Sheffield Wednesday are to face Sheffield United in League One next season. Image via geograph.
BBC Radio Sheffield is holding a live debate on the state of Sheffield football on Tuesday May 10.
The live debate, which will air on BBC Radio Sheffield’s Football Heaven, is to be held at Sheffield Hallam University.
The programme will be hosted by Seth Bennett and Paul Walker, who host sports coverage on BBC Radio Sheffield.
The issues will be debated by former Sheffield United striker Keith Edwards and ex-Owls defender Lawrie Madden. Former Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley striker David Hirst will also take part in the debate, as well as sports journalists Mike Morgan and James Shield.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Gary Megson is determined to end the Owls’ Hillsborough hoodoo and get the club’s first home win in three months against Peterborough United tomorrow night.
Wednesday are still looking for their first home win under Megson’s tenure and their first since they trounced Bristol Rovers 6-2 on December 11th.
“All this about playing at Hillsborough and it’s difficult for the players, it’s not,” said Megson.
“Playing in front of the people that we play in front of is a positive, playing on Hillsborough is a positive. We can’t let it become something that other people can say is a negative.”
Winger Gary Teale supported his manager’s view and declared that he loved playing at Hillsborough.
“Where would you rather be, would you rather be playing in front of 20,000 every week or playing in front of 2? Having them behind you should be an added bonus not a hindrance,” he said.
Wednesday have struggled to collect points at Hillsborough
Wednesday switched from a 4-5-1 formation to a 4-4-2 against Notts County on Saturday but failed to create chances in a 1-0 loss. Megson denied that the formation was the reason for their poor form.
“We’ve played 21 out of 23 players, we’ve played three different formations and since I’ve been here we’ve won two league games out of seven. The formation before that had won one out of ten. So we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.
“We’ve got some decent players not playing up to their potential. And what we’ve got to get is that they roll up their sleeves have a real good tear up and see where it takes us.”
In-form Peterborough thrashed Carlisle United 6-0 on Saturday and come to Sheffield brimming with confidence. They’ve scored 15 goals and haven’t conceded in their last four games and Megson believes their striker Craig Mackail-Smith is the best in the league.
“He works hard, he plays on the shoulder and he looks to get in behind. It holds everything up for everyone else and he’s a quality player,” he said.
Wednesday conceded five against Peterborough last time the two met but Megson wants his team to be aggressive and take the game to them.
“If we sit back and we’re after you Claude, and just let them do what they want then they’ll turn us over because of the quality of the forward players they’ve got,” he said.
Megson is hopeful that midfielders Chris Sedgewick and Isaiah Osbourne will be fit for the game after both had to come off with injuries on Saturday.
Megson hailed Osbourne’s performance in the defeat saying he was “our best player on Saturday by a streak”. The midfielder, on loan from Villa, was unable to continue in the second half and a decision will be reached on his fitness nearer to tomorrow night’s game.
New Sheffield Wednesday boss, Gary Megson, is angry with his team following several lack-lustre performances.
The owls have not won in 10 games
The Owls were kicked out of the FA Cup this weekend after losing 3 nill to Premier League side Birmingham City. Wednesday have gone nine games without a victory in League One, and Megson says that his team are lacking the passion to win. He admitted being unhappy with his side’s performance and says their 4,000 travelling fans deserve more from the players.
He said: “We’ve got to make sure we are a lot tougher defensively and show a lot more penetration with the ball.The fans we have got deserve more. The support is as good as anything you would see in the country.”
“Given the fact we are struggling in League One and haven’t won for 10 games, it is a bit humbling”
Megson said he had reminded his team not to take the fans for granted, going on to say the fans were “probably the best crowd in the country.”
Beausejour and Martins both scored their first goals for Birmingham before half-time and then David Murphy netted the third early in the second period to kill off the tie.
Players break through police lines (By Ben Sutherland)
An 18-year -old soldier is recovering in hospital today after he was badly bitten by a police dog in last weekend’s violence at Hillsborough stadium.
Jack Sandall of Ladybank View, Eckington who is a private in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers, claims he was bitten on the forearm by the dog as he left Hillsborough’s North Stand as violence erupted after Sheffield Wednesday lost a relegation battle.
Mr Sandall is one of five Owls fans who ended up on the same hospital ward in Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital with dog bites after the violence on Sunday.
He suffered nerve damage and doctors have told him it will take three months to heal.
He told JusNews today: “I’ve got a big gaping hole on the top of my forearm and a gaping hole underneath it as well.
“I’ve lost movement in my wrist. They said it chewed through my arm, my nerves and muscles.”
“It will take three months to recover.”
The fans claim they were bitten by police Rottweilers as violence flared outside Hillsborough Stadium on Sunday, when the team dropped out of the Championship.
Four of the fans are still on Huntsman Four ward at the hospital being treated for bites, while one has been discharged.
The former Eckington comprehensive school pupil is based in Hampshire but was due to go to Germany this summer, however it may have to be postponed.
South Yorkshire Police later arrested the five men in hospital on suspicion of causing violent disorder.
Det Supt Martin Scothern, of South Yorkshire Police, said officers were forced to step up their response and change the nature of policing once the disorder became serious.
He said: “Outside there was a signifcant amount of disorder involving probably between 150 and 225 indiviudals who were involved in damaging police vehicles and members of the public’s property and throwing missiles at the police.
“The dogs were used when we got to a level on the disorder curve that that meant that it was no longer appropriate to use conventional policing.”
Sheffield Wednesday could have exited the Championship league on Sunday night with their heads held high, but violence on the pitch following the game may have stained their reputation.
The game was the last chance to avoid relegation from the championship league for both Sheffield Wednesday who needed a victory and their opponents, Crystal Palace, who only needed a draw to remain safe.
It was a tense, evenly matched game, Crystal Palace twice going ahead and twice Wednesday equalized and were threatening to take the lead right up to the final whistle.
As Crystal Palace were celebrating on the pitch things went from bad to worse for Wednesday as fans broke through the police lines and violence erupted between rivals fans, stewards and officials.
Eagles defender Clint Hill was also allegedly assaulted in the melee. The violence continued outside the stadium with fans throwing missiles at police lines and stewards and melees breaking out in the city center later in the night. Police arrested 7 people for violent disorder and one for assault and are confident thy will make many more arrests thanks to CCTV footage.
Supt Martin Scothern, in charge of policing football in Sheffield, said:
“A number of football supporters, mainly from Sheffield, engaged in violence inside the stadium as the fans came on to the pitch, and outside the stadium.
Although police have not received a complaint from Crystal Palace FC, police are looking into allegations that a Crystal Palace player was assaulted by Sheffield Wednesday fans.
This behavior cannot be tolerated as it damages the reputation of the city”
The FA will now be investigating the violence An FA spokesperson said: “The FA does not condone disorder either outside or inside football stadia and thankfully such problems remain infrequent in the modern game.
“However, any individuals identified as having taken part in any form of disorder should be dealt with appropriately by the authorities and issued with football banning orders as they simply have no place in our game.”
Sheffield Wednesday have vowed that anyone identified in the violence will be banned from Hillsborough for life.
fans break through the police line (by Ben Sutherland)
Crystal Palace players are caught in violence (by Ben Sutherland)
Players break through police lines (By Ben Sutherland)
fans break through the police line (by Ben Sutherland)
