Sheffield Wednesday have played eight games in all competitions during August, winning all the home matches and losing all of the away matches. Two of these games have come against either Premiership or recently Premiership teams and so what all those at Valley Parade and those watching on sky witnessed, was a manager working within the rules of the game when forced to make decisions that he wasn’t comfortable with.
Gary ‘Ginger Mourinho’ Megson substituted Nicky Weaver after one minute and then took off two outfield players with the next fifteen minutes. This wasn’t an act of rebellion but the act of a manager who wanted to use the Johnsons Paint Trophy tie to his advantage and give a chance to some players who are either on the cusp of the first team or still developing through the youth ranks. Ayo Obileye made his debut at a mere sixteen years old and despite a few mistakes that a more experienced defender would have made, he did himself proud. Richard O’Donnell, a player who took us through the first round of the league cup with his penalty heroics was not deemed to be a first team player and as such had to start on the bench before entering the field of play after a whole minute. Giles Coke another play who came on has substantial first team experience and Cecil Nyoni is the proud possessor of a professional contract and has played in the first team.
What right does the football league have to dictate the squads that are played during cup ties? I understand the rule that first team squads must be put out but that doesn’t mean that six first team regulars must play. If someone is deemed good enough to be offered a professional football contract by their club then they are good enough to play in league and cup games. It is an absurd notion that just because someone did not play in the previous few matches that they cannot play in the cup.
Sheffield Wednesday, like many other clubs, are targeting promotion and there are a lot of games between now and the end of the season. Three cup games, on top of league games, at this point in the season is not good for teams with small squads. The league deprived three more footballers of the opportunity to get a game because if Gary Megson wasn’t forced into making the choice he made, then he would have been able to give other players the opportunity of first team football.
The fans that attended the game in Bradford knew what they were going to watch, a second string Sheffield Wednesday side play a near full strength Bradford side. It wasn’t a glamour tie, it was on Sky and so did more for us financially than if we’d have gone through and had to host the next round at home. The consensus that I have gathered is that the young players equipped themselves very well and proved the point that in the right circumstances, they are ready for first team football.
It was not an act of disrespect to Bradford that Wednesday fielded youth players and that we made three substitutions in seventeen minutes. Bradford are a proud club, full of tradition and real family values and in my experience, they have great fans and create a great atmosphere. It is more disrespectful that the league think that some professional footballers are good enough and some are not. The score was 0-0 at full time, hardly a score that shames a team with a fair few new players and youth team players is it? What better lesson in lower league football for the new Wednesday loanee striker, Danny Uchechi, than a size ten boot in his back from Guy Branston?
At half time the official Sheffield Wednesday website announced that the club had signed Ryan Lowe from Bury FC. By all accounts his goal record speaks for itself and his age only means that he can bring a wealth of experience to a team that is often lacking in attacking prowess. The signing of Lowe, the recent signing of Chris O’Grady from Rochdale combined with Gary Madine and Clinton Morrison means that for the first time in a while, Wednesday may have an attacking force to fear. If Jermaine Johnson can stay injury free, him and Chris Sedgwick can provide quality balls for any of the aforementioned strikers and maybe, just maybe, Wednesday will find a twenty a season man.
Gary Megson has proved shrewd amongst the panic of the transfer window and watching him laugh with players that he had taken to Bradford for a minutes football, it seems obvious that he has a solid relationship with the players. His commitment to the youth team was questioned after eleven boys were sent out to play eleven men and humiliated 14-0 but the teams that have proudly worn the blue and white in the cup games shows that even with the dismantling of the reserve squad, there is a very definite commitment to bringing youth players through.
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