Keiren Westwood offers passionate rebuttal of Garry Monk culture call at Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood is not one for boring press conferences.
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And sat in front of the assembled media ahead of this afternoon’s derby clash Barnsley, the 36-year-old didn’t disappoint.

In relaxed mood he spoke about his Wednesday future, the difficulty of finding himself out of contention under former boss Garry Monk and a whole lot else.

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And asked about a repeated Monk insinuation that the changing room culture at Sheffield Wednesday was one that ‘would never be successful’, Westwood offered a passionate rebuttal.

Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.
Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.

“I can’t answer for Garry, that would be wrong,” he said. “I don’t know, I’ve known these lads a long time. They’re really good lads.

“I don’t want to start a war of words, that’s not really for me.”

Westwood has been at Wednesday since 2014 and has seen the best and worst of on-field matters at Hillsborough in modern times. Though he maintained he had never ‘had a cross word’ with former boss Monk, he and Sam Hutchinson were both removed from first team matters; Westwood for well over a year.

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The former Republic of Ireland man made clear he disagrees with Monk’s take on the club’s dressing room culture.

“I know what’s in that dressing room,” he said. “I know what I bring to the table, I know what other individuals bring to the table. It’s probably easy to say that because we’re struggling, truthfully.

“It’s easy to point the finger and say there’s no leadership in there, nobody is grabbing anybody by the throat or telling people to do this or that. People are doing that, it’s just that people don’t know about.

“For me, that’s the right thing. What happens in the dressing room after a game should stay in the dressing room.

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“I know people want stories and they want to know, I understand all that. But maybe the criticism over there not being leadership is because when things are said, they’re stay said and you move on. As soon as something is said, it’s gone now.

“We have those conversations and do everything we can in terms of leadership.”

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