From: scogpw@thor.cf.ac.uk (Gordon Walker)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
Subject: Shef Wed - early assessment
Date: 26 Aug 92 12:16:19 GMT
Organization: University of Wales College of Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales, UK
X-Mailer: Cardiff Computing Maths PP Mail Open News Gateway

Right - here's my early report and assesment of Sheffield Wednesday (The 
Owls)'s season so far for all fans interested (including no doubt the lone 
Blade in Hawaii - hi Duncan! - 'cos it's the closest he'll get to hearing 
about "the otther lot"!)

Matches played:  Everton 1 Owls    1 (Pearson)
                 Owls    2 Forest  0 (Hirst2)
                 Owls    3 Chelsea 3 (Williams, Hirst (pen), Wilson)
                 Palace  1 Owls    1 (Williams)

Brief overall impression: at times brilliant, defence mostly solid but 
can get *very* panicky on some occassions, generally the outlook is
promising (especially when Waddle plays regularly).

Basic team selection: (playing 4-4-2)
Keeper:      Woods (reserves: Pressman, Beresford)
R-b:         Nilsson (cover: Warhurst, Harkes or King)
L-b:         King (cover: Worthington)
C-bs:        Pearson (capt), Warhurst (cover: Shirtliff, Anderson, Watts??)
Rgt-midfld   Wilson or Harkes, (Waddle maybe when fit)
Ctr-midfld   Palmer,  Bart-Williams or Hyde or Sheridan (when fit), 
             (and Waddle maybe when fit)
Lft-midfld   Worthington  (cover: Francis, Harkes, Waddle?)
Forwards     Hirst, Williams (cover: Jemson, Francis, Watson, Johnson)

Manager      Trevor Francis (assistant: Richie Barker)

Where Waddle will play when fit I don't know - probably right or
centre midfield (where I think he played for the first half against Everton
before getting injured - should be back soon though). With Sheridan fit I
should think Waddle will play wide. 

The most contested selection seems to be the right and centre midfield
positions. On the right, Wilson adds more bite but Harkes more skill. 
In the centre, Sheridan would be first choice to play along side Palmer but
he's out for a few weeks. The other choices are two talented youngsters
Bart-Williams (only 18 still) and Hyde (21). "Bartman" oozes class and skill
and is the most exciting prospect we've had for years  - maybe the best young
midfielder in the country. Looks and plays like a 25 year-old, though has the
odd moment when he shows his in-experience. Hyde is more the "terrier" type,
but still shows great promise - he seems to be preferred by Francis for the
away matches so far.


Brief match reports:

The two away matches I'm assessing only on hear-say, newspaper and radio 
reports. Both sound like well-deserved draws against two teams who aren't
push-overs. The Everton match sounded like we controlled the first half, went
in front, then they equalised just before half-time. They had the better of the
second half apparently but we held out well. The Palace match sounds like we
played pretty well, and could well have won it, but had to rely on a goalkeeper
error for our goal. Hirst nearly scored late on (a lob over the keepr which
then bounced over the bar!) but then nearly lost it in injury time. 

The two home matches I went to and were both of the highest class for
entertainment - the Forest match for all round skill and the Chelsea match for
initially brilliance, then collapse, then late drama. Both mathces will be hard
to equal throughout the season, but then again the way we're playing at the
moment who knows?
The Forest match was basically a case of two teams playing fast skillful
football almost none-stop. One thing the new back-pass rule does in a match
like this is keep up the pace with no time to catch your breath. Forest looked
very good in patches but lacked penetration in the area (maybe down to good
defending?). But after Hirst had scored the second of his long-range strikes,
we could have had 4 or 5 more. The last ten minutes had Forest really on the
rack.
The Chelsea match was a real "game of two halves" - not that Owls fans aren't
used to that! The first half was a quite brilliant performance that should
have yieled twice as many as the two goals scored. The first goal was a shot at
the far post by Hirst, which was credited to Paul Williams in the end I think
who touched it in. The second was a penalty (disputed by Chelsea at the time
but looked one on the tv). There should have been another when Williams was
blatently pulled down - but not given. The second half saw the Wednesday
defence crumple when put under pressure. Chelsea scored 3 goals in 20 minutes
as the defence just backed off any one prepaered to run at them. This does not
bode well! (especially with Arsenal to play this weekend!). With the team
formation in tatters, and all the flowing footbal totally disappearing with
everyone panicking, our super-sub/mananger Francis came on to calm things down
and add some skill down the left. This evenually provided the equaliser for
Wilson to score from close range. Francis even nearly won it with a free kick
at the end.

So - if we can sort out the moments of panic, then things are looking pretty
promising. Of course, injuries can ruin all the best laid plans and often the
key to a successful season. The most important players in that respect are
Hirst (and maybe Williams the way he's playing at the moment) and Palmer I 
think, and probably Nilsson. Palmer can look a real donkey even at club level,
but for every awkward moment he'll make up for it somehow. He's a player you
really miss when not playing. Nilsson is pure class and would be hard to
replace adequately, though Harkes and Warhurst can do a job at right back. 
The forward line of Hirst and Williams is playing so well at the moment we can
only wish they can stay fit. The reserves aren't exactly brilliant so Francis
may have to buy if something drastic occurs. On the other side of the injury
front, things should be interesting with Waddle and Sheridan fit.

That's about it for now - hope those of you interested found this worthwhile.

Up the Owls!

gordon
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer