Brentford shambles was Garry Monk's ‘toughest’ day and a turning point for Sheffield Wednesday

Shoulders slumped, head bowed, Garry Monk, his staff and players dragged themselves from the Griffin Park to the passionate booing of a Sheffield Wednesday fan base baying for blood.

At that historic old ground there was absolutely no hiding place; the dugouts situated across the field from the tunnel, Wednesday individuals were forced to trudge diagonally into the firing line of away support. Brentford fans delighted into chants of “sacked in the morning”, while angry Wednesday fans united in more colourful lyricism.

Written without any desire to emphasise the point, a 5-0 defeat flattered Sheffield Wednesday that day, the home side building momentum on their way to a playoff semi-final and showing all the things Monk said he wanted from his soon-to-be transformed Owls side; youth, hunger, dynamism.

Wednesday, to a man, rolled over. For the first time, it felt as though Monk may have been a result or two from losing his job.

“There is a culture here that will, never, ever be successful,” he said with an emotion and vulnerability that hadn’t been heard before during his time at Hillsborough.

“Regardless of who is sat here doing that they’re going to have the same problems.

“That change will come in the summer, for sure, whether that’s me or anyone else.”

Monk hung his players out to dry, accusing them of ‘shirking their responsibilities’ and describing the performance as ‘an embarrassment’. Fans gathered outside the player’s entrance to confront the manager and his players. Things felt as though they were coming to a head.

And then the world stopped.

Within a week Wednesday’s clash with Nottingham Forest was postponed. Within 10 days the UK was in total lockdown as the tragedy of the coronavirus crisis took hold.

“It was the toughest to take,” Monk said this weekend when asked whether the afternoon was his lowest ebb as a manager.

“What you do in situations like that is you either crumble and go with whatever people want to say about it, or you go and do something about it.

“That’s what I’m trying to do and that’s what this squad are trying to do.

“There are very quick turnarounds in management but that’s what it is and hopefully we can keep doing what we’re doing.”

The three-month break that followed has proven to be a turning point of sorts for the Owls, who heading into the season nursing a 12-point deduction have shown great strides as Monk’s new-look squad set about getting back to zero as quickly as possible.

No fewer than nine signings have been made since that torrid day at Griffin Park, with a minibus of experienced senior names having moved on to Italy, Cyprus and Stoke. What a difference 228 days can make.

A win over Brentford this evening, a side in something of a transition of their own after the departures of Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma, would give poetic licence to the notion that Wednesday have come somwhere close to full circle since that snake belly-low on March 7.

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