Sheffield Wednesday capitalised on Lee Bowyer, Birmingham City fallout - it almost led to promotion | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday struck gold with the signing of defender Harlee Dean after a fallout with Lee Bowyer forced him to leave Birmingham City.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters feared the worst when they were relegated to League One in 2021, but they almost bounced back to the Championship at the first attempt.

Wednesday suffered relegation from the Championship in the 2020-21 season after being hit with a six-point deduction, and off-field issues ahead of their League One campaign meant that their recruitment drive did not get underway until late in the summer transfer window.

Despite doing much of his business in the weeks leading up to the start of the season, manager Darren Moore used his impressive pulling power to build a squad capable of competing for promotion, bringing in the likes of Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Jack Hunt, George Byers, Marvin Johnson and Lee Gregory.

After taking a little while to find their feet in the third tier following the late flurry of transfer activity, the Owls emerged as serious promotion contenders, but a run of three defeats in four games against Sunderland, Shrewsbury Town and Oxford United in December and January threatened to derail their season, forcing Moore to enter the transfer market once again.

With the defence in desperate need of strengthening, Wednesday signed Jordan Storey and Harlee Dean on loan from Preston North End and Birmingham City respectively, and the arrival of the pair had a transformational effect on Moore's side, but a deal for the latter would not have been possible if not for a fallout with manager Lee Bowyer at his parent club.

Sheffield Wednesday took advantage of Harlee Dean, Lee Bowyer dispute

Dean played a starring role as Birmingham avoided relegation from the Championship at Wednesday's expense in the 2020-21 season, scoring four goals in 44 appearances, and he was voted as the club's Player of the Year by both his team-mates and supporters.

At that point, the prospect of Dean being loaned out to a League One club would have been unthinkable, and he remained a regular for the Blues at the start of the following campaign, frequently wearing the captain's armband.

However, the situation changed in November 2021 when Dean was suddenly dropped from the starting line-up, and having lost his place in the matchday squad, Bowyer confirmed the following month that the defender would be available for transfer in the January window.

There were hints that the relationship between Bowyer and Dean had become strained, with the manager stating in January that some players "needed a change of scenery from their comfort zone", strongly implying that the 33-year-old was one of those.

Dean completed a loan move to Wednesday towards the end of the winter window, and while he claimed that there was "no issue between me and the manager", he chose to hit back at Bowyer's comments, admitting that they "disappointed" him.

Having clearly been frustrated by the manner of his exit from Birmingham, Dean arrived at Hillsborough with a point to prove, and while his time with the Owls was not all plain sailing, he certainly made a big impact at his new club.

Dean was thrown straight into the Wednesday starting line-up after joining the club, but on just his second appearance, he sustained a calf injury that would rule him out for over a month, which was a big frustration for Moore, who had seen his defensive options severely depleted by injuries throughout the season.

After returning to fitness, Dean immediately regained his place in the team, and while he missed out on the final few games of the regular season as Moore looked to protect him ahead of the play-offs, he played an important role as the Owls secured their place in the top six.

Wednesday won five and drew two of the seven league games in which Dean featured, and they kept three clean sheets in those matches, with the defender showing all of his Championship quality as he helped to bring solidity and organisation to a defence that had been guilty of conceding plenty of cheap goals over the course of the campaign.

Despite his relatively limited game time, Dean quickly endeared himself to the Owls fan base, and there was much delight when it was revealed he would be fit for the play-offs, but his side suffered an agonising defeat to Sunderland in the semi-finals, with Patrick Roberts' late equaliser in the second leg sealing an aggregate victory for the Black Cats.

After missing out on promotion, Wednesday were unable to secure a permanent deal for Dean in the summer, but clearly revitalised by his spell in South Yorkshire, he forced his way back into contention at Birmingham under new manager John Eustace, making 16 appearances for the club in the 2022-23 season before being released at the end of his contract.

Dean may only have made nine appearances in total during his time with the Owls, but his time at Hillsborough left a lasting impression on him, and speaking in November, he revealed that the club helped him to reignite his passion for the game after a tough spell with the Blues.

"I signed for Sheffield Wednesday in the January and I just fell back in love with football again," Dean said on the Under The Cosh podcast, quoted by The Star.

"I didn’t realise I needed it so much, Birmingham had sucked the life out of me. It had been just grinding, surviving, whereas Wednesday had dropped down to League One, we were going for promotion.

"The enjoyment was back, the dressing room was bouncing... It felt like good times were coming, it was enjoyable, we played good football, we were dominating games."

Unfortunately, Dean could not end his stint at Wednesday with promotion, but the defender, who currently plays for League One side Reading, clearly has fond memories of his time at the club, and it is a deal that was mutually beneficial for all parties.