Wednesday’s last outing has opened up the ‘Bannan debate’ again...

Don’t make the mistake of writing off Barry Bannan. It would be foolish.

The Owls favourite was the subject of much discussion on the radio phone-ins and forums after Saturday’s goalless draw against Wigan Athletic. It was not his greatest performance but it was just one game.

Not for the first time, and it won’t be the last, an opposition manager based his game-plan on stifling Bannan by man-marking him. It is no secret that if you stop Bannan, you are going to weaken Wednesday. Wigan manager Gary Caldwell was chuffed with himself post-match, claiming that his ‘old mate’ Bannan was ‘fuming’ behind the scenes.

Saturday has raised the ‘Bannan debate’ again. Should Wednesday have let things be in the summer? Should his minutes be managed? Does the club need to look to the future? Should he have been taken off? There was no malice in any of this discussion, just general chatter over a pint. They are all reasonable points.

It is worth remembering that the Scot did not have a full pre-season with Wednesday and has been playing catch-up a little bit, as well as suffering some knocks along the way. The Owls also have a new squad. He is getting used to his new team-mates and vice-versa. Wednesday’s style of play is also different. It’s centred around high energy, pressing and intensity. Periods of games have felt like basketball, whereas Bannan likes to dictate and control the tempo.

Has he set League One on fire in the early part of the season? Probably not. There was the surprising miss against Leyton Orient on the opening day, for example. And there hasn’t been a 90 minute man of the match display yet. But there has been flashes of quality in-between. I am confident, as I am sure others are, that it will happen for him.

The 36-year-old has set such high standards over the years that an average 6/10 performance can seem much lower. I think, however, it does create an interesting talking point about how Henrik Pedersen, Bannan and Wednesday find a solution to this for the rest of the season. You can bet Stockport County will have taken notice of what Caldwell and Wigan did and plan something similar.

The international break should do him a world of good, allowing him to rest and get up to speed. His name will be ringing around Hillsborough soon enough.