Sheffield Wednesday v Boton Wanderers: Henrik Pedersen relishing pressure of having to win again
Henrik Pedersen was cut a lot of slack last season, but the new campaign has not yet kicked off and already the grumbles have started at Sheffield Wednesday.
Not many managers survive a year of just two wins, but then no season was like the Owls' 2025-26.
From unpaid wages and a transfer embargo to a manager (Danny Rohl) not turning up for the start of pre-season to the squad boycotting a friendly and players exercising their right to jump ship, to going into administration then thinking they were coming out only for the preferred bidder to pull out, from the loss of tearful talisman Barry Bannan in January to only making it out of negative points on the final day, it was the script of an X-rated horror movie.
Now, everything is different. Thanks goodness.
Instead of being fish out of Championship water they are a blue whale in a small League One pond.
They are still handcuffed by spending restrictions designed to ensure the patient makes a full recovery after the plague of Dejphon Chansiri but it did not stop them making Everton midfield product Tyler Onyango a 23-year-old "one for the future signing" on a three-year contract on Friday.
Bannan is back, and Harry Gray and Louie Barry are also statement signings amongst 13 desperately-needed reinforcements.
So whereas last season's losses could be justifiably brushed off with a "Well, what did you expect?", now people want wins.
All the excuses for Pedersen last season were very valid but only proved we do not yet know if he can manage this club in better times.
A 4-0 defeat to Oldham Athletic, and the manner of it, in the final match of pre-season, has heaped pressure on Saturday's League Cup tie at home to Bolton Wanderers. Despite being the lower-division side, a win will be demanded.
Maybe that nadir will come in handy with points off the table and standards being set. This reporter well remembers watching Leyton Orient beat Newcastle United 6-1 in the 2009 pre-season, and the part it played in the losers winning the Championship with 102 points.
"We never want to have a performance like this but when you have this performance it's all about learning," says Pedersen, who could write a PhD on taking positives in defeat.
"One of the themes in the week was who do we want to be? What do opponents say about Sheffield Wednesday? "The other question we had was what do we guarantee?
"All the teams in League One will have good days but all the teams in League One will also have bad days. Who are we when we have our bad days? What do we guarantee in our bad days at Sheffield Wednesday?
"All the players have to think what can I bring when we are the best of Sheffield Wednesday? What can I bring to this team? What can I bring if we have a poor day today? What is the minimum standard?
"In League One, especially at the beginning, it can be bumpy. In those bumpy bits what is the minimum?
"It was one of our strengths we developed last season – it didn't matter what came in front of us, it was 'no evaluation, next action'. That's why we could have a high, stable level from the culture side.
"The same this season, but this season we (have to) have a winning culture. No excuses not to perform on our basic level.
"In this way it was a good experience for all the players. It doesn't matter who we play against, it's about us.
"If we had done the same performance and also won 4-0 we'd also be f... (he pulls back) very, very angry, because this is not who we want to be.
"How close are we coming to our potential in each game? From the playing style and from our culture. Because we always have to find a way to get a good result."
The Owls left Hillsborough on such a high last season, winning there for the first time since the previous Easter as they celebrated David Storch's takeover and the wiping of the widely-expected points deduction for 2026-27.
It would be a shame to let some of that feel-good factor slip away, so there will be no taking the League Cup lightly. Despite juggling three new goalkeepers, Pedersen wants a defined No 1 who will start on Saturday, not a "cup goalkeeper".
"We always go on the pitch with the best possible gameplan to win the game," he insists. "It's always number one. Always number one.
"Then we have how we want to be in the future but we cannot use this as an excuse not to make a top performance against Bolton."
And for anyone who pities Pedersen for the pressure on him, just remember what he went through in his first season.
"It's a very positive pressure because why are we here? To make something big for Sheffield Wednesday," he argues. "A natural consequence of that is you have to win a lot of football games.
"We have the strategy of who we want to be shot-term and we will grow step by step.
"That we have a chance to compete this season and there is pressure to win I think is only healthy for all of us.
"We are working in the right direction. It will be bumpy but it will be really good, I'm sure."