Sheffield United to Wednesday is a road less travelled but Max Lowe has character to cope

Max Lowe is clearly a footballer who won’t shirk a challenge - and as a character statement his move from Sheffield United to Sheffield Wednesday is pretty powerful. Maybe that struck Danny Rohl, too, as he pursued the 27-year-old former Derby County full back or midfielder.

Mind you, the politics will go under the radar. Providing Lowe does okay at Hillsborough, of course. It’s a shrug of the shoulders so far. But on reflection, it’s a move not without some personal jeopardy, even though it probably shouldn’t have any.

Inumerable players have turned out for both Sheffield clubs, although relatively few have made the move directly and most not in this direction of travel. It’s only the high profile ones who have seriously raised the hackles. Most notably in my experience when Terry Curran made a then truly sensational move from S6 to S2 in 1982. Nothing since has matched that palava and it never worked out for the Blades and TC.

Other big players have fought shy of doing similar. When Brian Deane was poised to leave Bramall Lane for Leeds United in 1993, Trevor Francis’s Wednesday made a late swoop topping the £2.7m Elland Road deal. Wisely Deano, who had established himself as an all-time hero at the Lane, was aghast and thought better of it. And when the Owls, under Brian Laws, made a bid for the manager’s former Scunthorpe striker, Billy Sharp, he found Billy’s allegiance to the Blades made it a non-starter.

So there’s a sliding scale on all this based largely around personal history and stature. This one is on the Lowe side, pardon the pun. There are no deep loyalties involved and the player, while making a useful contribution, failed to fully establish himself across the city.

Here’s where the relish for a challenge comes in. Lowe has something to prove and it’s right on his doorstep. Besides, it’s only in football that people can’t exercise their right to move freely between jobs without whipping up anger from folk who’d do the same in their own lives.

But being tribal is part of the game’s appeal and Lowe might find less tolerance for the odd bad game unless he hits a consistent standard. And that’s without the pressure of the two derbies. It’ll be an experience, though, that come the end of his career he can wear with distinction.

I’ll never forget Danny Wilson telling me how proud he was to have become the first manager to have taken charge of both Sheffield clubs. Actually he did better in the role at Bramall Lane than Hillsborough (where he’d been a terrific player) before being very harshly sacked.

We remember similar of Leigh Bromby, Alan Quinn and Derek Geary whose careers flourished from moving three miles to the south. Lowe’s mission is to reverse that trend. An experienced, athletic and adaptable player who will only have to give his all to find a warm embrace.