"We go there to say thank you" Inside the standout human moment of Sheffield Wednesday's opening win
Sheffield Wednesday beat Leyton Orient over the weekend drew a human moment or two from manager Henrik Pedersen. Alex Miller reports.
After initially refusing the adoration of Sheffield Wednesday’s travelling support before leading them in a roar of appreciation, the returned Barry Bannan made his way towards Henrik Pedersen and demanded he do the same.
For a moment, the Dane too looked reluctant. After some cajoling from his players, he approached those gathered and punched the air; once, twice and three times, prompting the reactionary roar of those who had made the triumphant trip to Leyton Orient. The 2-1 win was hardly the most vintage of 90-minute Wednesday performances but it was an important milestone in the Owls’ early-stage journey into a new era - and secured their third competitive win on the bounce. Had their finishing been a little tighter, the scoreline would have been further stretched and on the basis of the second half, you couldn’t have argued it.
From that away end and on the streets after fans had vacated Brisbane Road came strains of ‘Here’s to you, Henrik Pedersen’, the chant not so often heard in the latter stages of the last brutal campaign. Watching from the media gantry directly above the dugout and tunnel, Pedersen puffed his cheeks and looked just a little red-eyed after he had wandered back over the pitch and prepared to head inside for his post-match team talk.
It would be a monster leap to read too much into it. They were merely signs of a hard and and successful day’s work perhaps, but perhaps of something more human; a visceral response to the moment of acceptance from a fanbase from which there have been noises of discontent in recent weeks, online at least. Only Pedersen will truly know.
“I think we're all sitting with a feeling after the game that we appreciate the win,” he told The Star having returned pitchside for his media obligations. “It's not easy. It was a very tough game, but to find a way to win again, it's a good quality to have. And then we're all sitting with a very, very big hunger, because we want to show more. The boys will grow, and they will grow a lot through the season. But of course it's important that we get another win, and to build up the confidence and that they learn to win.
“But as I said to the boys, we have to deserve to play. This is all the basic things. Here, we were not good enough first half. We were really strong in the second half and that's why we were dominant. And this is what we want to have much more of.
“The first half was not the level. We didn’t run enough in the first half, we didn’t play behind, it was too much to the feet in our actions. In the second half we were a lot more vertical in our way of playing, we had many more deep runs, opposite runs. We were much better when we won the ball to have a forward mindset.”
After an away win in which the scoreline could and perhaps should have been greater, it was perhaps telling that the words were about as critical as Pedersen has been of aspects of a Wednesday performance since taking the job on from Danny Röhl over a year ago. The ‘proud of the boys’ rhetoric that galled so many hurting supporters despite its context was replaced by a greater sense of urgency in what they want to achieve with a now-workable squad.
In a glitzy new dawn, the wider fan reaction to a lacklustre set of pre-season results - the breaking point proving a 4-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic the weekend before the season - was one of concern. The second half of the win at Orient showed quality and signs of the attacking patterns that Pedersen and his coaching staff have ben so keen to instil. As they did in the Carabao Cup win over Bolton Wanderers, changes from the substitutes bench played a major part in Wednesday grabbing hold of the game.
Greater challenges lie ahead in Bradford City and then Wolves of course and wins over Bolton and Leyton Orient will likely not abate the more sceptical supporters, but the start has been deeply encouraging and will allow these embryonic stages of the club’s vast rescue mission to breathe. It is and will continue to be a relentless pursuit.
Asked about the moment he shared with the travelling fans after the game, Pedersen chuckled and replied with a knowing grin: “It means everything. First, I think I would say there's not many managers where all the fans in a club love the manager!
“I think we are all very conscious about the situation where we are, that we are in a rebuild of a football club outside the pitch and on the pitch. I can only promise that together with Simon, together with the owners, together with all my coaches, that we do the best we can to bring this team together as quickly as possible for the style of play and for the culture side.
“This is forming and it is a big part of what we are doing now. That we can take two wins in a row now, where everything is scrappy, everything is new, there is nothing that is really settled yet. I think it's very positive and big credit for the coach.
“When we go there (to applaud the supporters), the players and the staff, there's one reason why we go. We go there to say thank you. We don't go there to get some praise for us. No, we do this for them. We appreciate so, so much this fantastic support they give us.”