Sheffield Wednesday were ripped to pieces on their own turf by a rampant West Bromwich Albion side on Saturday and there were few positives for the home side to take as they prepare to face Reading in a crucial fixture for the club at Hillsborough next Saturday.
It is difficult to argue against the Baggies being one of the best sides in the division and they are in fine form having now scored 15 goals in their last four games. Prior to this run however they had failed to score against Coventry City and had lost 1-0 to Swansea City and so while getting a result against them may be difficult it is evidently not impossible with the right tactics and application.
Wednesday have struggled of late with no wins in 6 games now but the supporters generally are not unrealistic in their expectations. They appreciate the current standing that the club hopes and what they are trying to achieve. Few would have gone to Hillsborough expecting to see the Owls turn West Brom over but it is the manner of the defeat rather than the defeat itself that it difficult to stomach.
The defending for the opening two goals can be described as sloppy at best and had it not been for Lee Grant and a favourable decision from the referee in denying the visitors a penalty Wednesday could not have argued if they had gone in half a dozen down at half time.
The full backs were ripped apart by both Chris Brunt and Jerome Thomas and they were given little support by the wide midfielders in both halves of the game. Simon Cox was seemingly afforded the freedom of the penalty area at times by the central defenders and there was little in the way of stability or creativity from the midfield for the Owls to have the opportunity to get any sort of foothold in the game.
The second half was a formality for the away side as they prevented Wednesday from creating any clear cut chances and looked capable of adding a fourth long before it came, almost inevitably from Brunt after a sublime cross field pass by substitute Chris Wood.
Wednesday were second best all over the park and offered their fans little to feed off throughout. There is no shame to lose to a side with such quality but to do so without providing little more than a whimper in response is unacceptable.
Loan signing Tom Soares came on at half time but seemed to be feeling the pace way before the final whistle. The midfielder has quality to offer but is clearly not match fit and needs to work on this if he is to have an impact during his short spell at the club.
Brian Laws recently stated that he brought on Richard Wood rather than Mark Beevers as a substitute against QPR mainly due to the fact that Wood was in much better shape fitness wise. By the same token surely it would have made more sense to bring on Etienne Esajas in his preferred position or even Sean McAllister?
It would be harsh to single out any one player today for the most criticism as almost to a man they simply did not perform. Wednesday face fellow strugglers Reading at Hillsborough next Saturday followed by tricky trips to Doncaster and Leicester and they are in serious danger of being sucked into the bottom three before Christmas with the way results are going.