Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
Andy Pakes previews this Sunday afternoon clash in the first edition of Game of the Week for 2012
Dave Hughes tells us about his sporting hero, Wes Morgan
Last year, the Owls spent the two months leading up to Christmas warding off constant threats from those lovely people at Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, which ended with a date in the High Court. With Milan Manderic stepping in to save the club and injecting some much needed capital, it seemed as though the future would be bright for the blue half of Sheffield for a change this season.
Admittedly, it is nice to be out of murky financial waters. On the pitch however, Wednesday have been blighted by consistent inconsistency, with performances ranging from the sublime to the downright awful, and there is nothing more frustrating for a fan. A case in point came a couple of weeks ago, as Gary Megson's men welcomed league leaders MK Dons to Hillsborough in what looked to be Wednesday's toughest game of the campaign so far. After putting in a determined, accomplished performance, Karl Robinson's side were sent packing on the back of a fairly comprehensive 3-1 defeat. Happy days right?
Three days later and Wednesday travelled to mid-table side Stevenage in a game which most people would have expected them to win. Megson stuck with exactly the same side which had demolished MK Dons the previous weekend, and watched in horror as the home team smashed four goals past Owls 'keeper Richard O'Donnell inside the first half. Stevenage eventually went on to win the match 5-1, inflicting the worst defeat upon the Owls since the 5-1 drubbing that they suffered at Exeter last season; a match which ended up costing former manager Alan Irvine his job.
Inconsistent performances have undoubtedly been Wednesday's biggest burden this year, and the worry is that I'm not sure how Megson will attempt to solve the problem. He seems to have tried both the harsh and the soft approach and neither have proved to be successful. There can be no excuses regarding the team, because he has been given a full license by Manderic to make any changes that he deems appropriate, and the squad is now made up completely of Megson approved players.
One thing that will not work is sacking the manager. We have been down that road far too many times in the recent past and it hasn't got us anywhere. Sure, it may provide some short term success, but in the end we always seem to end up back where we started regardless of who the manager is. Gary Megson has done a steady job since he took over in February without ever really providing any magical moments, but I believe that he has to be given at least two full seasons to try and take us back into the Championship before we should even consider replacing him.
It was pleasing to see Wednesday bounce back last weekend and gain their first away win of the season in a 3-2 victory at Yeovil. Megson was quick to praise his players for the way that they responded to the hammering taken against Stevenage, but the worry is that nobody can be sure which Wednesday side will turn up when we play Exeter this Saturday at Hillsborough.
It is due to this inconsistency that Wednesday are now sat outside the play-off positions in mid table obscurity. Everyone connected to the club knows that there is so much potential both on and off the field, and if we could just find a way to churn out consistent performances both away from home and at Hillsborough, we would be a promotion certainty.
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