Number 1 - Comments

I would say so, yes. Our form does balance itself out, given that we've had some games where we've dropped points against teams we should've beaten, but got 7 points from 3 of the 4 above us, and have also beaten the duo that for now are our nearest challengers. So we're in a decent place. Plus its the Championship, and we all know anything can happen.

I would like us to be better at Hillsborough - it should be a real nasty place to come for away sides, but our style of play just seems to go better for our away matches than they do at home. We have the league's best away form, but were one of the worst at home until the recent wins over Brentford and Bristol City. We could also score more goals, but it is what it is.

Before we enter our first game in December and the home straight towards Christmas, there was some admin to take care of as we had the FA Cup Third Round draw. We landed a PL name, in the form of a home tie with Aston Villa at Hillsborough.

We now have a sequence of games leading into Christmas, with 2 different kinds of test. Sandwiching this sequence are home games Brentford and Bristol City sides with genuine shots of promotion, either auto or play-off, while in-between are trips to Derby and Nottingham Forest, who have both sacked their managers after poor starts.

So far, our home form has been a real problem. We may have only lost one home game, which was against Fulham in September, but we also only have one home victory, which came against Luton in October. Still, if our promotion aspirations are real, we have to turn it around, and it would be a big statement to do so against a Bees side who arrive in 2nd.

I selected:
Westwood - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - da Cruz, Luongo, Bannan, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Dawson, Lees, Palmer, Hutchinson, Harris, Windass, Rhodes

With da Cruz scoring a great winner off the bench against Charlton, and Harris still having the effects of an injury sustained at The Valley, the only change is a no-brainer.

So, could we end our home hoodoo with a big statement piece?



Yes we did. Good times good vibes.

Brentford had been dangerous early on, with Ollie Watkins particularly giving me grief. Though it would be after the half hour with their best chance, with Westwood making a good stop to keep out Said Benrahma.

We had offered little going forward, but just after the half hour, our best chance ended up in the back of the net. Watkins had been a big threat at the other end, but got dispossessed by Fletcher, and the Scot released his strike partner Wickham, who struck the ball past David Raya to open the scoring.

Still the away side pressed, with perhaps their best chance seeing Ethan Pinnock's shot at a free-kick saved and Shandon Baptiste's rebound somehow deflected wide, with Pinnock heading wide from the following corner.

Neither side had the same fluency in the second period, with perhaps the best chance coming when Brentford sub Sergi Canos saw a drive cannon off the post with Westwood beaten.

As we moved into the final stages, Brentford were trying to press but we soon hit them with a sucker punch. A long ball by Borner was laid off by Wickham to sub Windass, who leathered a shot from the edge of the box home to give us a cushion.

Raya had to make a good late to beat Bannan, but it was all over and we had a great win to finally give the home crowd that winning feeling we'd been oh so selfishly and exclusively treating to the travelling faithful.

But again, our moment to toast our triumph was fleeting. Tuesday took us to Derby, for a very different examination. Despite all their riches, talent and the actual Wayne Rooney, Derby's start has been poor, with their manager Phillip Cocu dismissed and the club in the relegation zone. Rams fans had seen some truly shocking form - they'd conceded 4 to QPR in their previous home game, less than a month after conceding 5 at home to Middlesbrough and suffering 3-0 away defeats at Fulham and Forest.

However, their last game was a win at Blackburn as they tried to get out of their tailspin, which was evidence we couldn't bank on turning up to win.

To try and take the win, I chose:
Westwood - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - da Cruz, Luongo, Bannan, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Dawson, Lees, Palmer, Hutchinson, Harris, Windass, Rhodes

For the first time this season, I selected the same 18 confident that it could beat the strugglers in the same way they beat a promotion chaser. And yet...



... they didn't. How disappointing. I accept the Championship is a crazy open league but considering they spent November stinking the division out, we should've done better than this.

We had started brightly. Reach and Fletcher hit the side-netting and Wickham crashed one off target before we struck just after the half hour. A poor infield pass by Andre Wisdom fell for Fletcher, who laid it off to Wickham. There was still a bit of work for the man on loan from Palace to do, but he skipped past Jack Clarke before beating Ben Hamer. Not bad for a player who began the season by starting on the bench.

In the first period, we looked in control, but it all went a bit wrong thereafter. Westwood had already had to make 2 decent saves before he was beaten just before the hour, when Tom Lawrence received Wisdom's cross and lashed a fine strike past the Irishman.

We could've retaken the lead just after when Reach had a strike deflected inches wide and Odubajo rifled one into the side-netting.

My desperation for the win, coupled with the inflexibility having Windass on the pitch drives us into, saw me adopt a slightly insane 3-3-4 formation to try and grab a winner, including a spot for Rhodes. But alas, no breakthrough, and in truth, we had too many strikers on the pitch by the end to do anything coherent.

Interestingly, the day after this misfire, Derby announced Garry Monk as manager. That's the same Monk that in real life is Wednesday manager, having got the gig after Bruce walked out to join Newcastle.

A few days after that missed opportunity, we had another examination against a side from the East Midlands who expected better. Nottingham Forest sacked Sabri Lamouchi after a 3-0 defeat by QPR in mid-November, with a side widely expected to challenge for play-offs going nowhere in midtable, but as happened with Derby, they warmed up for us with a win - theirs being over Middlesbrough.

Taking to the field were:
Westwood - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Hutchinson, Reach, da Cruz - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Dawson, Lees, Palmer, Luongo, Bannan,, Windass, Forestieri

A reshuffled midfield was my decision for this one, with Hutchinson taking Luongo's deeper-lying role, and Harris replacing Bannan, with da Cruz moving to wide left and Reach into centre-mid.

How would we fare?



This ended up being a more eventful version of the draw at Derby in midweek, where we didn't convince against a side we perhaps should've defeated. Though this time, it took a late own goal to save a reward, which at least continues our scoring streak, stretching back to a 0-0 with Wigan a few months back.

Things may've been more comfortable had the home keeper Arijanet Muric not kept out Wickham. But Forest weren't about to go away quietly. Westwood had to tip Tobias Figueiredo's effort onto the post, before Jota headed wide at the back post.

Forest struck with 20 gone. Borner caught Nuno da Costa with a poorly timed tackle, giving the home side a penalty that the number 9 just squeezed past Westwood.

But we weren't trailing for long. A great save by Muric denied Wickham, and from the corner given for that intervention, Reach was first to a half-cleared delivery and teed up da Cruz, who deployed a skill move to lose Matty Cash and then blasted a strike into the back of the net.

We were struggling to deal with Jota and Lewis Grabban, but could've still gone into the break ahead when Iorfa saw a diving header well saved by Muric. Although after that, both Jota and Grabban had shots well stopped by Westwood.

After the break, we missed a few half-chances but fell behind after the hour. Jota was fouled by Harris 30 yards out, and decided to try his luck. Correct call - it flew from 30 yards past Westwood to catch us cold and put Forest back in front.

Forestieri and Windass were thrown on to try and salvage something. It nearly worked from the former, with the Italian going on a great run before being denied by Muric. The actual equaliser was a lot messier. Jota gave away a free-kick and after several ricochets, Wickham's effort was going wide until the unfortunate Gaetan Bong sent it over his own goal-line.

Still, we avoided defeat. Just. Not a win, but could've been worse. So we move on.

Next up was the home clash with Bristol City - our last game before Christmas, against an in-form side who had won 4 of their last 5 to very much enter the play-off conversation. After underwhelming against big spending out-of-form East Midlanders, this was a chance for retribution.

Getting the nod would be:
Westwood - Iorfa, Lees, Borner, Fox - da Cruz, Luongo, Bannan, Reach - Windass - Wickham
Subs: Dawson, Bates, Odubajo, Hutchinson, Harris, Forestieri, Fletcher

Having used him as a sub for 9 games running, I decided it was time to throw in Windass and switch to a 4-4-1-1 instead of Fletcher, who was peripheral at Forest. The midfield took a more conventional look, with Luongo and Bannan recalled, while I also made the somewhat surprise call to give club captain Lees his first start of the season, with Odubajo benched.

Could we succeed against a play-off rival where we failed against the less than stellar Rams and Forest?



Yes we did. Ended up being somewhat more chaotic, with both our goals coming just as I was about to remove key players, and Bristol City getting a cheap concession in added time that made me worried we might let things slip away. But we didn't, and its enough for us to leapfrog the Robins in the table.

A poor quality first half had seen us have the better chances, if nothing of sufficient quality to trouble Daniel Bentley beyond routine saves when we broke through their back 5 - not a defensive style we've faced a lot thus far this year.

An ambitious attempt by Adam Nagy nearly put Bristol City in front at the break, with Westwood's save not the most elegant but well enough to turn the ball off target. Nagy then saw a cross headed over by Benik Afobe as the visitors belatedly began to show us something.

With an hour gone, I decided to change up our attack. But before Fletcher and Forestieri could make their introductions, we broke the deadlock. Iorfa's cross picked out Wickham, who was able to get the ball in the back of the net and spare himself from being substituted.

Bristol City's attempts to get back on level terms were damaged when Portuguese full-back Pedro Pereira suffered a serious ankle injury and had to leave the field.

Their mood wasn't helped when then made it 2-0. After nicking the ball in midfield, we broke forward through sub Odubajo, whose cross found Harris at the back stick, and his header from a very tight angle crept past Bentley.

A farcical goal back did give Bristol City a spot on the scoresheet. A poor pass by Bannan was picked off by Nahki Wells, breaking for substitute Famara Diedhiou to run to the box and beat Westwood. But we did enough to take the points and in the process jump a rival play-off contender.

So Christmas time is here, and the table looks like this:



For the time being, we're meeting our play-off expectations. We genuinely could be better than 5th position, or closer than Brentford, who we are currently 8 points behind. It is tight. We are just 3 points from Fulham, who lead the queue of teams hoping to profit if one of Leeds or Brentford falter, while Bristol City, Hull and Swansea are within five points of us.

We've now reached the point where, in real life, it fell apart for the real Wednesday, where they lost 3 games in a row, and after a surprise win at Leeds, duly failed to win any of the following 7. If we can clear that low bar, we're closer to believing we're in this fight for the long haul. Until then, we've got to keep winning, starting at Stoke on Boxing Day.

Its difficult to know what to make of our form coming into a big test against West Brom straight after the international break. On the one hand, we've lost just once in 8, but we also haven't win any of the last 4. However, given the Baggies have won every home game so far this season, we're deluding ourselves if we think it'll be a walk in the park. We may have the best away form, but this is a hell of a barricade.

Taking part will be:
Westwood - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Luongo, Hutchinson, Bannan - Harris, Wickham, da Cruz
Subs: Dawson, Lees, Palmer, Pelupessy, Murphy, Forestieri, Windass

Had it not been for an injury to Reach, I would've picked the same line-up that began the Swansea game. However, an injury to Reach in the week before this game meant I gave Dutch loanee da Cruz a rare start. Westwood bitched about me during the break and trained poorly, but I promised he got more game time and he played fairly well against Swansea, so I figured I'd throw him in.

Nevertheless, this is perhaps our biggest test so far...



For whatever reason, our away form is superb and we managed to do it again as we completely thwarted the Baggies attack in a smash and grab on our way to the points.

In an opening quarter largely dominated by the home side, we seemed to have wasted our chance when Wickham headed straight at Sam Johnstone with our first counter. Westwood had to make a fine save to deny Charlie Austin, while a few dangerous strikes from distance crashed just wide.

But a burst from us around the 20 minute mark suddenly turned the contest in our favour. Seconds after Wickham headed over, the ball was worked in field for Hutchinson, who released Odubajo. Our in-form full-back strode into the box and lashed an effort from a tight angle into the back of the home net.

However, 7 minutes passed before West Brom equalised. A corner was only cleared to Kamil Grosicki, and the deflection on his low strike diverted the ball for a free Austin, who didn't need a second invitation to fire it past Westwood.

The first half's remainder was backs to the wall, with Westwood making some good saves in the final stages. We could've again caught them surprise with a great strike in stoppage time, but Luongo's effort very much lacked the same accuracy as Odubajo's one some 25 minutes earlier.

West Brom looked to have burnt themselves out for a bit as after the restart, they seemed to lack the same forward traction. Indeed, the best chances had come to us, when Wickham saw two efforts go off target in a lower quality game. The second of those was on 68 minutes, but that seemed to wake WBA up, with Westwood making a great stop to deny Matheus Periera and Austin heading over.

We decided to go for it, withdrawing an injured Bannan for Windass and changing to 4-2-3-1 - my most common tactical change of late - and also bringing on Forestieri to continue his post-injury comeback. Neither however were involved in our winner, as Luongo won the ball just inside the WBA half and the ball fell for Wickham, who duly lashed a 30 yard thunderbolt golazo into the back of the net.

Westwood made a few more stops but in truth had been tested harder earlier, and we'd duly pulled off the heist, inflicting a first home defeat of the season on Bilic and his side that looks Premier League in all-but-name.

We could allow ourselves a brief moment to take the plaudits for that, but it would have to be very brief, as we now had to turn attention to our crap home form. Midtable Birmingham City seemingly represented a good chance to do that.

The nominated 18 were:
Westwood - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Palmer - Luongo, Hutchinson, Bannan - Reach, Wickham, Forestieri
Subs: Dawson, Lees, Pelupessy, Harris, da Cruz, Windass, Fletcher

3 changes with Reach and Forestieri taking up spots in our front 3, while Palmer - who also wants more game time - gets the space of the suspended Fox, who picked up his 5th yellow in the WBA win.

On paper, with a lower midtable Blues side in the away changing room, we should be targeting this as the win needed to kickstart our home form.



Once again, the Hillsborough fans have to sit through our less impressive side. It very much didn't help Forestieri suffered an injury in the opening 10 minutes, but we shouldn't really have thrown it away as we once again failed to successfully defend a home lead.

We did at least brush that blow off to grab the opening goal. Borner hit the bar at a Bannan corner, and an unmarked Luongo slotted the ball into the waiting net.

Reach and Forestieri's replacement Harris did have decent chances to make it 2 before the break but couldn't take them. Indeed, as the half wore on, Birmingham looked more dangerous, with Gary Gardner wasting a few chances.

Lukas Jutkiewicz missed a good chance just after the break, with Jeremie Bela well denied by Westwood. But we weren't learning from this and were still struggling to break through.

We paid for this slowness with 15 to go, when Marc Roberts headed in a free-kick after a needless foul by Hutchinson.

The game duly fizzled out, with the ending of our insipid attacking play coming when Luongo broke through in a fine stride in added time only to shank an effort wide. So its another disappointing home result, even if we only have 1 home reverse to partner our only home win.

Still, least there's always an away game to try and maximise our points returns. We travelled to Charlton, who managed to take advantage of a Luton side presumably still celebrating beating Leeds by beating the Hatters in Bedfordshire. However, they were still second bottom.

Named in this squad are:
Westwood - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Bannan, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Dawson, Lees, Palmer, Hutchinson, da Cruz, Windass, Rhodes

A reversion to a 4-4-2 is adopted after 3 in a row trying a 4-3-3, with Fletcher returning after injury in place with Hutchinson, Harris for the injured Forestieri and Fox reinstated.

In theory, with our away form so hot, we should be winning this, but Charlton need the points and got in a win. Plus its the Championship, and only a fool can predict results in advance.



Fascinating game in the end. We started slow but developed well, and got better when made a variety of tactical changes until finally, misfit da Cruz scored a superb winner.

Charlton gave us problems early on, with Tomer Hemed and Chuks Aneke giving us bother. A fine stop by Westwood to deny Aneke was perhaps their best chance.

We hadn't really done much going forward, but a snapshot by Wickham that Ben Amos did well to deny saw us begin to wake up. This would continue, with Amos also making a good stop to keep out the recalled Fletcher.

This continued. Bannan and Luongo fired wide after the break, with Reach also having a snapshot blocked.

We did a fair amount of tinkering, first doing our usual fail-safe of bringing on Windass but this time opting for a 4-3-1-2, before pushing Odubajo forward into a 3-4-1-2 and throwing on da Cruz after Harris suffered a knock.

In the end, we would strike first and do so with just 6 to play. Bannan seized a misplaced clearance and forward it to da Cruz. In turn, the young Dutchman carried the ball a long way and lashed it past Amos.

Lees was put in the defence in his first appearance of the season, with Westwood having to make a good late stop to keep out Jake Forster-Caskey as we got the victory.

So at the end of November, we sit in 5th, and potentially still holding outside hopes of pursuing the top 2, even if Leeds and Brentford are beginning to open a gap on the chasing pack. Nevertheless, we can say that with 9 wins in the bank already (of which a staggering 8 of them are away), we have credit. Certainly moreso than Derby, Cardiff, Forest and Stoke, who have all sacked managers appointed the previous summer with all of them in the bottom half.

We mustn't spend so long self-congratulating though. And not least given a news article praising me got the immediate response of "Give over, we'll lose next week" on my social wall.

We're also approaching the point it fell apart for the real Owls in 2019-20, with 3 straight defeats after Christmas and inexplicably following a win over Bielsa's gang at Elland Road by not scoring for a month as their play-off hopes completely collapsed, with a few thrashings thrown in. So I'd like to avoid that.

Saying that, the next test is difficult in and of itself. Our Achilles Heel remains our home form, and next up in the Hillsborough changing room is 2nd place Brentford, before back-to-back East Midlands away days against early strugglers Derby and Forest. But we can only improve and with our form being half-decent so far, why not give ourselves a superb boost by swiping points off the Bees?

We may have taken something from Leeds, but the fixture list isn't about to get easier. Next up were Blackburn and Swansea games, with both close to us in the table chasing play-offs, and playing 4-2-3-1 - a formation we seem to struggle against.

The first of these was Rovers, as we made the trip to Ewood Park trying to continue our cracking away form.

Picked were:
Dawson - Palmer, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Lee, Bannan, Reach - Forestieri, Wickham
Subs: Westwood, Bates, Odubajo, Hutchinson, da Cruz, Windass, Rhodes

Two changes to be made, one enforced with Lee for Luongo as he got a 5th yellow in the Leeds game, and a tactical choice to bring in Palmer for Odubajo. An unwelcome development is an injury to Fletcher, who was going to start this game but suffered an ankle injury in training.

It would be great use to brush off the losses and get victory against a play-off rival.



Sadly didn't pan out as we hoped. It really should've been as well, given we had more shots than our opponents but placed too many of them off target.

We lost the game in a poor first half. We had plenty of chances in the first half but blew all of them, and then fell behind in the final 10 minutes of the half. We gave the ball away cheaply while trying to build down our left flank, and almost immediately a cross in was headed in by Bradley Dack.

The response should've seen us go level, with Christian Walton in the home goal making a few stops and Wickham heading a good chance wide, and having blown those, we conceded a second in first half stoppage time. The open Adam Armstrong ran onto a through-pass and lashed a volley into the back of the net.

Unimpressed by that mess, I changed to 4-2-3-1 at half-time with a double sub, and got a goal back less than 10 minutes after the break. Reach, who was partially culpable for the opener, reached a move by my subs Odubajo and Windass, and beat Walton.

Reach, Wickham and Forestieri were all unable to make a breakthrough shortly after, although Armstrong nearly grabbed a second, but for all we were looking better, we just couldn't find the breakthrough. Even throwing on the peripheral Rhodes didn't work, and we lost.

So that's not ideal, and with a Swansea side also in good form that also uses 4-2-3-1 next, it wasn't ideal preparation.

Nevertheless, we press on and after a week off, we played them with the following selections:
Westwood - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Bannan, Hutchinson, Luongo, - Reach, Wickham, Harris
Subs: Dawson, Lees, Palmer, Lee, da Cruz, Windass, Forestieri

With our issues against 4-2-3-1 in one mind and a tricky trip to West Brom immediately after the November break, I decided to try a 4-3-3 with Hutchinson employed as a holding midfielder behind Bannan and Luongo, and Forestieri to be deployed as a super-sub. Odubajo for Palmer would've also been done, but an injury to Dawson in training meant that he was only fit for the bench. So Westwood, who wants to leave in January after a disastrous chat failed to reconcile his disinterest in being a number 2, gets a start instead.

So could this be the day to end our home win drought?



Answer: No

Another 2-2 draw against another challenger is not to be sniffed at, particularly as we had to recover from going behind twice in an inverse of the Leeds win. But there is plenty to chew over - for whatever reason, our attack is yet to fizz and pop as much as I would like at home.

It certainly didn't help we fell behind to the game's first chance, when Bersant Celina beat Iorfa to head in a cross from the opponent's right - the same flank that yielded Blackburn's opener a week earlier. Which is a sign of a problem.

The game was enjoyably open as we switched to an attacking mentality, with Westwood making more stops after his early concession, and we equalised just after 20 minutes. Wickham received a through pass from Bannan as we countered, and slotted it past Freddie Woodman for 1-1.

A few weeks earlier, we'd come from behind to beat Swansea's neighbours Cardiff. Here, however, Swansea weren't quite so brittle. Just a few minutes after our equaliser, Rhian Brewster - who was giving me trouble all day - headed in Jake Bidwell's cross.

Harris and Bannan missed a few potential screamers before the break, which for the second half in a row saw us bring on Windass and switch to a 4-2-3-1, although this time as the only sub rather than as part of a double.

It didn't have the same instant impact as at Blackburn, but our first real second half chance did grab our equaliser as Reach nodded in Fox's cross.

The second period was lower quality, but we still had chances and forced Woodman into a couple of saves. A more open second period had us having more chances, but sadly for us Woodman repelled everything we could throw at him, so a point was settled for.

As we go into the November international break, we have a quick look at the table:



At this early stage, Leeds, Brentford and West Brom seem to be putting distance between themselves and everybody else, and unless they begin to consistently drop points or the chasing pack gets more consistent, they'll continue to do so. 5th is a decent place to be in for now, although no win in 4 games mean Hull and Swansea are level on points with us, while Bristol City and Blackburn are within 3 points of us.

Its a busy week when we get back as well, with a difficult visit to West Brom followed by midtable Birmingham and the currently bottom Charlton Athletic. Better get on with it then.

Not at all.

Its weird. I had some misgivings about Newcastle being used as a front for Saudi sportswashing and was uncomfortable with how people were getting carried away so quickly when it looked like the thing was about to be done. But given Mike Ashley clearly doesn't want to be in charge anymore, to say nothing of the fans not wanting him there, this felt like a perfect opportunity to try something else and instead we're stuck in a moment we can't get out of.

Feels just part of the hysteria around the place. I don't get how people are saying Bruce has been great because we played better in the second half of last season (imo), still haven't replaced the goals of Perez & Rondon, got security through some lucky wins with goals scored by defenders, and registered less wins in the second half of the season than Pardew in 2013-14 when we all turned on him. Maybe it just helped us the bottom 5 were all terrible. Though I accept we stayed up comfortably with a manager who only got 2/3rds a pre-season, so I'm not saying he's hopeless or a total waste of time.

Though it was super weird to see Kieron Dyer saying Bruce is doing so well and we should only be grateful when he literally played for Newcastle in the Champions League in a side that challenged for the title. I know it would take a herculean effort to even get close to there, but why the fuck shouldn't fans hope a jammy fluke might fall our way one year rather than just being happy for endless bottom half finishes?

With the October week over and done with, it would be possible to turn attention to the 3rd game back. We have clashes against Cardiff and Stoke to ease us back into the swing of things, but the promotion juggernaut that is Bielsa and Leeds are making the trip down the M1, train and whatever else to try and steamroller us on their way to the Premier League.

Of course we all know if we make the big boy league, we might need to revamp the Wednesday team with all our out of contract players, loanees and adapting to the financial situation. Chansiri sent us a missive we will only see 25% of our transfer fees received be able to be re-invested, which means my January plans might already have to be scaled back. Will be even more annoying if Norwich follow up on interest in Adam Reach with a £10M+ bid and I see so little of the cash in response.

Naturally the Premier League will be a challenge to adjust to if we get there. Our friends from Bramall Lane are proving this - just 1 win in the opening 8, with the rest all defeats for Wilder's side as they sit bottom and with games against Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool as 3 of the next 4. But those of course are their problems.

Our new problem is finding a way past Cardiff at the Cardiff City Stadium, trying to keep up the fact we enter this period with the league's best away form and then trying to amend our poor home form with those games against the Potters and the Peacocks.

So, to Wales for our European away day, or near enough. The selected 18 was:
Dawson - Palmer, Iorfa, Bates, Fox - Harris, Pelupessy, Bannan, Reach - Fletcher, Forestieri
Subs: Westwood, Odubajo, Luongo, Lee, Murphy, da Cruz, Wickham

We made a fair few alterations for this one. Forestieri and Bannan got starts, Pelupessy got a recall as Luongo was late back from international duty, Palmer was preferred to Odubajo as he's due a pay rise if he gets one more game, and as Borner suffered an injury a week earlier, Bates got a call-up at the back.

So how would we do?



For the first time in the game, we come from behind to win, and continue our exemplary away record.

I thought we'd begun to look better after an even start that saw Dawson worked a few times, with Harris and Forestieri looking good going forward. But we weren't really troubling Neil Etheridge as much as I would like, and we fell behind when a Callum Paterson cross was headed in by Robert Glatzel.

We weren't behind for long though. A through-pass down the flank by Palmer found Forestieri, who got away from Aiden Flint and beat Etheridge to equalise on his return to the starting 11.

From there, we began to make the running. Etheridge made a great save to deny Fletcher while a fine Forestieri volley crashed off the crossbar.

Our momentum was checked when we lost Pelupessy to injury a few minutes after half-time, and we were on the backfoot as we adjusted to our reshuffle, with Dawson making a decent stop to deny Murphy's twin.

However, moments after Glatzel missed a good chance, we put our noses in front. Fine work down the left flank released Fox to cross, Fletcher got his bonce on it, and the Scot made us 2-1.

Until the final stages, we were able to keep Cardiff's forward line at arms length, with Etheridge making a series of saves. It was in added time when Cardiff began to get back forward, but we insulated ourselves and took victory.

Next up we went from facing a recently relegated side to one relegated a year before, with Stoke in lower mid-table and looking dysfunctional.

Taking part to take potshots at the Potters were...
Dawson - Palmer, Iorfa, Bates, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Lee, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Westwood, Odubajo, Hutchinson, Bannan, Murphy, da Cruz, Forestieri

A little reshuffle was done for this one - change for Luongo and Lee instead of Bannan and the injured Pelupessy in the middle, while Wickham over Forestieri as we continue to ease him back. We also named Hutchinson on the bench as he continues his own rehab.

In theory, we should be winning this one with Stoke out of form right now.



Sadly, our dysfunctional home form continues, not helped by a badly timed second yellow for Bates and the free-kick flying straight in.

The first half was really low quality, with the best chances falling for Stoke's Lee Gregory, with 2 off target and another saved by Dawson. We didn't exactly make as many changes as we did for the Cardiff game, but we still looked weirdly sluggish, with perhaps the best moment seeing a Wickham shot blocked by James Chester.

Indeed, the second half was much the same, with the best chance seeing Sam Clucas come off the Stoke bench to be denied by Dawson. So increasingly agitated, I decided to throw on Forestieri for Luongo and play with 3 strikers.

Still unconvinced, I thought I'd thrown on loanee da Cruz for his debut, if only to see if I was missing something after ignoring the Dutchman for most of this season. Turned out to be a hell of a call - his first moment was to wing in a cross that Wickham headed past Jack Butland.

We ideally would've pressed on. Instead, Bates got a second yellow for an ill-advised challenge on Stoke sub Mame Diouf and Norwich loanee Mario Vrancic leathered the free-kick past Dawson.

Stoke blew a great chance to win it when Tyrese Campbell lashed wide at the end of a swift counter, yet we still coulda won it in added time when Butland do well to deny Harris.

A draw was certainly not wanted though. We still only have 1 win at home so far this season, and given our next assignment is table topping Leeds, few were giving us hope of ending that unfortunate statistic.

Nevertheless, we gotta try. Taking on the Bielsa gang were:
Dawson - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Bannan, Reach - Forestieri, Wickham
Subs: Westwood, Palmer, Hutchinson, Bannan, Lee, da Cruz, Windass, Fletcher

I chose to bite the bullet and field Odubajo despite the appearance triggering a doubling of wages, though hopefully this will be offset by shedding Nuhiu and potentially Winnall in the January window. Forestieri and Bannan also got recalls, in the face of difficult opposition.

It would've been easy to be a pessimist, so let's see how it goes...



Well well well. This was quite an exciting game to be involved in that could've gone in all kind of directions, with plenty of chances at both ends, a failure to hold onto leads even after ten men, Leeds still pressing despite the dismissal of their captain and so on. A draw is decent enough, even if I couldn't help but be disappointed we couldn't at least hold onto the lead after the red card.

We were extremely quick out of the blocks. Liam Cooper did well to intercept a pass intended for Wickham, but a poor backpass released the Palace loanee for a one-v-one against Kiko Casilla and he took it.

It could have been even better when Casilla turned away a good shot by Fox, and from there, the game opened up. Leeds had a fair few opportunities to test us, but after we rode it out, we then began to give a good go, with Forestieri missing a decent chance and a great save by Casilla denied Reach.

An open half however contained the risk of a Leeds equaliser, and the away side got it. Dawson made a fine save to keep out Jack Harrison, but the Man City loanee's corner picked out Cooper, who headed in an equaliser.

The second half continued its open start, but we managed the game's third goal. Wednesday won a penalty when Luongo was fouled while challenging for a free-kick, and the skipper Bannan lashed the spot-kick past Casilla.

Leeds pressed us hard, with the best chance seeing Dawson deny Ejzgan Alioski as he tried to atone for the foul on Luongo that gave us our penalty and Leeds tried a comeback victory as they'd managed at Preston while we were limping against Stoke.

Things should've been easier for us when Wickham was tripped by Cooper and the Leeds skipper was sent off. But they very much made a mockery of that when Luke Ayling intercepted a loose pass and quick as a flash, the ball landed for sub Tyler Roberts, who poked it past Dawson.

Leeds must've felt they could push on but sub Fletcher wasn't far off either, with 2 efforts wide and another saved by Casilla. Despite five minutes added on, there was nothing left to give from both sides and a point was shared after a fine contest.

A point is still good, and we're now unbeaten in six games, although a large amount of these are draws and we're still struggling to get wins at home. But its still useful to deny the league leaders and local rivals from walking all over us, so its something to take forward.

So we move on. Next up before the November international break is Blackburn and Swansea, who are only a few positions behind us and will see us as a scalp worth taking in their own respective promotion chases. A trip to West Brom straight after the break will definitely be a large test of our credentials.

Forestieri or no Forestieri, our big test was now looming by welcoming Fulham to Hillsborough.

The selected 18 was:
Dawson - Odubajo, Borner, Bates, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Lee, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Jones, Iorfa, Palmer, Pelupessy, Bannan, Murphy, Rhodes

How would we fare against a promotion front-runner?



Well that didn't go well. We weren't necessarily outclassed but we conceded within the opening 10 minutes and couldn't get back from there.

While we had the best chance in the opening 10 minutes as Marek Rodak denied Fletcher, Fulham had most of the opportunities and took one after 10 minutes. A free-kick was laid short for Bobby Decordova-Reid, who lashed one from 25 yards that crashed past Dawson.

We weren't far away from catching back up afterwards, with Rodak again denying Fletcher and Borner heading wide at a corner. Indeed, while Fulham had more chances overall, we were in the game and had a few forward moments of our own.

But we weren't able to equalise, and with the first real thing of note some 20 minutes after half-time, Fulham had a second. The usually solid Fox had a brain fade as he took out Anthony Knockaert, and Alexsandar Mitrovic buried the penalty.

Rodak did have to make a stop to deny a solo run by Harris and a late header by the lesser spotted Rhodes, but we offered little, the fans left early and we lost 2-0, and had to go away and dream it all up again.

After a week to compose ourselves, the next assignment would be Middlesbrough at the Riverside. While they played a 4-2-3-1, they began the day second bottom and in terrible form, so this on paper looked like a decent chance to return to winning ways.

Taking part this time would be:
Dawson - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Bannan, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Westwood, Bates, Palmer, Pelupessy, Lee, Murphy, Fletcher

The most noteworthy move was to give Bannan his first start of the season. Initially this was going to be for the midweek game at Hull but with Middlesbrough being dreadful and a reaction desired after the Fulham game, felt like an easier test. We also gave the nod to Dawson, despite him missing training all week after picking up an injury in a recovery session after the Fulham loss.

It would definitely be a bad sign if we couldn't get something of the struggling Boro.



But instead we got a very handsome win.

The course was set nearly straight away. Fox lashed home a tremendous long range free-kick inside the opening 3 minutes, which would later earn goal of the month for September, and five minutes after that, Fletcher raced on to Wickham's knockdown to tuck it past the Middlesbrough goalkeeper.

Middlesbrough did begin to wake up, with Dawson tested a few times and Toral's effort deceiving the game narrator into thinking it momentarily crept the right side of the post. But we continued to impress ourselves, with Harris being particularly lively on the right flank.

The hosts got a very good goal back straight from the restart as Paddy McNair thrashed in a fine first-time volley, and a more confident side might've gone on to challenge our previous supremacy. But they faded out, and we began to hit them back.

We had several chances in the 20 after their goal until a flying counter attack generated our third goal. A swift counter saw the two strikers release Harris, who slipped away from their covering left-back and then buried a strike home. The icing on the cake came in added time as Luongo finished a swift breakaway, giving us 4 in a single game for the first time. A profitable away day indeed.

While we could allow ourselves a brief moment of satisfaction, it couldn't last too long. 3 days after the Riverside Stadium, we were down the road at Hull to take on an improving Tigers side.

Making a selection for the opening credits roll, I chose:
Dawson - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Pelupessy, Luongo, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Westwood, Bates, Palmer, Bannan, Lee, Murphy, Rhodes

I'm not 100% convinced by some of my back-ups, so only shuffle was to continue to ease Bannan back in, with Pelupessy preferred to Lee as a partner for Luongo.

What would we achieve at the KCOM against a Hull side that had won their last 2?



It would be 3 points in more of a cagey game. Momentum was not helped by some dicey Hull tackles - the nadir being one that earned Marcus Maddison a straight red card - but we had the crucial moment.

The opening minutes had been really lively, with a few Hull chances creeping wide before George Long made a few stops to keep Fletcher out, and at the other side of this, Maddison hit a post.

Hull had better options in the first half, but we would grab the game's opener in the final minutes of the first half. A swinging cross by Odubajo found Fletcher, whose header landed in the back of the net.

Sub Josh Bowler had an effort at the end of a cool run have the sting taken out of it by Iorfa, but the moment that should've made it more comfortable for us came when Maddison got sent off for a 2 footed lunge on Fox.

It ended up being more even than I was perhaps anticipating from there-on-out, but we got the win in the end.

Next up at the weekend were an in-form Wigan, who had moved into the top 6 in midweek by thrashing Birmingham City, and who play with my old nemesis, the 4-2-3-1.

Lining up against this lot were...
Dawson - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Lee, Reach - Fletcher, Wickham
Subs: Westwood, Bates, Pelupessy, Bannan, Murphy, Forestieri, Rhodes

Only switch-up was Lee for Pelupessy. But with Forestieri back from injury, he got a spot on the bench with a view to bring him back into the starting line-up for the match against Cardiff after the upcoming international pause.

On paper, this had the air of a decent contest between two sides with form pushing to defy the odds and nab a top 6 space.



Well, that didn't live up to expectations. Neither Dawson nor his opposite number David Marshall had that much to do, while we failed to push on after Wigan full-back Antonee Robinson was sent off and once again, we had less possession.

We only have 1 home win so far, which was against Luton in August, so this is clearly going to be something to improve. Though the fact that we are doing very well away from home is helping doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

With the October international break now here, this is where we're at.



5th place after 11 games is definitely a solid start to the season. Just 35 more to go...

We have one international break to go in 2019 before the fixture list becomes pretty much overwhelming. First game back after the break is a trip to Cardiff, followed by our attempts to improve our home form with back-to-back clashes against Stoke and Leeds. Blackburn & Swansea games will complete that section of the season.

One of the few perks of our Carabao Cup irritation at Barnsley was having a free week off rather than getting bogged down in another tie in the competition. Would've been up for the test, but if we can't earn a place, we don't win the raffle.

So we had a week to lick our wounds and try and lower some of the burnout that felt prevalent in the Preston defeat, then go again for the visit of QPR at the end of the season's opening month.

The selected 18 was:
Dawson - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Lee, Reach - Fletcher, Forestieri
Subs: Jones, Bates, Palmer, Pelupessy, Murphy, Windass, Fletcher

So its 3 alterations to the side that couldn't get the better of Preston. Against the R's, the result would be...



... something of an awkward draw. Our possession was poor, but still could've won. Though unlike our last 2 home games, Wickham went from being a substitute saviour to a villain after missing a penalty given while I was bringing him on.

QPR, like Preston, use 4-2-3-1 and it seems to be we struggle facing sides who use this tactic. They perhaps should've taken the leader early on, with Jordan Hugill missing a particularly good early chance. Though ironically, their goal came after our best early chance. The recalled Kieran Lee fired just over, and five minutes later, Jack Clarke intercepted a poor defensive pass by Moses Odubajo, ran forward and scored.

Harris hit just wide after a great solo run, and it was the former Cardiff man with the next intervention, as he turned in a through-pass by Fletcher to equalise just five minutes after QPR's opener.

We were still struggling to adjust to QPR's approach, with Bright Osayi-Samuel and Joe Mattock being particular dangers. But with 66 minutes gone, a glorious chance turned up for us to score when Harris was fouled and we got a penalty. It would've been taken by Fletcher, but I chose to replace him with Wickham. In theory this could've worked out given Fletcher missed in the shootout against Barnsley, but here, it very much failed, with Wickham's first touch being to slam the spot-kick against the post with the keeper diving the wrong way.

We still could've won it later, when Reach headed in a cross by Harris in the last few moments, only for the offside flag to be raised. The ending was open as well, with Ebrechi Eze striking a post and a well-placed Wickham firing wide.

But it all felt like a missed opportunity. While we had some positive moments going into the international break, the last 2 games felt like something of a reality check after the back-to-back defeats of Millwall and Luton.

Coming out of the international pause, we had a trip to local rivals Huddersfield Town.

During the international break, we received an offer for striker Atdhe Nuhiu from the Austrian side LASK, worth an accumulated total of £475K plus future installments worth £700K. I would've liked a more front-leveraged deal, but the striker is not in my plans, wants to move and is out of contract at the end of the season. So in January, he will make the move to Austria.

A minimal reshuffle was done to juggle the quickfire games. So I went for:
Dawson - Odubajo, Borner, Bates, Fox - Harris, Luongo, Lee, Reach - Forestieri, Wickham
Subs: Westwood, Palmer, Pelupessy, Bannan, Murphy, Windass, Fletcher

There were a few reshuffles done, if one out of force as Iorfa suffered an injury on international duty and I chose not to risk him. Perhaps also of note is a spot on the bench for Bannan, rated as my best midfielder and now able to get going after a calf injury. Westwood is also back after his own injuries, though with Dawson promising in our opening games, he's likely to stay there for a while.

So, in our first game against a former PL side this season, what could we do?



We got 3 points. Whether we intended to do it the way we did is another question. After an even opening, we scored before and after the break and went 2-0 up, then Huddersfield began to hog the ball and have lots of chances, giving the game a more even look after we'd already got the security. Considering I was bemused by our low possession stats after the QPR loss, 38% was not exactly an improvement. Smash and grab, maybe, but 3 points is 3 points.

Still, we did a job. The hosts had the first chance but as it progressed, we had a fair few chances in the first half, the closest seeing Forestieri denied by Jonas Lossl. Huddersfield had a few positive moments as well, but it was us who struck first just after the half hour, as Wickham headed in a Harris corner.

Number two came five minutes after the break. A flying exchange saw Odubajo play to Reach, who did a 1-2 with Wickham and lashed it past Lossl. Good stuff.

Chris Willock and Karlan Grant then caused us bother, with a few chances that perhaps should've gone in, while Dawson had to make a good stop to keep out Elias Kachunga. Though we still could've made ourselves more secure, as Lossl made a fine double save to keep out Harris.

But in the end, we got ourselves victory that maintains a decent start. There's plenty to work on, of course, but a third win in four away games is really good going.

We now have 7 games done. Feels as good a time as any to have an arbitrary look at the league table.



So we sit 5th and in that desired play-off spot, but of course it is only game 7. When its game 37, it may begin to feel more real we can pull this off but we've got room to grow at least.

Next in the diary is Fulham, who were pre-season favourites to win the league and are unbeaten in all their league games after a surprise opening day defeat by Barnsley. This is our first major test of our promotion mettle, given we're taking on an early big hitter in Alexsandar Mitrovic - joint-second highest scorer in the division, with 5 goals in the opening 7 - backed by a supporting cast of Premier League-worthy players. Its certainly a contrast, given our following games are against Middlesbrough and Hull teams who have made comparatively dreadful starts.

Not that our luck with injuries is getting better. Westwood, Bannan and Hutchinson may be back and working their way back to fitness, but Forestieri and Windass both got multi-week lay-offs through training. I'm going to have to find a way for our training to minimise injury risks, as I'm getting multiple e-mails talking up most of the squad being a high injury risk, but losing a key man in Forestieri ahead of our biggest test so far is very much unwanted.

It is going to be an interesting challenge to sustain it. I know the real world Wednesday didn't - 3rd after winning on Boxing Day, beat Leeds in early January, ended 16th after just 3 wins in the final 18, with a few thrashings thrown in.

We've made a solid start though.

Well it will be good to fix it up. One of those teams who used to be up in the top flight rain or shine until it all just fell apart. Plus it helps a few Sheffield area bands I like, including the big 2 of Pulp and Arctic Monkeys, are Wednesdayites. Even though I have at least 1 family member who was a supporter of the other big name in the city.

Whether we'll live like Premier League people and do whatever Premier League people do remains to be seen ofc... with apologies for the underwhelming lyrical punwork.

With the Championship as intense as it is, there's no time to dwell on the disappointment of 2 draws and 1 penalty shoot-out defeat. Indeed, as Barnsley are local rivals, it didn't help with my reputation with fans and board.

First in wait is a potentially dicey trip to Millwall, although the South Londoners had yet to win when we made the trip all the way down south.

The selected 18 was:
Dawson - Odubajo, Borner, Bates, Fox - Harris, Pelupessy, Luongo, Reach - Forestieri, Wickham
Subs: Jones, Iorfa, Palmer, Lee, Harris, Murphy, Windass, Fletcher

Could we pull of a result?



We most certainly could. An accomplished performance as we kept Gary Rowett's side from hurting us, and were able to get chances to count.

Forestieri swiped a quickfire opener, as the Italian nicked the ball off a home defender, legged it forward and beat the keeper. Could've had more, with the striker having two blocked and Wickham having one go wide.

Number 2 came in the second half, as Harris was able to seize the ball on the flank and cross for opposite winger Reach to head it into the back of the net.

We had a few chances near the end but a professional job was done and victory secured. But we didn't have time to bask in the glory of that, given a few days later, we had a visit from new boys Luton Town.

A minimal reshuffle was done to juggle the quickfire games. So I went for:
Dawson - Iorfa, Borner, Bates, Fox - Harris, Pelupessy, Luongo, Reach - Fletcher, Forestieri
Subs: Jones, Iorfa, Palmer, Lee, Harris, Murphy, Windass, Wickham

Against the Hatters, what could we do?



We would just about grab back-to-back 3 points. Wickham was poor from the start against Millwall, but off the bench against Luton he grabbed a winner, to go with his equaliser as a sub against Barnsley in our home opener.

In truth we could've made it more comfortable. While Dawson had to make a good stop to deny James Collins early on, we had the bulk of the early chances but couldn't beat Simon Sluga or see shots blocked when we tried to lash them on target.

The goal would come shortly after the break. Luongo laid the ball wide to Reach, his ball was missed by a Luton defender and Fletcher attacked it, burying it past Sluga.

We should've pushed on but 4 minutes later, man of the match George Moncur equalised as Pelly Mpanzu's ball was struck. It was straight at Dawson but the keeper turned it in, annoyingly.

I threw on Murphy and we nearly had an impact with Sluga having to make 3 good saves in quick succession. But with 11 to go, we had our winner. Murphy was found again out wide, and his ball in found Wickham off the bench, who duly scored.

Luton did press us hard at the end, but we just ground out the win, and at times played great stuff, giving me my first win at Hillsborough. Great stuff.

This put us on a roll - top of the Championship table after 4 games, with nobody managing a 100% start. However, by the time we next played, West Brom would make the advance claim for top spot, after they put 5 past Derby at Pride Park.

We meanwhile got a trip to Preston, with a 100% drawing record to start off 2019-20.

A minimal reshuffle was done to juggle the quickfire games. So I went for:
Dawson - Iorfa, Borner, Bates, Fox - Murphy, Pelupessy, Luongo, Reach - Fletcher, Forestieri
Subs: Jones, Odubajo, Palmer, Lee, Harris, Rhodes, Wickham

On the one side, with 2 wins in a row and 3/4 to start the season, we could've entered this on a role. On the other side, we'd picked most of this starting 11 for most of the games this week so tiredness could be a factor.

So what would come of our cross-Pennine trip to Deepdale?



... a lackluster performance and a first defeat. Had to happen eventually but still such a disappointing turn of events.

Right from the word go, Preston looked more comfortable. We just couldn't get the ball to the flanks, where we have as a priority way to attack, and most the pressure was on our back 4. It could've been different if Murphy and Fletcher had buried near misses on counters, but Preston were doing more.

The winner came when Sean Maguire received a ball down the flank and lashed it in from a tight angle, much to the disappointment that Dawson was beaten.

Despite throwing on Wickham and Harris, and escalating to a more attacking mindset, it remained the case that Dawson was busier than Declan Rudd at the other end. Their keeper did have to make a late stop to thwart Wickham and a Murphy shot that was going wide, but that was all he had to work with.

So I have my first league defeat as Sheffield Wednesday boss, possibly paying for not rotating the side or for being too passive in possession. It adds up as something to work on for QPR, before the international break splits that clash from a surprisingly quiet September with just 3 games in the diary.

(Any comments?)

Of course, its one thing to win a football match. Consistently doing it will be what gets us close to meeting Chansiri's lofty goals... or not.

For that end, its a double dose of Barnsley that we now have to deal with. We first play the Tykes in the league at Hillsborough, then follow it up with a trip to Oakwell for a Carabao Cup tie. Our ever-expectant chairman wants a Third Round place in that. Ideally, I'd rest players, but I suspect with our finances in the toilet that we could use the cash from a visit by a top 6 side, if indeed fortune smiles on us in the draw.

But that's a later problem. Before that, we welcome Barnsley for game 2. For all that we should win this, given the game has them down for the drop, they beat promotion favourites Fulham in their first game and will no doubt fancy staking a claim to be the best team in Yorkshire.

We nearly named the same 18 as our opener, though with one alteration as Kieren Westwood picked up a groin strain in training, joining Hutchinson, Bannan, Lees (injured) and Iorfa (banned) as non-combatants. Ideally I would've picked U23s keeper Joe Wildsmith, who has played a decet chunk in real life. But with torn knee ligaments, he's out as well.

This is an 18 of:
Dawson - Odubajo, Borner, Bates, Fox - Murphy, Pelupessy, Luongo, Reach - Fletcher, Forestieri
Subs: Jones, Palmer, Lee, Harris, Wickham, Windass, Rhodes

So what did game 2 and our first at Hillsborough provide?



Bit weird. Wanted 3 points, would've been OK with 1 as Barnsley got a slightly fortunate opener when a Chaplin cross went in, wanted to push on for 3 after Connor Wickham came off the bench to equalise, but then Barnsley had the better chances late on and we could have lost it.

As happened against Reading in the opener, we had less possession but more chances. Things could've been better if, like at the weekend, we'd scored an early goal, but after blowing a few chances, Chaplin's cross deceived defender Bates, then fooled Dawson and crashed in.

With Odubajo, Fox, Reach and Foresteri all missing chances, and Brad Collins making good stops to deny Bates and Fletcher, I thought I'd try the old option of throwing on another striker, with Wickham replacing the disappointing Luongo as one of 2 changes. Within 3 minutes, the Crystal Palace loanee headed a cross past Collins.

In an ideal world, we'd have pushed on, but an injury to Forestieri meant we had to withdraw him for Windass, and we lost all our momentum. Indeed, had Alex Mowatt and Chaplin not blown a few last chances, we would've suffered our first defeat.

So 1-1. OK, but not great. Round 2 was a few days later at Oakwell in the Carabao Cup's opening round. I decided to make some changes, given my priority is turning this squad into play-off contenders, by accident or otherwise.

In all, it was six changes but after considering changing to a 4-3-3, I stuck with the 4-4-2 and picked the following:
Dawson - Odubajo, Iorfa, Borner, Palmer - Murphy, Pelupessy, Lee, Harris - Winnall, Wickham
Subs: Jones, Bates, Fox, Luongo, Reach, Forestieri, Fletcher

The board are hoping for a run to Round 3, which indeed is what they did in the real 2019-20 season. So how would we fare?



Ah for fuck's sake.

To be fair, even getting penalties was more than we deserved. Didn't matter what combination I tried, we were just poor going forward. As had also happened at the weekend, Chaplin put Barnsley in front virtually straight away, this time after a defensive mix-up allowed the former Portsmouth player a run-through on goal.

Best chance for so much had come and gone when their keeper denied Winnall (given a rare start) while Woodrow had hit the post. But for most the game, the best chances looked like being for Barnsley, with the only real chance seeing the rare-starting Kieran Lee hit the bar, and as we approached the end, we were only in the game due to a few decent stops by Cameron Dawson.

Then in added time, it all went mad. Having thrown on starters in Fletcher, Forestieri and Reach, I was beginning to think it would all be for naught. And then suddenly, in the first minute of added time, Reach meets a cross by Fletcher and lamps it home.

Barnsley then go straight up the other end, win a free-kick after a foul by Pelupessy and knock it over the line when defender Sollbauer turns the ball over the line after Chaplin hits the post, but an offside flag is raised. And we still could've won it ourselves, with their keeper denying Forestieri.

So its time for the excitement of a penalty shoot-out, and from our first kick, Fletcher hits it at the keeper. Balls. As the kicks ramp up and all of them from both sides go in, it suddenly becomes more crucial and sure enough, Clarke Odour beats Dawson to put Barnsley into Round 2 (and with it a home tie with League 2 side Crewe), while we're left to wonder what the hell just happened.

How annoying. The board will be annoyed and so am I but I guess if we deliver the promotion they so crave, they'll hopefully forget about it.

Onwards then to a busy week - Millwall, Luton and Preston lie in wait.

So, the first day of the season is upon us. To amend the words of The Producers, opening night, its opening night, its my Football Manager's latest show, will it flop or will it go?

The season opener is Reading at the Madejski - a team I did consider before picking Wednesday. George Puscas, Ovi Ejaria, Yakou Meite and more show they're a team with potential and a decent budget, managed by Mark Hughes' former number 2.

It doesn't help that injuries have already surfaced. With Barry Bannan and Tom Lees still long term injured, thus ruling out my captain and vice-captain, it didn't help Sam Hutchinson (my assistant's choice for replacement captain) suffered a lower back stress fracture in training straight after the final friendly and will be out until October. On top of this, it turns out Dominic Iorfa, who would've been my choice to start at right-back over an unfit Moses Odubajo and Liam Palmer, had a pre-existing suspension so can't play the first few games.

Having mainly used a 4-4-2 in my friendlies, I went for it here and selected:
Dawson - Odubajo, Borner, Bates, Fox - Murphy, Pelupessy, Luongo, Reach - Fletcher, Forestieri
Subs: Westwood, Palmer, Lee, Harris, Wickham, Windass, Rhodes

So... how did we do?



Just what we wanted and needed - 3 points on the opening day against another side that will fancy themselves as this year's dark horse for the play-offs. After all, we're predicted to come 11th with the Royals a more modest 17th. Hardly up there with the likes of Leeds, West Brom or Fulham but mid-table sides do break through sometimes.

The thrill was there straight away as Forestieri saw a strike go wide with our first attack, and then put us in front with our next, with the Italian scoring the rebound after Rafael saved his first effort. With uncertainty over our attacking options, its good to know he's got potential to be a line leader.

The first half was fun and open, but sadly it was Reading with the second goal as Felipe Araruna headed in. With Reading having a go, I thought it might be tough only for Wednesday to prove me wrong. Long ball forward by a centre-back released Forestieri, who legged it clear of their centre backs before lashing it in.

And that was it for goals. Not for chances - on balance, we had more of them but after I gave Dawson the nod over Westwood, he still had to make saves and did well to do so. As is often the case, I was convinced a sting in the tale was on its way, but nope - 94 minutes were up, we'd just held out, and it was victory at the Madejski.

So there we are - first game in charge of the Owls, first competitive win. Just 45 (plus any potential play-offs and cup runs) to go.

The opening month will be similarly relentless. One week until Yorkshire neighbours Barnsley make the trip to Hillsborough, then a Carabao Cup tie at Oakwell, Millwall away, a visit from new boys Luton, a trip to Preston, and QPR at home. Even at this early stage, its relentless.

Its a reasonably generous opening, with all our opening month's opponents predicted to finish either around or below us. With this in mind, I want to finish the opening month unbeaten as this would be the sign of great understanding of my methods. However, its one thing to say this, and another to go out and do it.

Pre-season is over and done with.



After the traditional FM start of an inter-squad friendly, we had 2 routs over local non-league sides, a comfortable win over Beerschot from the Belgian second tier and a fairly reasonable draw with the Italian side Sampdoria.

I feel like the schedule was too generous, however. Could've used one extra big ticket friendly, possibly against a lower-tier Premier League outfit, to see what we got. Or a glamour tie against a big European name to generate some moolah.

It also looks like I'm going to be adhering with what I've got, with nobody bidding for Rhodes, Winnall or Nuhiu despite all 3 being transfer listed by the AI before I got the gig. Which makes it more real in a way, but isn't helpful given I have a few positions where I think we could strengthen.

Still, I guess if we are stuck with what we've got, we wait and see what we can do away at Reading on the opening day.

Upon arrival at Hillsborough, I also had no Director of Football or Assistant. Neil McDonald, former Blackpool manager and assistant at Blackburn, West Ham and Hull, was hired as a number 2 but a DoF will be something I wait a while before approaching. Not least because its difficult for me to delegate anyone to buy players when I have no money to buy anyone.

So far, a 4-3-3, 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 have tended to be the formations I have considered using. The squad does have depth, but ability is more questionable.



On top of the loanees, the majority of my squad is out of contract at the end of the season, making getting close to market value for duds (chiefly Rhodes and Winnall) that little more problematic. It also doesn't help that Tom Lees and Barry Bannan would be first choices if fit, but Lees is out until December and Bannan is absent for the opening month.

Nevertheless, the goal is promotion. Maybe something can work... right?

At the start of the 20.0.4 version of the game file, this is the squad list I have to play with.



We have so far had a friendly with the reserves, for which we used a 4-3-3 and won 2-0.

The situation is very much sell to buy, with 5 loanees and the aforementioned transfer budget of £0.

With FM20 now in my possession after a few years off playing FM games, I fancied a challenge. Reminded of a great FM12 save trying to get Leicester out, I thought I'd try Championship challenging, and after considering Bristol City, Nottingham Forest, Reading, QPR and a few others, I settled on this lot.

So, a squad full of ageing and overpaid strikers with my coaches recommending a lone striker tactic, the best CB and CM are long term injured, a transfer budget of £0, generally poor finances, the chairman wants play-offs and placating a fanbase who may be slightly envious at the neighbours landing a Premier League spot.

Yeah, that's a challenge alright. So let's dive on in and see how this goes.

I can buy the argument about Swansea beating Brentford - the way they overwhelmed the gap to Forest is a much more positive backstory to making the play-offs than Brentford blowing a genuine shot at automatic.

Cardiff are in my opinion the outsiders. Which could lead to them getting promoted because that seems to happen every now and again.

The Championship's final day was insane. Impressive amount of position swapping.

"Karius" trending on Twitter as a nickname for De Gea... something's gone wrong with him since the 2018 World Cup.

They made a huge mistake offloading Grosicki and Bowen in January, but blimey this is a complete catastrophe from Hull.

I see Wigan are trying a pretty big way to take out their agitation at the administration and the forthcoming deduction.

Subject to FIFA approval, the window opens the day after the PL season ends, so clearly it was going to already be the subject of a big buzz.

Not that I'm sure what to expect. I thought this would be a low budget window thanks to covid crisis, but given the same big valuations are still banded about, maybe not.

So Man City have been un-banned from the Champions League as CAS over-turned UEFA's original band.

Seems to be going down badly outside the Man City fanbase.

I know a few are also suggesting this means the death of FFP but given coronavirus has destroyed a lot of club's revenues, I thought the days of spending like no tomorrow were kinda done for a while anyway.

I mean, I enjoyed the first Newcastle game after the restart. Probably because for once, we weren't shit. I'm convinced we would've lost the game had it happened when originally scheduled, given Dubravka had a big injury in the Southampton game the week before the PL stopped, and Sheffield United haven't come back the same side.

But in general this first week had been weird. The digital crowd noise needs a lot of work, although it is funny when the real stadium noise cuts through in unexpected ways. I do like the colourful banners over the empty seats that are most visible to camera, but tis not the same. Nor was it going to be, imo.

Just confirmed 17th June as a restart date for the 2 games not played on Carabao Cup weekend - so Man City v Arsenal and Villa v Sheffield Utd - with a full programme the following weekend.

Not so sure if its still too soon (if not as soon as this desire to reopen a lot of things next week when the UK coronavirus death rate is still in triple digits) but I guess we'll get our own version of the weirdness we're getting in the Bundesliga to see closed door matches.

Agreed. It'll be a long time before leisure events with mass crowds attending are able to be held, and even closed doors football might be a stretch for a while if there's still large clusters of cases and healthcare resources required for bigger priorities.

But I'm not sure about the obscene amount of money. If anything, there's fear it could end up being the opposite with lower league clubs having significant cash flow problems and elite level clubs have easy pickings for the players they want to sign from clubs financially damaged. Though I'm aware there's talk a number of big name clubs are reportedly cutting transfer budgets, so its not as if they're going to be unaffected.

"Screwed over" might not be the best choice of words in my last post on the matter tbf.

There's legitimate talk Ashley might be about to sell Newcastle to a consortium largely lead by Saudi cash backed up by a number of UK-based business people, which would put Newcastle as one of the wealthiest clubs about. Though I'm aware if it happens and we begin to do well, the "Oh you're only winning cos you have dictator cash" card will be played - Man City have had it for years so presumably we'd have to as well, not least given Saudi Arabia's record on a lot of things like human rights or suppression of freedoms is a lot worse than the UAE's.

Though I'd be a lot more excited if football still wasn't totally screwed over by that pandemic.

Anyone willing to guess when the PL season might restart, if at all?

Initially I was for just deciding the season using the current tables, but I'm aware that would just annoy a lot of people and lead to a lot of further arguing to serve nobody that well, particularly from anyone relegated in a close fight.

My instinct is that they'll resume behind closed doors, possibly using neutral venues as was suggested, as the financial cost to both PL & EFL returning their TV money is enormous, maybe even ruinous in the case of a lot of lower league clubs. Whether that can happen before July is another matter, given both the fact the new cases needs to be significantly reduced and even when you're in a position to return, player fitness is going to be lacking.

There also needs to be some kind of meeting at a FIFA level to create better contingency plans in advance of another major disruptive event in future so we can see less of a sense of ad lib response.

I haven't played FM since FM2015 but a part of me is legit tempted to get FM2020 just to play this. The Offensive is a great podcast.

BBC reporting both Euro 2020 and this summer's Copa America have both been postponed to 2021, with a football journo from The Independent tweeting that UEFA have June 27 as a provisional first date to reschedule the Champions League Final.

I can't help but feel that's too soon. Think it needs to be a July date to be on the safe side. His Tweet read "Good luck with that", which is I get the feeling what a lot of people must also be thinking.

Surprised it hasn't already happened in the UK tbf, given that it is the case everywhere else.