Dom Howson’s Sheffield Wednesday column: Why the Wigan Athletic horror-show could be the best thing to happen to the Owls

Yet Garry Monk's public attack on his players after their inept performance at Wigan Athletic last week could be a watershed moment in the club's season.

Stood in a corridor outside the press room at the DW Stadium, Monk was raging. His patience with Wednesday's under-performing squad had finally snapped. It was clear Monk had reached the end of his tether.

No more defending the team's inconsistent displays. No more shielding the players from criticism. No more Mr Nice Guy.

An exasperated Monk accused his team of "just going through the motions" in the second half as the struggling Latics battled back from a goal down to secure maximum points and boost their hopes of Championship survival.

Monk was visibly angry and felt let down by his team.

"There are some players who shouldn't be here at this club," said an emotional Monk.

Buzzwords such as commitment, attitude and character are hardly likely to get the juices flowing of fans, but for Monk they are key. They are his non-negotiables. The fundamentals to his work on the training ground.

But Wednesday's form has gone backwards since Christmas, with Monk's men picking up a meagre four points from the last 21 on offer.

Many Wednesdayites applauded Monk's open and honest views post Wigan. His assertion that things have been "too comfortable" at S6 is bang on.

Given the English Football League charge still hanging over the club and the difficulties of trading in the January transfer window, Monk will have to wait until the summer to properly shake things up.

But bringing in Connor Wickham and Josh Windass on loan to beef up their forward line will hopefully give a kick up the backside to the rest of the Owls' attacking options going into the run-in.

As part of the rebuilding process, Monk will also have to make his mind up on their nine senior out-of-contract players over the coming months.

But there is no room for sentiment in sport and Monk has already taken small steps to make his mark.

The Owls boss has shown a willingness to give the next generation a chance, promoting a string of academy players to the first-team, including Osaze Urhoghide, Alex Hunt, Ben Hughes and Preslav Borukov.

Established stars, meanwhile, have lost their place in the squad in recent weeks. Keiren Westwood has gone from No 1 to No 3, Sam Hutchinson has fallen out of favour and Jordan Rhodes was left out of the goalless draw to Millwall.

Monk's approach evokes memories of when Jos Luhukay banished the likes of Westwood, Hutchinson, George Boyd, David Jones and Almen Abdi in the 2018/19 season and turned to youth.

It did not work for Luhukay but Monk appears intent on going down a similar path.

The fact is this is not Monk's team and the manner of the Wigan reversal was a sharp reminder to Monk of the big job he has on his hands to arrest their slide.