Sheffield Wednesday were denied a first win of the season on Saturday when a contentious late penalty award gave Millwall a 2-2 draw at Hillsborough. The way the result unfolded compounded what seems to be an air of negativity surrounding the club at the moment.
The general mood of the support gives an impression of frustration which is perhaps understandable. Over the summer the chairman of the club spoke of the need to bring in a proven goal scorer. This hasn't happened and while new players like Atdhe Nuhiu have shown they have certain attributes to enhance the team the presence of a goal poacher is still clearly lacking.
Dave Jones has also expressed his desire to bring in more new faces but is being hampered by players at the club not wanting to go out on loan and therefore recoup some of their wages.
Following the Millwall game Jones was reported as saying the players were wary of making mistakes at home and had a fear factor of performing in front of the Hillsborough crowd.
The crowd have not singled out any of the players for negative treatment this season and as stated above, the mood seems to be one of frustration rather than anger or abuse.
In addition to the concerns over new signings they have seen what is perceived as a negative approach on the pitch and this was underlined in Saturdays draw.
Last season the Owls found themselves in a critical position at Christmas and points were at a premium. As a result the team adopted a defensive set up which at times sacrificed style for the sheer need for points. This had the desired effect particularly away from Hillsborough where the defence looked solid and wins at the likes of Bolton, Leicester, Hull and Charlton were achieved.
Having preserved their Championship status perhaps a little more was expected this season, particularly at home where the onus is on the Owls to attack the opposition.
Without sounding too disrespectful to the opposition Millwall at home is the type of game that Wednesday need to go all out to win if they are to progress on last season. With his team 2-1 up at half-time Jones was forced to shuffle his pack due to an injury to right-back Lewis Buxton. Liam Palmer, having played the first half in midfield dropped in at full-back. No surprise in that but Jones' choice of midfield replacement did more than raise a few eyebrows. He replaced Palmer, a forward thinking midfield player with Jose Semedo – an out and out defensive midfielder. After a sloppy start the Owls had clearly gained the initiative in the first half against a team without a league point and low on confidence. More attacking options were available in the shape of Rhys McCabe, Jacques Maghoma and Chris Maguire.
The substitution meant the Owls had two defensive midfielders on the pitch in a home game against the bottom of the table team. It stemmed the attacking impetus they had enjoyed at times in the first half and handed some of the initiative back to the visitors – it also had the effect of dampening the spirit of the crowd. It may have taken almost all of the second half and a debatable decision from the officials for Millwall to get back on terms but Wednesday rarely looked like killing the game off after half-time having looked genuinely threatening in an overall positive first half.
The team is blessed with pace and should be capable of finding the opposition wanting with this speed but all too often the approach appears to be too negative to make the most of this attribute.
The only way that some of the doom and gloom may be lifted is to get a much needed 3 points, surely this is more likely to be achieved by playing positively, going out and making it happen.