There can be little doubt that Francis Jeffers possesses more than enough ability to be a success at Championship level. His superb goal in the Owls first league win of the season against Hull is testament to that alone.
Unfortunately there has been little further evidence to back this up and Jeffers, who joined the Owls with a history of injury problems that have blighted his career, managed only 7 league starts for the club during 2007/08.
While it is hard to blame a player for getting injured, the club must accept responsibility for the fact that spending a large proportion of the clubs budget on wages for an injury prone player was a gamble that, to date at least, has clearly not paid off.
It seems strange that fans favourite Steven MacLean was allowed to leave the club partly due to a suspect injury record but was soon replaced by the signing of Jeffers. MacLean, despite his own injury problems has played more games and scored more goals than Jeffers this season and earned Cardiff £500,000 for his transfer to Plymouth.
Overall season verdict: 5 out of 10. In the few games he played he showed what he is capable of. No one can blame a player for being injured and I would imagine this frustrates the man himself far more than it does anyone else. Unfortunately, in the current climate, the Owls literally cannot afford to be without such a high profile signing for so long.