Departing Sheffield Wednesday man gives honest appraisal of season and why he was dropped

The talented young Brighton & Hove Albion stopper completed a second loan stint with the Owls last season and is widely expected to complete a deal to step in at Birmingham City. He played a starring role in their 2023/24 survival effort and returned to pull off some remarkable saves along the way as Wednesday ultimately secured a season of consolidation in the Championship.

By his own admission, however, his form in parts of last season left a little to be desired and from the March international break he sat out the final eight matches of the campaign while fellow starlet Pierce Charles set about making his case to step into the number one spot next time out.

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“Overall it was a big learning experience to grow as a player and grow as a person,” Beadle told Main Online ahead of the European Championships in Slovakia. “I think a lot of things happened, good games, bad games, but overall just a good time of improvement for me.

“Towards the end of my time at Wednesday I don't think I really performed to my best for whatever reason. Now after taking a step back I understand why and in this tournament and looking ahead I know what I need to do to be at my best more consistently.

“Just going through clips, going through games, and I just don't think I performed to my capabilities,' he added. “I know how good I am, I know I can perform at that level, and in the future I know what I need to do to stay more at my level. Sometimes you've got to take a step back to properly look at it and that's when I came out of the team.”

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Beadle has always struck as an older head on young shoulders and has spoken to The Star previously about how he goes about handling periods of criticism. He is expected to take the gloves for England’s opener against Czechia on Thursday and all focus is on putting the experience of watching on from the bench in the final weeks of his time with Wednesday firmly behind him.

The Brighton keeper said: “It was really hard to take at the time but when you take a step back and realise how I was actually performing, it is what it is. I don't really go on social media or anything, I try to live in my own bubble, but at the time when results aren't going well and you aren't performing at the level you can you know you're going to get criticised. I have no issue being criticised if I know I'm not performing to the level I can.”

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