Farewells, breakouts and the same old story: Seven things we learned from Sheffield Wednesday’s final day defeat to Middlesbrough

Last night saw Wednesday give away another lead as Middlesbrough clawed their way back into the game after having fallen behind to a Jacob Murphy goal, with Paddy McNair equalising and Britt Assambalonga grabbing a late winner to condemn Garry Monk’s side to another Hillsborough defeat.sths for SWFC as Monk looks to rebuild a squad that is certainly in some need of rebuilding – but before that happens, we looked at some of the talking points from last night’s defeat.

Same old, same old

It wasn’t a shocking performance, Wednesday had enough chances and enough of the ball to win it, but – once again – they didn’t.

Wednesday had more possession, made triple the key passes (15/5), double the dribbles (10/5) and had almost double the amount of shots (18/10) of Boro. But from four shots on target each, the visitors got two goals and hosts got one.

Monk has spoken of the frustration at how they’ve been punished by individual errors, and it was Bannan and Wildsmith at fault last night for the two goals. Ultimately, as has been mentioned, the game perfectly summed up the second half of Wednesday’s season.

Farewell to Big Atdhe

It’s a crying shame that, if – as is expected – last night was a final Owls appearance for Atdhe Nuhiu, he wasn’t able to get the send off that his years of service deserve.

He wasn’t able to add to his Owls half-century after bagging two against Fulham at the weekend, and no doubt there would have been a standing ovation and plenty of noise for the big man if Hillsborough had had supporters in it on Wednesday evening.

Several players, including Barry Bannan, Alex Hunt and Moses Odubajo, have said their goodbyes to Nuhiu on social media, and he looks to have worn the blue and white shirt for the final time. Monk, however, was coy on the situation, hinting that it’s not 100% a done deal yet.

There’s talent in those ranks

We’ve seen breakout performances from both Osaze Urhoghide and Alex Hunt this season, but last night – amid the misery – Liam Shaw gave a glimpse of what he’s about.

The 19-year-old, who’s been at Wednesday since he was eight, put in a battling performance in the midfield, and no player on the pitch made more successful tackles than he did (4), despite him only playing just over half of the game.

Expect to see more of the kids going forward.

Hillsborough – The ‘fortress’ is long gone

The cliché is about making your home stadium a fortress if you’re going to have success in football. Well, in the second half of this season especially, the Owls have gone and done the opposite.

It’s now been 149 days since Wednesday won at Hillsborough, and Murphy’s deflected goal last night was just the 19th time that they’ve scored at home over the course of the 2019/20 season. One Twitter user, @KivoLee, pointed out that a season-ticket holder on the Kop this season has paid just under £24 a goal. And that’s pretty mad, isn’t it?

Make a Murphy move

Wednesday have confirmed that their four loan players will now return to their parent clubs, and if there’s one man who they should try and bring back, it should be last night’s goalscorer.

The attacker has been one of the few shining lights in the second half of the season, and with nine goals and four assists, he finished the season as the Owls most productive contracted player (Steven Fletcher, who decided not to see things out, got 13 goals and two assists).

Warnock’s Wednesday wins

He’s a man that SWFC fans love to hate, but Neil Warnock certainly doesn’t mind facing the Owls. Last night was his eighth win over Wednesday in 22 attempts, and to date he’s only lost three of them.

A lifelong Sheffield United fan, Warnock will relish any victory over the Owls – especially one at Hillsborough – and while 11 of his 22 games against Wednesday have ended up in draws, it’s now just one defeat in his last 11 meetings with SWFC while at Boro, Cardiff City, Rotherham United, Leeds United, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace.

Speaking after his latest victory in S6, he told the media, “As a manager you’ve got to get the best out of what you’ve got and get looking at the next game and Sheffield Wednesday is always a good ground for me to come to. Being a Blade it’s always nice; I usually get a nice welcome here but not tonight."

Given talk of a possible retirement (again), it wouldn’t be a bad way for him to sign off.

No sigh of relief yet

The final whistle has been blown and the final ball has been kicked in the Championship, but Wednesdayites still can’t be 100% sure of whether they’re safe or not for next season.

With the ongoing case against the English Football League, that has been dragging on since November, there’s a chance of a points deduction that could still send them down. Or it could be applied next season instead. Or there may be no deduction at all. We just don’t know.

So while the season is done and dusted, and fans can say ‘good riddance’ to a tough campaign, there’s no full sigh of relief just yet.