Liam Cooper's Sheffield Wednesday message as managerless Owls host Cambridge United
The Owls sacked Henrik Pedersen on Sunday
Liam Cooper says Sheffield Wednesday need to ‘come out swinging’ against Cambridge United.
The Owls were beaten 2-0 at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, a result that led to the sacking of manager Henrik Pedersen less than 24 hours later. It was Wednesday’s second successive away loss in four days and that signalled the end for Pedersen, who had come under intense pressure and fan criticism.
In a statement released on Sunday, Owls sporting director Simon Wilson noted that they had expected more progress in developing a ‘recognisable style of play’ and ‘greater consistency in results.’
Former Owls player Matt Hamshaw, who was part of Pedersen’s backroom staff, will be in charge for the visit of Cambridge on Tuesday evening, with another crowd around 30,000 possible.
Speaking after the defeat to Rovers, Cooper told The Star: “We need men now. We need to come out swinging, get a big performance on Tuesday night, and get back to the levels we know we can achieve. This league's tough; it's unforgiving. If you start feeling sorry for yourself, you're going to get you're going to get eaten up.
“Football's not all rainbows and sunshine. This is the way it is. This is the game. I've been in plenty of dressing rooms when the chips are down like this, and we got ourselves in the position, and we're the only people who's going to get ourselves out of it, and that's the way it's got to be.”
As much as a lot of the blame for the poor performances was aimed at Pedersen, the players themselves, as Cooper indicated, need to step up.
Asked if they were letting Pedersen down, Cooper replied: “Yeah, you could say so, definitely. I've said it numerous times already after the game. It's both responsibility. The manager doesn’t go out there and play the football for us. We've got to go out there, and it's on us. We've got to stay switched on, especially early in the game, coming away from home, and we didn't do that today. Very very sloppy in both boxes, and that's that's how all ties are decided. “