Three clean sheets in three for Sheffield Wednesday: Garry Monk on what's changed

Last season the Owls held the second-worst defensive record in the Championship during a post-Christmas meltdown that saw them concede an average of two goals per game, with individual errors time and again costing the side at vital moments.

And while it’s early days in 2020/21, they appear to be turning a corner, having kept three consecutive clean sheets at the start of this season on top of their 0-0 pre-season draw with Leicester.

Owls boss Garry Monk, a defender of some esteem during his playing career, spoke of the desperate need for more solidity at the back entering the season.

And while he has been quick to praise individuals out on the field, he told The Star he believes it is the knowledge of his methods offered by a new-look coaching staff that has made an immediate impact.

Asked what has changed at the back, Monk said: “It’s the whole thing. It's not changing the work, it’s adding to it.

“It’s no reflection on the staff we had before, I’ve explained before, they didn’t know me, they didn’t know how I work. It was about them getting used to me, Bully and Thommo and everyone like that.

“When you’ve got people that know you and your methods, it gives you that little more freedom at times to go and work in certain areas, they can work in certain areas because they know what you want and how to deliver it straight away.

“It’s that improvement, having that bit more concentration on certain units from the guys I’ve brought in.”

Speaking last week key man and centre-half Dominic Iorfa said he had seen a change in Monk since the additions of James Beattie, Andrew Hughes and Darryl Flahavan.

Both Beattie and Flahavan had worked with Monk at a host of clubs previously and it is that knowledge of how the manager wants things delivered that is making a difference.

“It’s allowed him to be a bit more hands-off,” said Iorfa, the reigning Wednesday player of the year. “Last year it was just him and his ideas.

“Now with the guys in that know his methods he can just watch and observe, if we’re doing a defending session and I’m not doing something great he can change things straight away.

“Whereas before, when he’s in the middle of a session, you can’t always see everything. It allows him to observe and control things and pass on those details.”

That time is key, Monk said, and has allowed him to deliver the specifics of a system and way of playing he was forced to attempt to implement midway through a manic season.

“It gives me the freedom to be able to go and work on certain units and put that bit more detail into it,” he said.

“It’s been about making ourselves understand defensively and offensively, being able to hold different meetings, more of them, more discussion.

“It’s about having that bit more freedom to go out and deliver that.”

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