Sheffield Wednesday defied the odds to achieve a 20th place finish in the Championship last season.
A lot of praise has gone to manager Danny Rohl, who without, the turnaround at Sheffield Wednesday would’ve been impossible.
But there’s a lot of praise for the players as well. It was they who went out onto the pitch and delivered the big moments that eventually kept the Owls in the Championship.
The Sheffield Wednesday squad looks set to undergo some rather drastic changes during this summer’s transfer window, which officially opens on June 14th.
But Rohl will surely be keen on keeping the core of the squad in tact, with this current crop of players boasting great character and mentality which we saw last season.
The likes of Josh Windass stepped up in the final few weeks when it mattered most. Liam Palmer and Barry Bannan also put in some top performances, with countless others to mention as well.
Journalist Joe Crann though believes that three players all performed ‘above expectations’ for Rohl last season.
Joe Crann hails January transfer window at Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday signed four new players in January, all on loan; James Beadle, Kristian Pedersen, Ian Poveda, and Ike Ugbo.
Pedersen featured just four times in what was a forgettable spell in S6. But Beadle, Poveda, and Ugbo all became key players in the second half of the season.
Speaking on ‘Sheffield Wednesday: The Great Escape’ on Shots!TV, Crann hailed the arrivals and impacts of Beadle, Poveda, and Ugbo.
Crann said: “James Beadle, played every game. Ike Ugbo, without his goals, Wednesday do not stay in the league. And even though Ian Poveda spent time out injured, there was a buoyancy that came with a player like him, in the games that he did play, that just got people believing again.
“I would say that all went above expectations on what people thought when they first came in. But I remember finishing the transfer deadline day and just thinking, ‘It’s OK, but I think we needed more’.”
Will James Beadle, Ian Poveda, and Ike Ugbo return to Sheffield Wednesday
Unsurprisingly, all three are wanted back at Sheffield Wednesday this summer. But all three seem to be in different situations.
Recent reports claim that Brighton are set to send Beadle back to Sheffield Wednesday on loan this summer, so that looks like the most advanced deal.
Poveda will officially become a free agent on July 1st. He now has interest from Cardiff City, West Brom and others in the Championship, but he’s reportedly open to returning to Hillsborough.
Ugbo meanwhile is playing with Canada in Copa America this summer, and any decision on his future with Troyes, who were relegated from Ligue 2 last season, will wait until after Copa America.
But if Rohl gets all three back then it’ll help to keep the core of this Sheffield Wednesday side in tact, and if both Poveda and Ugbo return on permanent deals, both could become very valuable assets for the Owls.
A positive summer surely lies ahead at Sheffield Wednesday. But they certainly need to be hard at work.
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