Nerves of Steel

[Lawlore]

"Pressure makes diamonds." - George S. Patton

Wednesday, 8th April 2037

Six years ago, I sat here, writing my journal as the manager of Oldham Athletic, sitting at the top of League One, considering whether the squad had what it takes to succeed in the Championship. And, while that story was without an ending- a sad mirror of life, given what would happen at Oldham at the end of that season- I find myself now sitting at a similar desk, in a similar office, thinking about how chronicling those few months helped me make some decisions.

My career is at another crossroads- the story is, in fact, not all that different. But, although blue and white adorn these walls, as before, this desk is not in Oldham- it is in Sheffield. Hillsborough, to be precise.

I've been in this game for, what, almost twenty years now, and Sheffield Wednesday are the biggest club I have ever had the privilege to manage. Sure, I won the Copa Libertadores and reached the World Club Cup Final at the helm of Brazilian side Ponte Preta- and those were matches and nights that are etched forever in my memory. But, with all respect, Ponte Preta are not Sheffield Wednesday, a club with a history stretching back 170 years, with four top-flight titles and three FA Cup wins to their name. A club who are known the world over- one of the big, classic names of English football.

They're also a club who have been outside the top flight since the year 2000. Thirty-seven years. THIRTY SEVEN YEARS. That's ridiculous. How? How does that happen? How, since I first took my baby steps in football management back in 2019 with Chinese club Dalian Transcendence, have Sheffield Wednesday been stuck in the second tier? How have I managed to work my way up, slowly but surely, year-on-year, with detours here, there and everywhere, scratching my way from Sunday league to a standard where Sheffield Wednesday would even consider me- and they've not made their grand return to the top flight?

Let me be clear: in my mind, Sheffield Wednesday are a big club. They get 25,000 people a match, every match. And somehow, some way, they've found themselves adrift in the Championship. Suffice to say, I nearly bit their arm off when they came in for me after I decided to return to England. In my 90's-addled head, Sheffield Wednesday's rightful place is somewhere in the top eight. Sheffield Wednesday are a top-eight club, not in the Championship, but in all of England. That was the mission statement I put out there that got me hired, and I believe every word of it. Manchester United. Arsenal. Liverpool. Sheffield Wednesday.

Last season, I took over in February, and guided the club from 14th up to 4th in the second half of the season- it's a slightly misleading stat, as there really wasn't much separating 4th down to about 8th. We hadn't really expected to reach the playoffs, and we weren't ready for them- when we lost the first leg 3-1 to Burnley, it was already the end of the story. If we'd gone up, we'd have been massacred in the Prem, I'm sure of it. It was the wrong squad, and it was too soon.

But now, the overhaul has occurred, the wheels are turning and everything is falling into place. Now, it's April, in season two of Project: Top Eight. We have sat second in the division, behind Fulham, since mid-December. The points gap between us and them has grown and shrunk again, as the teams in the playoffs below us- Brentford, Bradford, Preston- have tried their damnedest to keep up the pace.

Yesterday, we took our biggest step towards the title yet- we came from behind to defeat Southampton 2-1, while Fulham took a shock defeat to Bristol City. The goal for this season has always, always been promotion- 1st, 2nd or playoffs, whatever. But with 42 games played, and just one point separating us, a title challenge is a distraction I hadn't planned for, but one which you can't help but think about.

Guiding Sheffield Wednesday back to the top flight, for the first time in almost forty years, will make me an instant hero around these parts. If Project: Top Eight is to have any legs at all, this is the first step- this is the most important step. And so, with four games remaining, please join me as we try and demonstrate the kinds of nerves that can only be forged here in the Steel City.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Lawlore

[Lawlore]

"I wish I knew how to quit you" - Brokeback Mountain

Friday, 10th April 2037

In drawing the parallel with the Oldham side who I didn't think would be good enough if they went up all those years ago, I guess the first question I should probably address is whether this Sheffield Wednesday side would be good enough if we went up.

And, really, the short answer is yes. For the most part, most positions have got a bit of competition about them, with a couple of capable players vying for a first-team spot, and plenty of adequate replacements waiting in the wings.

Take the AMC role, for example. Vladimir Kovac was one of the first guys I brought in when I joined last season- a £500k signing from AS Trencin, a Slovakian side where he'd come through the ranks and was doing a perfectly capable job as a 19-year-old in their first team. He was someone I'd known about for a little while, but getting him to fly to Brazil was always a non-starter, so he had to wait until I was rooted here in Sheffield. While I had a few reservations about whether he was going to be up to the standard, there was nobody else at the club playing in that role, so he had half a season to settle in without any real competition. Fortunately, he's gone from strength to strength- he still doesn't score enough, but he is a workhorse, and with the ball at his feet can pick out a killer ball at pretty much any distance.

His backup is a lad named Brady Porter, who came in at the start of the season on loan from Manchester United. He's a bit more of a showman and can add a real spark in that role when we need it, at the cost of being a bit lightweight and sometimes getting muscled out of a game. The two of them have played around 20 games each in that position, and they've both done a great job- it's kept them both fresh, it's allowed for them to both develop a bit of form without too much pressure, and it's given the team some flexibility. Sure, Porter will go back to United at the end of the season, but I wouldn't rule out bringing him back, and for now, he's doing a grand job.

And it's like that across the team- we're not relying on any one or two players to perform match-in, match-out, and the impact of injuries has been minimised. The board have backed me with making some swooping changes- shipping out some of the highest earners for inflated fees, and reinvesting that money in raw talent who are just looking for a platform.

The one exception is the right-back position- we've just struggled and struggled to find anyone up to the standard we're looking for. Kids just don't wanna be wing-backs, it seems- tackling and crossing are pretty much mutually exclusive. Italian Samuele Restuccia has pretty much become our first choice there since signing on a free, but I think we're carrying him- defensively he's fine, but he doesn't offer much going forwards.

His understudy is Roger freaking Paxman. Yes, THAT Roger Paxman- the one who I was worried wasn't good enough for Oldham in League One all those years ago. Now 32, when I sat there with him putting pen to paper, I knew it was a desperate move. It was the THIRD time I'd signed him, since he came with me to Ponte Preta as well, and I'm still not sure he's very good at all. He does the basics perfectly fine, but he's very much hit a ceiling, and it's clear he's starting to lose what little he had to begin with. And yet, he's played 27 games for us this season. There's every chance that, unless I can find someone who can do any better, next season he'll be a Premier League player. That's unthinkable- this is a guy who was, at one point, released by Woking.

I mention Paxman, because it's he who came to me after today's press conference, in which I announced that I'd be publishing these journals again. He hadn't taken too kindly to how I'd written about him before... and I guess he isn't gonna like this all that much.

Roger, if you're reading this, you know I'm not saying anything that I haven't said to your face. I'm sorry, but it's true. We've worked together for six years, and somehow you keep making me pick you, but goddamn, I spend every transfer window looking for someone else to play in your position. You know this, I know this, and now anyone else reading this knows this.

Anyway, you're starting tomorrow against Ipswich. Yes, yes, I know.

 

                    	    Pl    W     D     L    GD      Pts
======================================================================================================
[1] Fulham                  42    25    8     9    +34     83
[2] Sheffield Wednesday     42    23    13    6    +37     82
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[3] Brentford               42    22    11    9    +36     77
[4] Burnley                 43    23    8     12   +17     77
[5] Bradford City           42    22    10    10   +17     76
[6] Preston North End       42    21    12    9    +22     75
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Lawlore

[Lawlore]

"If I was still at Ipswich, I wouldn't be where I am today" - Dalian Atkinson

Saturday, 11th April 2037
Championship Match 43: Sheffield Wednesday (2nd) vs. Ipswich Town (14th)

And so, we come to match day.

I note that I've not really said too much about how we've been playing, and the answer is "pretty well". My stint in Brazil really cemented a philosophy of outscoring opponents- having a bevy of strikers to rotate in and out of the side as form requires, with most attacks flowing from two lightning-quick wingers. Defence is secondary- as long as I have someone I trust between the sticks to be that last line (and in Norwegian Matias Haugen, I've found my Schmeichel), I accept that sometimes we'll get caught short and ship a couple of goals.

All of which goes to explain how we've been able to put ourselves in the position we're in. Fulham have taken the opposite approach- they've got a brick wall for a back line, conceding just 38 goals in 42 games. And it explains how they're ahead- we've had a good number of matches that have ended up as a draws that should've been wins, but for pressing our luck too far at the back. Henri Martins and Zeli Skeete are both decent centre backs, but their legs get as tired as anyone, and if an opponent brings on a fresh striker, they can get pretty vulnerable. It only takes one chance.

Today's opponents are Ipswich Town, who are pretty much just playing out the rest of the season. They were at risk of falling into a relegation scrap this season, but pulled themselves away from the bottom of the table around Christmas, and have sat around 14th ever since. On paper, they shouldn't really pose much of a challenge, but in the reverse fixture, they were the epitome of a side who found a way to neutralise our attacking prowess, packing the centre of defence with three centre backs to soak up any crosses in an unorthodox 3-5-2 formation. They raced to a 3-0 lead before half-time, with two of their goals coming on the break from winger Jordan Anderson, and were then satisfied to spend the rest of the game under the cosh, putting eleven men behind the ball. It wasn't pretty, but it was frustratingly effective.

When we met them in the fourth round of the FA Cup back in January, we didn't make the same mistake again. Right-back Samuele Restuccia took the game by the scruff of its neck, and just bullied their defence throughout, presenting Peer Trumner and Vladimir Kovac with easy tap-ins for the first two goals in a 4-0 victory. Kevin Dupont and Henri Martins completed the rout.

Which leads us to today- and really, while there should be reason for confidence, I'm going into this feeling like it could go either way. We're in good form- six without a defeat- while they've only won one in six. There are pretty much no stakes for Ipswich- they're safe, and they can't reach the playoffs. They're at a point where they're thinking about next season, maybe starting to bed in a couple of younger prospects. It could be a real opportunity to signal our intent- but it could also be just the sort of nothing match to provide an unexpected banana peel. We took them for granted once already this season- I'm really keen not to do so again.

Starting Lineup vs. Ipswich Town

                		[1]     GK    Matias HAUGEN (c)
                		[71]    DL    Lejdi SHALA
  86  24       	     		[2]     DC    Henri MARTINS
11  8   23      	      	[83]    DC    Zeli SKEETE
    75              	  	[70]    DR    Roger PAXMAN
71 2 83 70            		[75]    DMC   Dylan CASTEL
    1                		[8]     AMC   Vladimir KOVAC
                		[11]    AML   Robert PETRAS
                		[23]    AMR   Luis Javier CHANZA
                		[24]    SC    Peer TRUMNER
                		[86]    SC    Victor PIRES

Subs: Donghi, Holmes, Hughes, Andaloussi, Dupont, Farley, Flynn

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Lawlore