Mick Jagger, Elias Kachunga and Divock Origi: Alex Miller's Sheffield Wednesday column

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.
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Not my words, the words of Sir Michael Phillip Jagger and Mr Keith Richards. But more on them later.

A day that started with panic building among Sheffield Wednesday supporters over the rattling, brittle nature of its squad ended with two notable Championship figures in the door and the feeling that, as it was a week or so ago after the signing of Izzy Brown and Chey Dunkley, something workable might be building at S6.

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Elias Kachunga came in a thunderbolt, not an hour after The Star reported that a deal for Josh Windass was close and all across the Wednesday kingdom awaited confirmation of his move from Wigan.

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: Gary Monk manager of Sheffield Wednesday greets Marco Silva manager of Everton during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Sheffield Wednesday and Everton at Hillsborough on September 24, 2019 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: Gary Monk manager of Sheffield Wednesday greets Marco Silva manager of Everton during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Sheffield Wednesday and Everton at Hillsborough on September 24, 2019 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: Gary Monk manager of Sheffield Wednesday greets Marco Silva manager of Everton during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Sheffield Wednesday and Everton at Hillsborough on September 24, 2019 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

To say it was a surprise would be something of an understatement, but warmly received by the majority it seemed to be.

The former Huddersfield man entered into an acceptance that while he might not be the 30-goal man brought to earth to fire the Owls beyond their 12-point deficit and towards playoff glory, he is an experienced Championship figure boasting an attacking threat and a point to prove.

Brief conversations with those that know at the Terriers end of the media paint the image of a player who will run through brick walls for his employers and who, Wednesdayites may remember, inspired them to promotion not a million years long ago.

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Another man with a point to prove is Windass, now officially detached from a Wigan fanbase that refused to take to him and given a second chance at impressing a larger one after a positive time at Rangers.

He’s lively and has quality in his boots. Should James Beattie be able to rekindle the relationship that saw him earn that move to Glasgow when they were paired at Accrington Stanley all those years ago, the reported £500k fee for Windass could prove to be a steal.

Both signings have goals in them – the latter proved as much in his first taste of the Wednesday way late last season – but it is that hunger, that bit of fire in the belly to prove themselves, that the pair have in common with those already through the door.

It’s this hungry mentality, this desire to achieve, that Owls boss Garry Monk is trying to build. At the very top level, he told us last season, that is a trait easy to find. It is in the slightly lower echelons that the scoping out must be done, and more often than not on a budget.

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It’s been said before but that each of these players have chosen to sign for Wednesday with the black cloud of a 12-point deduction hanging over Hillsborough tells a story about their mindset. Where current players have been drafted, it is the new boys that have signed up for the war ahead.

“Only a crowd can make you feel so alone,” sings Jagger on the Rolling Stones’ 1978 track Before They Make Me Run. And it’s true. The audience of public opinion sat in the terraces at Hillsborough last season turned against those playing in blue and white in front of them. And as the heat was turned up, the Owls melted.

You need character to perform in those heavy Sheffield Wednesday shirts and Garry Monk’s role is to assemble a squad of players that have it. Kachunga’s experience, both in a successful promotion bid and in the Premier League may help. Having played at Ibrox, Windass has previously dealt with the wrath of a crowd both iconic and expectant in equal measure.

More strikers are required you feel. Jordan Rhodes has welcome company on the top shelf of Monk’s 3-5-2 system and with a manic fixture schedule staring them down you fancy a roster of three senior figures may not go far. What’s more, unless the club’s record signing wakes from nearly half a decade’s slumber, you fancy they may need pull a real goal-getter from somewhere.

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But that’s not for today. Wednesday have made two instantly recognisable signings in a problem position and this offers reasons for Wednesdayites to be cheerful. There’s still work to do and the reality is that the Owls squad is unlikely to be complete until somewhere close to the October 5 deadline but yesterday’s double swoop was a hop and a skip forward.

Though Charlie Watts joined in their very early days, Jagger and Richards are the only surviving original Rolling Stones members and have seen the band transform, ebb and flow depending on who sat alongside them.

Others past and present have been more long-serving than others, but the fact is that for 56 years The Stones have adapted to the changing world around them in their own way, through good times and bad, taking a slightly different approach each time.

This week this writer has received separate messages on social media asking if Wednesday’s search for a striker would see them make a move towards Daniel Sturridge, Troy Deeney and/or Divock Origi.

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The club aren’t dining at that particular table anymore. Things are being done differently now and the fact is that the previous method, the one that delivered Rhodes and Forestieri and others, ultimately didn’t work.

The world-stopping marquee signings, the ones that football supporters love so dearly, are a thing of the past. You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.

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