‘Superb’ surprise Sheffield Wednesday addition has made an instant impact – is popular behind the scenes

A long-time friend and colleague of Moore’s, Shan arrived at S6 out of the gaze of public speculation after it was understood there had been tentative attempts to bring him across earlier.

But renewed availability after his departure from Rochdale and coupled with Wayne Jacobs’ desire to scale back his involvement with Wednesday to focus on his charity work, the 44-year-old climbed aboard the Owls’ attempt to earn promotion from League One.

It was a face Moore trusted implicitly – and who was backed to make an impact right from the very start.

With Jamie Smith as Moore’s right-hand man, with the likes of Simon Ireland and Adriano Basso having been praised in recent months and with the now departed Paul Williams also having been highly-rated at S6, Shan had plenty to live upto as the manager’s ability to assemble a crack backroom team.

But The Star understands the former West Brom interim manager is popular with the Owls players, earning instant respect with high-energy training sessions and an engaging, personable style.

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“He’s been superb and he’s come in here smooth in terms of his transition coming into the football club,” Moore said.

“He’s a real top coach, a good coach and he knows how we want to work and what we want to do here. It’s another experienced body in terms of what the players require day in and day out week after week.

“Of course on a match day, tactically he’s part of the team trying to implement things and get three points.

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“He’s been an excellent addition to the team and I’ve been really pleased with him. It’s been great to add him into the group.

“It’s not always easy to do that [come into a squad an make an impact], but it’s someone I’ve worked with before that became available and has come in to be part of a great run of games we’re on. We’re really pleased with him.”