Saturday’s game against reading at Hillsborough was marked down as being a vital game for the club with three points and a boost of confidence needed to lift the gloom of a desperate run of results.
Last weekends defeat to WBA was hard to take, more so for the manner of the performance than the score-line though that in itself was demoralising enough.
The fact that the vast majority of the team failed to function in that 4-0 defeat was the most disappointing element, no one can argue when beaten by a better team but the lack of fight or belief in that game was sorely disappointing.
The game against Reading represented a chance to put that performance behind us and move on. Wigan as an example were thumped 9-1 a couple of weeks ago by Spurs but responded the following week with a home victory, WBA are clearly one of the better sides in this division so the opportunity was there to write that game down as a one-off by getting three points that would distance the Owls from the bottom three.
That opportunity never really looked like it would be taken. Wednesday were second best for large chunks of the game and but for one instinctive effort from Varney the home side didn’t look like get anything from the game.
Reading, a side with just 4 wins all season, thoroughly deserved the three points and the Owls look a shadow of the team that began the season in decent form at home. Wednesday have now lost 4 in a row at Hillsborough.
Despite an increased budget from last season the team have failed to build or even maintain the form that saw them finish in a respectable 12th place in 2008/09.
The solid defence which the Owls home form was built around last year has deteriorated and now no team in the Championship has conceded more goals on home soil than the Owls have.
In tandem with the leaky defence the goals have dried up at the other end. Wednesday have now gone three games without a goal and have only found the net six times in the last ten matches. Unlike earlier in the season this is not down to missed opportunities as the team are now struggling to create chances.
Only the most optimistic supporters would have expected anything like a play-off push this season but given the fact that the bulk of the squad was kept together and additions were made in the summer to think that last seasons form could at least be maintained would not be unreasonable. We now find ourselves 9 points adrift of 12th place and just a point clear of the relegation zone.
The tactics and team choices have left fans bemused at times of late. Last weekend Captain Tommy Spurr was substituted before half-time, this weekend he kept his place in the side but there was yet another new captain. Multiple options have been tried in defence to no avail. Prior to the West Brom defeat the defence had begun to look more solid so why choose to make changes following one bad performance against the league’s top scorers? Wednesday were not the first team to be on the end of a hiding from the Baggies and the back four hardly received any support from the midfield in that game.
It would appear that the central midfielders have kept their places throughout this poor spell when they have been far from at their best. They have offered little support in terms of stopping the opposition in their tracks, nor have they provided any great creativity for the front players to feed on and neither get forward enough to offer a goal scoring threat on a regular basis.
Up front Marcus Tudgay of whom the club did so much to secure his services in the summer, looks completely out of sorts and no one has done enough alongside him to earn a consistent run in the side.
There seems little point in using resources on loan players if they are not going to get a decent run in the side but having said that, from the evidence of last weekend it doesn’t look like Tom Soares is match fit and while he does have proven pedigree at this level it looks like a strange choice for a short-term loan.
The club has made strides off the field in recent months and should be commended for what they are trying to achieve but it would be unrealistic to not to expect criticism of the team based on the results over the past two months or so.
Significant efforts are being made to increase season ticket sales next year but at the end of the day most effective way to do this is through positive performances and results. As stated, no realist is expecting the team to be mounting a promotion challenge but they should at least see competitiveness and steel week in week out and this has been short of late.
The table doesn’t lie and the Owls are staring at their second relegation battle in three seasons. A run of two or three wins in succession would paint a much rosier picture but when was the last time that happened, especially with two away games coming up and it is with hope rather than expectation that most of the travelling Owls fans will go to Doncaster and Leicester with next week.