Alan Biggs: Sheffield Wednesday man a grandmaster in surfing high-emotion expectation as progress continues

Sometimes boring is best, even for one of the highest scoring teams in the country.
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My favourite current Sheffield Wednesday quote falls nicely into this category.

“We don’t get too high on the highs and we don’t get too low on the lows.”

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This was Darren Moore after last Saturday’s 3-1 win over Wycombe, which was excellent in result and performance.

Ben Heneghan was back in Sheffield Wednesday's starting XI against Wycombe Wanderers.Ben Heneghan was back in Sheffield Wednesday's starting XI against Wycombe Wanderers.
Ben Heneghan was back in Sheffield Wednesday's starting XI against Wycombe Wanderers.

And while the focus was on front foot enterprise and purpose, here’s another favourite from the Wednesday manager, which, given his feet-on-the-ground mentality, said quite a lot.

Comeback centre half Ben Heneghan was, he said, “immense and absolutely solid.”

Wednesday very much need both of the ingredients the Owls boss highlighted if they are to deliver on this season of great promise and pressure.

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In the first instance, I think it shows again that Moore has the ideal temperament to handle the expectation and the sometimes irrational mood swings of the fan base.

To my eyes, there hasn’t been a single moment this season to justify thinking “trouble ahead”. As poor as the home performance against Barnsley was, it was easily explained. For whatever reason and for the only time so far, nearly every player failed to turn up.

But the highs and lows of football are what make it what it is. That’s what drug-taking does to you - and any follower of any team is well and truly hooked.

Nothing a manager says - or any commentator or scribe - will change that. Emotions around Hillsborough will continue to run high in either direction. It’s just the way it is.

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Moore’s philosophical and ungrudging acceptance of that, never taking any of it personally or angrily, is an advantage in this situation. Quite rightly, his priority is to insulate the training ground from these extremes.

Which brings us to Heneghan. He strikes me as a throwback centre half of the “head it and kick it” variety. And that’s a compliment, by the way.

Some of the basics of defending seem to have gone out of the window with the current vogue of playing out from the back, not least at Hillsborough.

And Wednesday’s occasional fragility has highlighted the value of the 29-year-old former AFC Wimbledon player, one of the least eye-catching signings of the summer but very dependable.

Maybe, too, when the unsophisticated Heneghan plays, Wednesday will be more direct, less inclined to pass across in front of the keeper, and that might be no bad thing.

Neither are the boring basics.