Soaring Throstles face struggling Owls at Hillsborough

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·26 September 2024

Soaring Throstles face struggling Owls at Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday v West Bromwich Albion; Hillsborough, Saturday 28th September, 12.30pm

The strong start to the campaign has taken Albion fans by surprise and, I suspect, the rest of the Championship as well. Sixteen points from a possible eighteen represents the best start by a Baggies team since 1992/93 while the defensive record is second to none. Only once before, in 1953/54, has an Albion side conceded just twice in their opening six league games – a clean sheet at Hillsborough will set a new club record.

In contrast, Sheffield Wednesday’s start to the season has been a struggle, at least in the Championship. Away wins at Hull City, Grimsby Town and Blackpool have seen them progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, but their thumping 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle on the opening weekend remains their only success in the league. A home draw with QPR is the only other point that the Owls have earned as they have fallen to a home defeat by Leeds United and on the road at Sunderland, Millwall and Luton Town.

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Their most recent defeat, at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, came after they took the lead through a fine strike from skipper, Barry Bannan, conceding two goals in the final thirteen minutes. It was the second league match on the trot where they conceded the lead late on – against QPR, Bannan had given them the lead once again with a spectacular strike, this time three minutes into stoppage time, only for the visitors to square things up following a goalmouth scramble.

Those results leave the Owls in the bottom three where they spent much of last season, before they won four of their last six matches to escape the drop, including a 3-0 win over Albion in their final home game of the campaign. Danny Röhl was the youngest manager in the league when he was appointed at Hillsborough in October last year to his first managerial position. His current win percentage of 42.55% is certainly impressive, indicative of the state of the club when he took over – bottom of the table after eleven games with no wins and only three points. Owls’ fans will point to a tough start to the season – after the win over Plymouth, they have faced early pace setters Sunderland, promotion favourites Leeds United and relegated Luton Town and they now face another of the early form teams in Albion. I’m not expecting an easy match at Hillsborough but their defensive record of conceding an average of two goals per game so far this season suggests that they could be vulnerable at the back.

Carlos Corberán was forced into his first change to his starting eleven last week when Jayson Molumby was forced to sit out the game with an injury giving rise to a full debut for Uroš Račić. The big Serb repaid the manager’s selection with an assist for Maja’s winner and it gives the Spaniard a decision to make for this weekend should Molumby be cleared fit to play. The Irishman arguably offers more energy which suits Albion’s high press, but Račić proved that he has plenty to offer.

The results would suggest that the team is working well as it is, but it’s fair to say that Albion have got away with one or two moments at the back, not least the mix up between Ajayi and Bartley that presented Morgan Whitaker with a one-on-one opportunity in the first half last Saturday. It will, therefore, be interesting to see if Corberán opts to switch anything around at the back. Personally, I think he has faith in the current back four and I’m not expecting to see any changes. Interestingly, Paddy McNair looks to have lost his place on the bench since the arrival of Mason Holgate, with the Everton loanee preferred in the last two matchday squads. Any change, if it does come, would likely see Heggem move into the centre with Frabotta slotting in on the left.

Further forward, things have also been ticking along nicely with Mowatt following up his double at Portsmouth with another strong display that was enough to see him in the Championship Team of the Week for the second successive weekend. Maja is obviously on fire and, with Devante Cole not appearing in the matchday squad for the last two games, the striker position seems to be his at least until Dike returns from injury. Lewis Dobbin has been the preferred central option when Maja has been withdrawn, but we did see both Jed Wallace and Tom Fellows used there last season with varying degrees of success and, of course, we have seen Karlan Grant centrally many times. Despite the options, none of them are ideal and keeping Maja fit could be key to the Baggies’ continued good form.

Mikey Johnston is having to bide his time on the bench since his return to the club, largely thanks to the strong performances of Karlan Grant. The former Huddersfield man has looked like a different player to the one we remembered under Steve Bruce, although he is, of course, being used in his preferred position coming in off the left flank. He opened his account for the season at Stoke with an untypical Grant goal, a header, but he did hit the post with a shot against Plymouth that was more familiar – and reminiscent of Mikey Johnston last season, perhaps? The Irish international will need to make a big impression, either in training or off the bench, to dislodge Grant in his current form.

On the other flank, Tom Fellows is keeping club skipper, Jed Wallace, on the bench having registered four assists this season already matching his total from the whole of the last campaign. Having his scored on his England U21 debut as well, the youngster is having a fantastic season and it seems likely that his senior teammate will have to continue to wait for his chance and his interview with Radio WM this week would suggest that he is happy to do so as long as Albion are continuing to get the right results.

Of course, Albion have been fortunate with injuries so far this season, with Molumby the only one of the starting eleven to be affected. As we move into the first three-game week of the league season, we will have to expect one or two absences either through injury or squad management. Corberán will inevitably listen to his fitness team as they monitor the players’ condition closely to avoid injuries. It may be injury prevention, rather than form, that sees changes to the starting eleven to feed in, but I’m not expecting that this weekend. We may see some changes, however, for the first midweek league game of the campaign against Middlesbrough next week.

So, for Saturday, I’m not expecting much to change in terms of the line up, and hopefully in terms of results. The Baggies haven’t won five in a row since the early days of Corberán’s tenure at the club in the autumn of 2022, and a victory would match Albion’s best ever league start to a season from 1992. Hopes are high and expectations are rising – can the Baggies continue to deliver?

History

The 3-0 defeat at Hillsborough in the last regular away game of last season was the Owls’ first victory over the Baggies for 17 years, with Albion having previously enjoyed a nine match unbeaten run against the blue half of Sheffield. That followed a rather different run of one win in fifteen meetings for the Baggies dating back to the mid-seventies!

Only two players in the current squads have played for both clubs. Baggies’ second choice stopper, Joe Wildsmith, was born and bred in the Steel City and was at Hillsborough for nine years before moving to Derby County in 2022. In the opposite camp, Nathaniel Chalobah signed for Wednesday in the summer having been released by Albion in the summer. Both players have been restricted to one EFL Cup appearance for their new clubs so far.

Over the years, there have been a host of players to have pulled on both sets of blue and white stripes, most recently Adam Reach, another player released by Albion in the summer, who clocked up more than 200 appearances for the Owls. Baggies club legend, Chris Brunt, made his league debut for Wednesday in March 2004 moving to the Hawthorns three years later. Others in the last decade or so include Jacob Murphy, who went on loan to Hillsborough after his spell at the Hawthorns, and two promising Baggies academy products who failed to achieve their potential, Saido Berahino and Izzy Brown.

Going back a little further, Steve Watson moved to Wednesday from Albion, initially on loan in 2007, Ronnie Wallwork passed through Hillsborough late in his career while defenders Darren Purse and Bartosz Slusarski, and midfielders Joe Mattock and Callum McManaman also played for Wednesday after leaving the Hawthorns. James O’Connor, Adam Chambers, James Quinn, Colin West and Gary Bannister also played for both clubs.

For those who remember the 80s, Sheffield Wednesday and England regular, Carlton Palmer, started his career at the Hawthorns as a YTS while Garry Thompson, Imre Varadi, Steve Mackenzie, Steve Nicol and David Burrows also had spells with both clubs. Britain’s first half million pound player, David Mills, moved onto Newcastle and then Wednesday after failing at the Albion while another Baggies legend, Bobby Hope, had a couple of seasons at Hillsborough in the late seventies.

Finally, a man we so sadly lost earlier in the summer, Craig Shakespeare, played top flight football at Hillsborough before moving to Albion in February 1990.