What Barry Bannan told Henrik Pedersen in passionate Sheffield Wednesday discussion spotted by fans
A post-match, on-field discussion between the captain and manager of Sheffield Wednesday caught the attention of Owls supporters - but was a chat born solely out of a passion for the work players are putting into their season.
The beleaguered Owls roared back from a lacklustre performance in the weekend’s Steel City derby to give fourth-placed Millwall a shake-up at The Den on Wednesday evening. In a back-and-forth match in which 35 shots were taken between the two sides, Femi Azeez’s header proved to be the difference between the two sides, with great Owls frustration placed on how the goal came about.
A fired-up Wednesday tested Lions stopper Max Crocombe on a number of occasions, striking the woodwork twice and raising two strong penalty shouts. With the winner coming with a hint of offside about it, skipper Barry Bannan and boss Henrik Pedersen had plenty to feel aggrieved about, particularly given the margins in which they lost the game.
While standing to applaud their appreciative away supporters, Bannan and Pedersen were picked up by cameras sharing a short but passionate conversation.
Asked what was said after the match, the Dane told The Star: “It was about Barry being a strong captain and talking about how much effort we brought to the game. To concede this goal in this way was.. it was a word I am not allowed to say. We put so much effort in and to give a goal away like that? It was offside but it doesn’t matter. It is not good enough.
“On the other end we also had chances to score one or two goals. Barry feels a lot of things in the right direction, the top mentality in the team, top togetherness in the team. We have to rest now and then we have to get all the energy we can to make a good game plan for Saturday to go again.”
Speaking after the Millwall defeat, Pedersen made reference to the disappointment in their performance in Sunday’s defeat to Sheffield United, admitting it was a let-down given the fiery efforts shown in difficult circumstances this season. He also praised the return of that spirit shown in the capital.
“It was a very disappointing Sunday, but a fantastic reaction tonight,” he said. “The boys did everything again tonight. The back are back and with a little bit of luck we could have got something tonight. We were all very disappointed that we brought a performance like this. As we spoke about before the game, the best reaction we could give today is to go out and give everything again for our club with big, big heart. The boys did it very, very well today.”