Sheffield Wednesday defender learning on shifting sands with jostle for League One position in motion
It’s come to the time in Sheffield Wednesday’s season most horrible that considerations are being undertaken as to who and how individuals might feature as part of a League One rebuild.
As things stand, it remains a perilous task to undertake with any shard of certainty. The fate of the Arise takeover, the sanctions to be placed on Wednesday heading back into the third tier, the likely make-up of a squad that could be blighted by stringent recruitment constraints Owls boss Henrik Pedersen agrees would be a further punishment too many.
But at the core of a horror year have been opportunities for players that would have otherwise not have been presented them. Sean Fusire spoke last week about the chance to grab at playing minutes he otherwise wouldn’t have secured, the likes of Jarvis Thornton, Charlie McNeill, Ernie Waver and George Brown have all at points grabbed at fresh openings to place themselves in contention next time out. Others will get shots before the campaign finishes.
Another jostling for position is Gabriel Otegbayo, whose effort in the 2-0 defeat at home to promotion-chasing Ipswich Town on Saturday proved a highlight. In battling the physical and technical threat of George Hirst so handily, the Republic of Ireland youth cap stood up nicely and produced a handful of vital defensive interventions that helped keep the score goalless into the 78th minute. Hirst was substituted just after the hour having unleashed just a single shot.
“I think Gab, if we take from the summer, he had never played a 90-minute Championship game before this season,” Owls boss Henrik Pedersen said on the development of Otegbayo, who has played at the heart of a carousel defensive line-up for much of the last few months.
“To come in as a young player and then grow as he has grown is fantastic. He had Coops (Liam Cooper) at his side for a long time and Coops helped him a lot. To be a better tactical defending player also in the game, through the game. Then there is Liam (Palmer), Dom, when we have been together with him, it has been good. But when he also played with Cole McGhee or with Joe Emery, he has been also a good leader for them.”
The task now for Otegbayo would appear to be in consistency. Like most players stepping into a new and higher level, the 21-year-old has been subject to swings of form from the ridiculous to the sublime. Staying the course across 90-minute performances is key.
Pedersen continued: “In the last, for two or three weeks, he had two or three games before the Watford game, where he was a little bit more up and down for the tactical but also for his discipline, for his defending. And then Watford, it was much better and today it was a strong, strong performance. He is back again.”