Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen has called for patience from sections of the support following criticism for the team’s performances during the early stages of the season.-
The Owls endured a summer of change after finally ridding themselves of previous owner Dejphon Chansiri last season. Now under the stewardship of Arise Capital Partners LLC, the club are in a phase of rebuilding which has seen them drop to League One.
As many as 18 new faces arrived at Hillsborough during a frantic transfer window, which has largely paid off to date. Wednesday are unbeaten in five league games, although they have drawn their last two 0-0, against Wigan Athletic and Stockport County respectively.
“It’s Not Perfect” – Pedersen Makes Performance Admission
With their next two league fixtures postponed due to international call-ups, Pedersen had the opportunity to return to winning ways against League Two outfit Salford City in the EFL Trophy. A lacklustre first half saw them go into the break a goal behind, but they recovered in the second period with a header from Davis Keillor-Dunn and a Jamal Lowe penalty to pick up a 2-1 victory.
It was another performance which attracted criticism from Owls supporters. Speaking to The Sheffield Star, Pedersen admitted it will take time for the new-look squad to properly gel and called for patience:
“If everything was perfect now after 12 weeks or something.. of course it’s not perfect. We need patience because we are in the beginning. We have 18 new players that we have to bring together. This takes time.
“We are happy with the points we have got and we are happy with the win today. Today in the second half we saw many things that we reproduce again and again – and when you can do this again and again, there is a bigger chance that we can get ‘deep wins’, instead of ‘only wins’.
“In these deep wins you see a team that can reproduce a press situation again and again, with intensity. This is what we have to work on. So when Keillor-Dunn comes from the outside or another player does this, we have more situations where the players think the same – in the same moment.”
Continuing, the manager claimed that he expects his players to be fully up to speed within the ‘next three or four weeks’:
“Of course they cannot do this so quick. We need more time. But I am sure that in the next three or four weeks we will take the next steps. It is the same in the offensive stuff, you need time to get the same thoughts and time to get a better connection, better relations. We need more training time now and I am sure we will go step by step again.”
Is Criticism Justified?
It is fair to say that performances have been largely underwhelming but Sheffield Wednesday have been grinding out results. The recent pair of 0-0 draws with be somewhat of a concern, especially given they’ve surrendered their early lead at the top of the table to Bradford City.
Aside from a 7-2 victory over Bromley at the end of August, none of their other five victories in all competitions have been by more than one goal. However, if the Yorkshire-based side mirrored that for the rest of the season, they’d be promoted.
It’s understandable that fans feel slightly concerned by what they are witnessing but the fact that this is largely a brand new squad does play a role. That said, the prolonged upcoming break is a fantastic opportunity for them to put in some extra work on the training ground ahead of their return to action next month.
Should Pedersen fail to break the cycle of the last two league results, those murmurs in the Hillsborough stands could start to grow a little louder.
