Carlos Carvalhal: The highs and lows of a year at Sheffield Wednesday

His left-field appointment surprised the whole of the football fraternity. Given Carvalhal had been out of management for three years, nobody was really sure what to expect.

It has been a rollecoaster ride, with the Portuguese chief overhauling the Owls’ style of play.

Carvalhal has cleverly built on the solid foundations laid by previous boss Stuart Gray, turning Wednesday into one of the Championship’s great entertainers.

After a shaky start to his reign, Carvalhal found a winning formula.

The former Sporting Lisbon and Besiktas chief led the Owls to the brink of promotion.

To mark his one-year anniversary, The Star has looked back on the highs and lows of the Carvalhal era:

Highs

Dismantling Arsenal in the Capital One Cup at a jam-packed Hillsborough will live long in the memory. Wednesday produced an irresistible performance to overwhelm the Premier League giants and seal their place in the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 2002.

Carvalhal has succeeded in making Hillsborough a place opponents fear coming to. Under his tutelage, Wednesday have lost just twice in their backyard.

Other notable home displays include their victories over Wolves, Birmingham City, Leeds United and Cardiff City.

There was a lot riding on the Cardiff match, which was their penultimate fixture of the regular season, but the team revelled in the carnival atmosphere, with Gary Hooper at the heart of their second half demolition.

Against an injury-ravaged Brighton and Hove Albion in the first leg of the Championship Play-Off semi-finals, Wednesday excelled in front of the cameras, cruising to a 2-0 success courtesy of strikes by Ross Wallace and Kieran Lee.

Away from home, the Owls enjoyed few high points. Their stand-out performance and result came at the City Ground where they tore Nottingham Forest apart.

Lows

Their defeat at the end of August to Middlesbrough gave them a much-needed kick up the backside. It led to Carvalhal kicking water bottles over in a dressing room rage and prompted him to ditch their 4-2-3-1 formation.

Wednesday’s away form in the first half of the campaign undermined their progress. The team’s defending at Charlton Athletic left a lot to be desired and Carvalhal was furious following their no-show at MK Dons.

As the campaign wore on, the Owls got stronger and stronger but there was still the odd slip up.

An under-strength Wednesday side lost at League One side Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup while Rotherham United turned over Carvalhal’s men at Hillsborough.

The Owls suffered their heaviest defeat under Carvalhal’s tutelage at Bristol City last April. They were woeful in every department in their 4-1 pasting.

However, the biggest low was the Championship Play-Off final. Wednesday were simply not allowed to impose their will and missed out on the near £170million cash windfall which promotion would have brought.