Why Henrik Pedersen is a special case at Sheffield Wednesday
Alan Biggs on the criticism facing Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen
The longer you're around football, you realise the less you know when it comes to tactics and substitutions.
I heard this applied to a four-times promotion winner the other day. Abject nonsense.
Or folk insisting that the manager should have replaced X with Y and when he should have done it.
In essence, I wouldn't dream of telling a manager how to do his job. Respectful comment is different, being surprised by something, wondering if a more effective formation could be found.
It's not so much the criticism (opinion is entitled) but the way it's expressed, clown emoji and the like.
Now this isn't a specific dig at a section of Owls fans in regard to Henrik Pedersen, even if this is a Wednesday column. It could be aimed at some supporters of all clubs in a social media age where everyone's an expert.
But Pedersen is undeniably somewhat of a special, not to say unusual, case, as a high-riding boss with a not inconsiderable proportion of fans on his back.
With them, he doesn't get any credit for a win but all the blame for a defeat. Mostly, you suspect, based on last season's literal Mission Impossible when any manager would have struggled.
This is not to say he gets everything right. Should he, for instance, have shown more in-game flexibility during the recent 0-0s with Wigan and Stockport? I think it's a fair point, albeit to repeat that I'm no expert. At times we all need to acknowledge that.
Have we watched the players in training? Do we know the medical advice, which ones are having their playing time rationed? Have we made a study of the opposition? Have any of us picked a team before or worked in football?
The reality is that Pedersen will come under fire if or when the Owls drop and it'll be far fiercer than for, say, a "name" manager from outside. Nothing and no-one can change that, whether it's fair or not.
Equally, those who think a change would be for the best are within their rights to express that view. Providing it's done without blatant disrespect.
Because right now the bloke is making a more than decent start with a new team. And it's fair to say he knows more about football than most of us commenting.