The Owls are searching for a new manager after the sacking of Henrik Pedersen

Henrik Pedersen glanced up at the press box at the Doncaster Sports Village before waving in our direction. He sympathetically rubbed his hands across his shoulders to gesture that it was bitterly cold. We must have looked frozen.

Perhaps the cutting wind of Storm Boelo was to blame, but a few hours later he emerged for his post-match media duties looking a bit down-trodden with emotion in his eyes. It was hard not to return the same sympathy that he offered us earlier that afternoon.

Pedersen is a respectable and honourable man. He would shake your hand before and after each interview. That must have been hard to do in the last days as challenging questions were fired at him. But he never took it personally and I liked that about him. He also has a good sense of humour. Summer signings spoke glowingly about his tactical detail.

But his sacking as manager of Sheffield Wednesday felt inevitable after defeat to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday. The writing was on the wall. The recent viral clip of Ian Holloway describing himself as a ‘dead man walking’ after some poor results at Swindon Town sprung to mind after the final whistle.

It was hard to see how Pedersen could win over the fanbase after chants calling for his sacking, criticism of his style of play and loud jeers were volleyed in his direction throughout the game. Perhaps he would have got a positive result against Cambridge United on Tuesday night. But the noise would only have got louder and louder the next time they lost. This wasn’t going away.

Pressure can do strange things to people. His decision to play a back three - a formation he admitted they had not used before - including selecting a young right winger in Kieran Morrison at left-back was rash and confusing. After losing at Notts County, this was not the time for wild experiments, for his own sake. Against Doncaster, I couldn’t help but notice how many times the Dane urged his defence to move up the pitch. But they didn’t. Had they checked out?

Overall, performances had not been good enough and the positive results they were getting at the start of the season were not sustainable. It took them an hour to have a shot on target against Huddersfield Town. They didn’t even manage to do that against Notts County, who had won once all season. The first-half against Rovers was disjointed and weak and was once again lacking in the basics.

Pedersen deserves credit for keeping spirits high last season and for the way he carried himself throughout that nightmare period that will go down as the worst in the club’s history. But many supporters understandably struggled to shake off managing just two wins and getting relegated in the backyard of their fiercest rivals in February.

A fresh face in the dugout was needed in the summer but at least now there are no ‘what-ifs.’ It is not too late for Wednesday still have a successful season hopefully anger towards Pedersen will evaporate.