Just days after a memorable steel city derby victory seemingly got Sheffield Wednesday’s season back on track the boat has been rocked by the decision to relieve manager Gary Megson of his duties.
In a statement on the club’s official website on Wednesday evening chairman Milan Mandaric stated that it was “a difficult decision but one that has been taken with the best interests ofSheffield Wednesday at heart." Mandaric went on to comment that a change will give the club a better chance of achieving its aim of promotion and also acknowledged that it may not be a popular decision but one which the supporters need to trust him on.
Wednesday had been in poor form during February but a 1-0 win over the bitter city rivals on Sunday in front of a packed Hillsborough crowd put the Owls ion 3rd place in league one, still potentially some way off an automatic promotion spot but firmly in a play-off place.
Megson, a former Wednesday player who bleeds blue and white, seemed to have the backing of the majority of the supporters and crucially the players given the way they celebrated the goal by running over to the bench and the embraces that they exchanged with their manager at the final whistle.
Rumours had surfaced during the past week that former Cardiff manager Dave Jones was being lined up as Megson’s successor and he will be favourite to take over at Hillsborough.