Sheffield Wednesday apathy followed by anger as defeat to Bristol City demonstrates scale of damage
The two sides of Sheffield Wednesday brought out by Dejphon Chansiri were on show as the Owls hosted Bristol City.
During the 90 minutes, in which the Robins cruised to a 3-0 victory, there was apathy. A sparse crowd was mostly silent, evidently worn down by the continued decline of their beloved club.
Chants protesting the ownership of Chansiri were half-hearted, while a plan to cover his name in the stands with binbags did not really work.
Bristol City sliced through Wednesday’s shaky defence like a knife through butter and had put the game to bed by half-time, courtesy of a Harry Amass own goal and efforts from Emil Riis and Anis Mehmeti.
Anger replaces apathy
After the full-time whistle, it was a different story as anger replaced the apathy. Fans gathered underneath the South Stand to protest and the noise of chants aimed at one man were deafening.
Wednesday, as a club, are bleeding. Increasingly, the football played between chapters of the saga feels almost irrelevant. So much of football’s beauty lies within its unpredictability and drama, but there is little hope for Wednesday’s future.
When the Robins took the lead, the game only ever looked likely to go one way. The script had essentially been written - and Chansiri was the man wielding the pen.
Henrik Pedersen’s football focus
Owls boss Henrik Pedersen, much like his predecessor Danny Rohl, has to block out the noise to an extent and have laser focus on footballing matters.
“I knew it [the Wednesday job] would be difficult,” he said. “But also knew it’s a fantastic challenge. It’s not easy but for us it’s perspective. We get up every day to train better, to develop the players the best possible way for the next game.
"We have to train more, we have to train better. In those situations, we have to be stronger when we build up with a back three and how we move. We cannot play and stay - we need to play and move.”
Had he taken the job in different conditions, the Dane would have the backing of a large, vocal home crowd. Off-field matters have deprived Pedersen of such backing - but he still feels sufficiently supported.
“I feel in general that the atmosphere is good and everyone is doing all they can, in the stadium, to support, he said. “There’s a lot of thought, on what has happened and what doesn’t happen, but I still feel there is big support. All in the stadium want the best for our club.”
There is - of course - only so much Pedersen can say regarding the current state of affairs in S6. He has spoken of his wish for more summer signings, after having just two added to a depleted squad, but there is a considerable degree of diplomacy in everything Wednesday’s boss says.
In such turbulent times, Wednesday have been fortunate to have football obsessives at the helm desperate to steady the ship.
Steadying the Wednesday ship currently looks like a mammoth challenge - and sailing it forward just does not appear possible.
Sheffield Wednesday: Horvath, Valery, Iorfa, Otegbayo (Weaver 84), Lowe, Amass (Johnson 68); Palmer (Fusire 56), Ingelsson, Bannan; McNeill (Cadamarteri 45), Ugbo (Lowe 45).
Unused substitutes: Stretch, Thornton, Brown, Kobacki.
Bristol City: Vitek, Vyner, Dickie (Tanner 45), Sykes (Hirakwa 60), Atkinson, Sykes, Knight, Randell Bird 60), McCrorie (Borges 86); Twine, Mehmeti; Riis (Armstrong 82).
Unused substitutes: Lumley, Roberts, Mayulu, Cornick.
Referee: Tom Nield (Yorkshire)