New studs please! – Heroes and Villains as Sheffield Wednesday are held by Watford at Hillsborough

Another game, another clean sheet for Sheffield Wednesday against highly-rated Watford, with the Owls having now chipped away at their 12-point deduction by four points after two games.
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I think if you’d asked most Wednesdayites if they’d take four points from Cardiff City and Watford then they’d probably have snapped your hand off, but who were the heroes and villains as the Owls returned to Hillsborough for the first time this season.

Palmer and his fan club

You’ve probably seen it, but if not then you should go and check out the video that SWFC put out of a couple of young fans who brought Palmer a bag of Quality Street for his birthday… It’s lovely.

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‘Palms’ is a lifelong Owl and obviously made time for the young lads as he arrived at Hillsborough on his 29th birthday, heading out over the bridge at Hillsborough to have a chat with them before it was time to go and get match ready.

That connection between fan and player is really great to see, and everyone seems to be making a real effort to improve it.

Tom Lees

I’ve put Tom Lees in here not just because he was once again excellent in the Wednesday defence, but also because of his superb interview after the game.

In the game, no player on the field today won more aerial challenges (9) or made more clearances (16) than Lees, while no SWFC player made more passes (48) or had more touches (67).

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But as he considers his resurgence, it was his words afterwards that stuck out. How we spoke of making sure that losing the captaincy doesn’t define him, and how he wants to push on. That’s exactly the kind of attitude the Owls need right now.

Harris half-century

Yesterday marked Kadeem Harris’ 50th appearance for Wednesday which, given he only made his debut about a year ago, is actually very impressive.

Kadeem Harris hit 50 Sheffield Wednesday appearances yesterday. (Tim Goode/PA Wire.)Kadeem Harris hit 50 Sheffield Wednesday appearances yesterday. (Tim Goode/PA Wire.)
Kadeem Harris hit 50 Sheffield Wednesday appearances yesterday. (Tim Goode/PA Wire.)

Yes, he needs to improve his output in terms of goals and assists (he’s said as much himself), but his work ethic and professionalism since arriving at SWFC has been exemplary, and he’s adapted really well to the wingback role that he’s now playing in.

He’s now only 30 games away from having played more matches for the Owls than any other club in his career (currently Cardiff, 79), and he also spoke this week about how desperate he is to improve at the club and secure himself a new contract.

Everyone’s wishing you well, Kads. Keep that up!

Izzy

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Short and sweet, this. Looked superb in the first half especially, Wednesday have a player on their hands here. Don’t need to say much more really. Powerful, intelligent, graceful. Could be a huge player for the Owls this season.

New studs please!

There weren’t really any bad performances, and there were no handbags or crossed words, so picking a ‘villain’ isn’t so easy…

So with that in mind, it’s just a bit of a light-hearted plea to whomever it may concern to figure out the best way to keep the lads on their feet, because there was a lot of slipping at S6 on Saturday afternoon.

Oh yeah, and maybe, the Owls should have had a penalty too, but there’s ‘zero point’ bringing that up.

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