had been ostracised by the Dutchman. The decision to sack the manager came after a bizarre fans forum outburst from the clubs owner where he publicly backed his manager, before announcing the club was for sale (he later retracted that comment). 

Wednesday won the game one nil via a Michael Hector goal.

5th Jan - Owls 0-0 Luton

We faced League One leaders Luton in the FA Cup third round. Wednesday, now led by the two Steve’s, maybe he the best chances but we were constantly under pressure throughout. 

27th Jan - Chelsea 3-0 Owls

We traveled south to face premier league big boys Chelsea in the cup after overcoming Luton in the replay. 

The game was scheduled for a late Sunday kick off, which meant a day out in London!

Chelsea played a reserve team that was not short on quality or full internationals, and aside from our first dalliance with VAR we were well beaten. 

The following day Steve Bruce became manager, stepping into the role after the club allowed his two assistants to take the team whilst he finished a sabbatical. He made his signings on deadline day with Dominic Iorfa joining from Wolves, whilst Achraf Lazaar and Rolando Aarons came on loan from Newcastle. 

4th Mar - Owls 0-0 Blades

Our neighbours were riding high chasing promotion making us massive underdogs however in this even contest it was Wednesday who probably had the best chance, the born again Sam Hutchinson putting the best chance of the game straight at the goalkeeper. 

9th Mar - Derby 1-1 Owls

It’s always a good day out at Derby and had it not been for a little bad luck we could have secured our first win there since 2006. Iorfa scored a second half equaliser and we wrongly had another goal rule out for something. A good away point against a side in the play offs. 

30th Mar - Stoke 0-0 Owls

Can Steve do it on a cold day in Stoke? After losing Aarons to injury in the warm up we were surprised to see Gary Hooper back to fitness for the first time in forever!

Stoke were the better side but we held out for another good away point. 

6th Apr - Owls 1-3 Aston Villa

Our form since Bruce has taken over the managerial reigns had seen results and performances improve, to the point there was a chance we could gate crash the play offs party. Just goes to show what can be done with a proper manager?

Sadly our play off hopes went with Barry Bannan’s hamstring in the second half of this tie with Bruce’s former club. Hooper gave us an early lead but poor defending from Liam Palmer allowed the ball to be cut back for McGinn to score. 

Villa had all the momentum going into the tie and with us pushing for a winner we were hit with two quick counter attacks in added on time to leave us six points off the play offs. This was Bruce’s first defeat as Wednesday gaffer. 

22nd Apr - Owls 2-0 Bristol City

We finished this Easter Monday fixture four points off the plays offs but looking unlikely to gate crash the party after a comfortable victory in the April sunshine.

Bannan and João with the goals to cap off an amazing day where my son was a mascot on my birthday. 

27th Apr - Preston 3-3 Owls

Kept up my personal unbeaten run at Preston as we came back into this tie in the second half to earn a point. We were two goals down at half time but Barry Bannan halved the deficit on 49 minutes. Browne made it 3-1 sweeping home following a counter attacking move. The away fans stayed with the side and the atmosphere became electric when Forestieri and Nuhiu both scored within in two minutes of each other. Dom Iorfa received a red card for a strong challenge a few monutes later but that didn’t take the wind out of our sails as we pushed for a winner. Sadly we were unable to nick a fourth goal however Kieran Lee came off the bench for his first appearance of the season following some bad injuries. 

5th May - Owls 1-2 QPR

The final game of the season saw defeat at home to QPR. In a forgettable clash Michael Hector scored a penalty in the second half, however with the Wednesday players clearly on the beach QPR snuck a 93rd minute winner that saw the side drop to 12th in the table. 

Looking to the summer Bruce looked to be the manager who had the character and experience needed to finally elevate the club to the levels it aspired too. An actual real football manager that other clubs would recognise and not an ex-coach, promoted assistant or an unknown. Going into the summer if felt a case of clear the deadwood, retain Hector and add some pace and the club could really get going under Steve Bruce...