Sheffield Wednesday v Forest Green – Old friends embrace, a groundstaff meeting and the big man is back

It was a thoroughly good day at the office where everything seemed to go to plan.

Here’s a few things you may not have noticed...

The Collective

You can see the team spirit within this group, it’s visible… What Moore appears to have done is build a collective mindset where his players are well and truly as one.

It can be seen in the way they rally around each other, and the way they celebrate. It’s a sense of – as it should be, by the way – that if one succeeds then they all do.

There was no better example of it on Saturday than when Liam Palmer got on the scoresheet again (it’s the first time he’s ever scored two league goals in a season) and ran over to celebrate with Jack Hunt.

They’re competing for the right wingback position, and the former doing well means the latter will probably miss out, but they’ve known each other a long time, and it looks like they know they’re part of something bigger – and understand the value they both bring.

A post-match on-pitch meeting

Who knows if it was impromptu or not, but about an hour after the game had come to an end, a while after Moore had finished speaking to the media, he was in the centre of the field at Hillsborough talking to the groundstaff.

The gaffer went viral this week for an interaction with a young Wednesayite who was looking for advice, and he’s become known for how much time he has for people and his desire to engage.

But, from afar at least, it looked like he and the groundsteam were talking shop. It’s another aspect of the club that he’s been heavily involved in, and – based on how the pitch looks – things are working out just fine.

The Big Man

It’s been a rough ride for Dominic Iorfa over the last couple of seasons… It wasn’t so long ago that the big centre back was winning Wednesday’s Player of the Season award, but football fans can forget quickly, and after a spate of injuries there have been many questioning him.

The last two games, however, have seen him back to his marauding best.

‘Big Dom’ won 100% of his aerial battles, 100% of his tackles, completed 93% of his passes, and had more possession (7.1%) and more touches (81) than any other player on the pitch. He got those long legs moving up the pitch plenty as well. It’s great to see.

He was out on the pitch with his family after the game, and he looks like a man enjoying himself again.

The Rovers fans

Fair play to them, really. They watched their team go 3-0 down in 30 minutes right in front of them, and went into the break knowing that the tie was well and truly over.

But so many of them stuck around, carried on cheering their team on, and tried to enjoy their very first trip to Hillsborough.

They even tried to bring some comedy to their afternoon in the second half, celebrating a corner as if they’d scored as they searched for a consolation goal at 5-0.

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