Debut-ish and a lack of bouncebackability - SIX talking points as lacklustre Sheffield Wednesday fall to Coventry City

Given results elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday really needed to try and pick up three points against Coventry City...
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But it wasn’t to be. Wednesday were lacklustre and hardly forged anything in terms of chances - with Viktor Gyokeres and Jamie Allen scoring the goals that saw them well beaten by the Sky Blues at St. Andrews.

Throughout the course of the 90 minutes, Neil Thompson’s side never really got going in their first league fixture in almost a month, and Mark Robins will leave the ground tonight pleased that his team put in such an untroubled performance.

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Here’s some talking points from what could be a pivotal game in Birmingham:

It was a tough night for Sheffield Wednesday against Coventry City. (Tim Goode/PA Wire)It was a tough night for Sheffield Wednesday against Coventry City. (Tim Goode/PA Wire)
It was a tough night for Sheffield Wednesday against Coventry City. (Tim Goode/PA Wire)

All change! Return of the big names…

Before the game had even kicked off, there was plenty to talk about amongst Wednesdayites. Thompson rang the changes following the 3-0 defeat to Everton, making a total of six as he named a strong XI to take on Coventry.

Keiren Westwood, Tom Lees and Liam Palmer have all got a lot of SWFC appearances under their belts, but have missed recent games either due to injury or as part of the COVID-19 outbreak at the club, but they gave the manager a big boost in terms of bodies available going into a vital league game.

On top of that there was also a return for Massimo Luongo, who made a Wednesday squad for the first time since December 8th. The Australian has proven time and again his importance to the side, and having him back on the verge of a return to the starting XI will be very welcome new for the manager.

Unfortunately none of them were able to affect the result.

A debut – sort of

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It’s almost exactly a year since Hutchinson last played for Sheffield Wednesday. It was January 24th 2020, and the Owls were flying high in the Championship. Since then Wednesday have been through two managers, and he’s been to Cyprus and back. Tonight though, wearing the number six shirt, ‘Hutch’ took his place back amongst the starting XI.

He might have been the ‘new face’ in terms of the fact that he’s the latest player to join, but the 31-year-old has racked up over 150 Owls appearances over the years and is very well known amongst the experienced players in the group. He mentioned to the press the fact that he’s close with Palmer – the longest serving player at Wednesday – and he got the chance to start alongside him this evening. Rekindling things with a teammate that he’s known since they first met in 2014.

Hutchinson did ok, without pulling up any trees. But it was not a good team performance in general.

A lack of bouncebackability

They just haven’t seemed to have any… You have to go all the way back to December 2019 to find Wednesday’s last come-from-behind victory, and in 2020/21 they’ve picked up a grand total of zero points in the 11 games where they’ve fallen behind.

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The Owls are in a relegation scrap, they all know that, and if they’re to survive then they’re going to have to find a way to pick up points when things are going against them.

Tonight was one of those occasions when they needed a bit of bouncebackability, and once again they were left wanting. It remains zero points after going behind, and that is not a promising statistic.

Big red shout

It was right after the goal, and it could’ve been a big turning point for Wednesday. David Hyam brought down Josh Windass as he was bearing down on goal, and there was a big shout for a red card.

It seemed, from the stands, like a glaring goalscoring opportunity for the visitors, and instead they were left with a free kick – which went just over from Bannan – and the Coventry defender was only booked.

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Maybe it would have changed the game, maybe it wouldn’t, but it certainly seemed like the wrong call at the time.

Those contracts…

It’s certainly worth noting that seven of Wednesday’s starting XI tonight will - as things stand – be out of contract at the end of the season. That’s almost a full side of players who don’t know for sure whether they’ll still be at the club come July 1st.

Whether it’s key regulars like Barry Bannan, Tom Lees and Adam Reach, or some of the more fringe guys like Matt Penney, the club really do need to try and start sorting out which players they’re still going to be able to call upon come the next campaign… Bannan said recently that he was hoping things were close with his renewal, and fingers crossed the same can be said for some of the others.

Hutchinson (who could extend if he plays enough games) as well as Joey Pelupessy and Keiren Westwood complete the seven who don’t currently have deals beyond June, and they’re all players who you’d expect to feature quite a lot between them in the Owls relegation fight this year.

The table

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It doesn't make for pretty reading. While Wednesday lost, Rotherham put Middlesbrough to the sword with an impressive 3-0 away win. The Owls now find themselves four points off the Millers (who have played a game less), and six points off 21st-placed Derby County. If you took away their six-point deduction, they’d still be in the relegation zone – and that’s a genuine worry.

‘Thommo’ will be disappointed with the way that his team played, and result achieved, but the focus now turns to Preston North End and a huge February ahead for the team from S6.

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