Where Sheffield Wednesday players can take the lead from boss Garry Monk

A run of form that turned a very decent chance of making the play-offs into a position whereby the Owls are looking over their shoulders is fair reason for anyone to become twitchy about their position.

Fans have become displaced into various camps, largely based around who they are blaming, if anyone, for the current strife.

Some point the finger at the manager himself; some at the players, both individually and collectively. Chairman Dejphon Chansiri, too, is arguably taking more stick than he ever has since buying the club, while other fans project their frustrations on more shadowy, almost mythical, background figures.

Emotions are running high and the shrill call of the referee's final whistle has been greeted with justifiable jeers from Wednesdayites far too often of late, as yet another sad performance is chalked up.

On the basis of his press conference ahead of the trip to Birmingham on Saturday, however, Monk's twitchiness, if there is any, is being well hidden.

As the poem goes: "If you can keep your head while all around you are losing their theirs and blaming it on you..."

Of course, it could well have been all for show in front of the local media. Perhaps behind the scenes things are a lot more chaotic.

If we are, though, to take things at face value, Garry Monk exhibited a personality that his players would do well to learn from during these turbulent times.

There's a steeliness about Monk. Nothing appears to phase him. Every question is greeted in the same manner; not quite starved of emotion, just matter-of-fact, like some kind of sci-fi cyborg that hasn't been programmed to get into a flap.

It appears he has the ability to drown out the noise around him and when you take into account the jobs he has had before rocking up at Hillsborough - Swansea, Leeds United and Birmingham City - it's easy to understand why.

As he admitted himself: "It's been six years now (in management) but I think in those six years I have gained some experience that some people wouldn't learn in 20 years. It's good. It's how you use it."

Fan feeling is currently on a knife-edge and it doesn't take much for that to deeply descend into negativity.

The players need to be able to put a deaf ear to it. As a collective, the team hasn't exactly shown a great deal of mental toughness over the past few years but that's exactly what's needed if they are to drag themselves out of this dreadful run of form.

From that perspective at least, in Monk, Wednesday have a manager who can provide inspiration as someone who has worked and at times thrived, under extremely challenging circumstances. Someone who can remain calm as the pressure intensifies. Who can ignore outside influences and get on with the task at hand.

If nothing else, the team can take that lead from the manager.