Football League World
·16 November 2023
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·16 November 2023
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Sheffield Wednesday have had a rough few years, both on and off the football pitch.
The Owls went from being a side that was bidding for promotion to sitting at the bottom end of the Championship and then finding themselves in England’s third tier.
At the end of the 2020/21 Championship season, Sheffield Wednesday dropped into League One after a disastrous campaign.
As expected, there were plenty of changes at the club as players left to move onto new challenges, with one of those players to depart being midfielder Liam Shaw.
The 22-year-old left to join Scottish Premiership side Celtic, but so far it is a move that doesn’t seem to have worked out for the player.
Shaw came through the academy at Hillsborough, playing in the club’s under-18s and under-21s.
Apart from a loan spell at non-league side Chesterfield during the 2019/20 season, Shaw spent all of his football career with the Owls until departing.
After his spell at Chesterfield, Shaw continued playing in the under-21s before being moved up to the first team in 2020.
The midfielder spent the 2020/21 season playing for the club’s first team and his emergence was a rare bright spot in what was a season to forget as, as previously mentioned, the club suffered relegation.
During that campaign, Shaw made 22 appearances for the Owls in all competitions, with 19 of them coming in the league.
But midway through 2020/21, the midfielder signed a pre-contract with Scottish giants Celtic in a heartbreaking blow for the Owls. He'd been in the final six months of his Hillsborough contract, which had allowed the Old Firm club to strike.
Celtic signed Shaw in the summer of 2021, and the midfielder would have been hoping to kick his career off from here.
But he's struggled to make an impact at first team level up to this point.
In the first part of the 2021/22 season, the 22-year-old played just four games for the Scottish giants, with one appearance coming in the league, and that was a nine-minute cameo.
His other three appearances did come as starts, but they were in the Europa League and the Trust Trophy.
When the January 2022 transfer window opened, Celtic decided to send Shaw on loan for the remainder of that season. He joined fellow Scottish side Motherwell, where he played eight times.
Then last season, he was shipped out on loan once again, joining League One side Morecambe for the season, where he scored two goals and recorded three assists in 39 appearances.
The midfielder would have been hoping that was enough to impress the decision-makers Celtic, but this summer he was sent away again as he joined League One side Wigan Athletic on loan.
So far, Shaw has played 10 times for the Latics, starting six of those games, but he has yet to get off the mark in front of goal for the club. However, his form may well have those watching back at Celtic, as he’s averaged 1.5 tackles per game this season, with 0.9 interceptions and 1.4 clearances, and has a pass accuracy of 78.5%, as per WhoScored.com.
There is still time for the deal to work out for Shaw, as he’s under contract with the Scottish champions until the summer of 2025, but right now it's hard to say that heading up north has been a success - particularly as he may well have become a regular fixture for the Owls.
Sheffield Wednesday for Celtic so soon into his career.
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