Chris Holt and Joe Crann are here to talk over Sheffield Wednesday's latest Championship clash, which again saw a defeat, this time, to Preston North End at Hillsborough. They discuss some green shoots of progress and what let the Owls down this time, as well as those players who are being left out and the potentials ins and outs just over a week before the transfer window closes
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00:00 From what I can see it was a fairly routine victory for Preston.
00:06 There weren't exactly any great shakes.
00:09 And that essentially...
00:13 If we're going to look at anything to worry us,
00:17 we'll start with the concerns first of all.
00:19 The concern in this sense is Preston are fairly ordinary.
00:25 And there wasn't a great deal for Sheffie Wednesday to shout about really.
00:33 No, you said at the beginning of the podcast whether there was green shoots or anything to be worried about.
00:39 And I think it was very much a case of both of those again.
00:42 The first half was, even though they didn't really lay too much of a glove on Preston,
00:48 it was comfortably the best Wednesday I've played in any half this season.
00:52 Not that the bar was particularly high for that to be the case.
00:56 But yeah, they did show that you could sort of see bits of what the manager was wanting
01:02 from the bits of interplay that they were working at.
01:05 There's a couple of balls over the top that worked really nicely.
01:08 The movement was good for large parts.
01:10 Mo Mo Diaby had a really strong debut, I thought.
01:14 But yeah, going to the negatives and the stuff to worry about, like you said,
01:19 Preston are not a team that we expect to be really pushing for.
01:25 Look, top six is a possibility for them, I think, as with the case with a lot of clubs that we've spoken about this season.
01:31 But looking at the top end of the table, I don't think they're going to be up there.
01:35 And they didn't really have to work too hard for their goal.
01:40 I think, if I'm being honest, I think a draw would have been a fairer result.
01:43 Neither team was particularly good.
01:44 Neither team really created too much.
01:47 But worryingly for Wednesday, they put out what I think is probably the biggest 11 that Wednesday have ever fielded in the history of the football club.
01:55 And still got beat by a header from a set piece.
01:59 And that is obviously a big concern.
02:03 The goal itself, he came through a bit of a crowd as well, which kind of grates a little bit.
02:09 I say he came through a crowd, but there were players there, essentially.
02:14 What I'm saying is there were enough players to be able to stop Liam Ninsey from scoring that goal.
02:21 And that is a concern, particularly, as you say, given the kind of change in physicality and in stature of the team that was put out.
02:35 Yeah, I mean, I was lucky.
02:37 And obviously, I don't know, because you can't always trust the heights that are online and stuff.
02:43 But I think other than Bannon and Delgado, I think every single player was over six foot in the game the other day.
02:51 You've obviously got people like Vasquez, like Diaby, like, well, both Diaby's actually, who were like 6'3", 6'4", 6'5".
02:59 You know, they're big, big players.
03:01 And I think that from a Wednesday perspective, look, first of all, I will say he was an absolutely belting ball in.
03:08 Best, he's 17, that kid.
03:09 And he looked a real talent.
03:11 Like, his delivery was excellent.
03:13 But yeah, like you said, there was enough people in the box to deal with it.
03:17 And it was almost like Diaby and Firmewa, I think it was, who just kind of got in each other's way.
03:22 And yeah, one of the things that Dara Moult worked very hard on last season with Wednesday was sort of cutting out the goals from set pieces.
03:33 And they didn't score from nearly enough, which is obviously something that Chisco has already pointed out, that Wednesday you need to score more from set pieces.
03:40 But to have conceded like that, the delivery was good, but Wednesday should have dealt with it better.
03:46 And there's going to be elements of their game that they need to be strong on if they're going to survive in the championship.
03:54 And set pieces at both ends of the pitch is going to be a big one of those.
03:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]