Well the euphoria of the whole Cardiff experience is well and truly behind us now, as Wednesday fans go back to what they're good at - grumbling. It's been three months since that victory at the Millenium Stadium, three months since the wave of enthusiasm swept S6, and three months since wednesdayites thought the hard times were behind us - what a difference three months makes.

Paul Sturrock has admittedly had less time than other teams in this division to build his squad, and indeed left it until the last couple of weeks of pre-season to make some of his seemingly more astute signings in Chris Eagles, Richie Partridge, Drissa Diallo, and Graham Coughaln to name but a few. Five games in to the season though, and the squad is already looking worryingly bare. The hoodoo of the injury crisis at S6 has continued where it left off towards the end of the season. Top scorer Steve Maclean out injured before the season begins - along with captain Lee Bullen and player of the season JP Mcgovern. Add to this the injuries picked up at QPR on Friday night and you have nearly a full team out injured - not the best start to anyone's championship campaign. This is where the first real grumble has come from, with the 600k offered by chairman Dave Allen never being touched.

Fans forums have been swept with the thoughts that this 600k was never there in the first place, and was just a plan by the chairman to make the Wednesday faithful believe that he was doing his bit to help the football club. A bid for Iain Hume was accepted and terms were agreed, but the deal was apparantly scuppered thanks to Hume's agent wanting a slice of the money - 30k to be exact. Now fair enough, agents are reportedly the scum of the earth, but 30k could well be the difference betwen Wednesday playing championship or league one football next season. Everybody knows attack is the weakest position in the Wednesday team, with Lee Peacock failing to light the world on fire last season, and top scorer Maclean out for up to six months. There are still question marks over Adam Proudlock and Sturrock's other options lie at the feet of players still learning their trade in the game. So what has happened to this 600k? We're led to believe that ex-Wigan striker David Graham was brought to the club for £350,000, so this still leaves more cash for another striker to be brought in. Sturrock himself insisted that he required two strikers to complete his squad - yet only days later announced that he is happy with squad. Something very fishy is going on behind the Hillsborough doors.

On to the action on the pitch, and despite being second bottom in the table as I write this, I do NOT believe that things are as bad as they seem...

4,000 Owls fans made the trip to Stoke City on the opening day of the season, to watch their new look Wednesday side struggle to adjust to the pace of the Championship. Despite the hosts being reducted to 10-men, Wednesday failed to break down a stubborn Stoke defence. There were plenty of positive signs though, with loanee Chris Eagles looking bright down the flank, and new signings John Hills and Frankie Simek looking very promising as left-back and right-back respectivley. The Wednesday faithful left the ground relatively happy with what they had witnessed.

Hull City were up next for the Owls at Hillsborough, and over 29,000 witnessed a spirited Owls display, with loanee Leon Best scoring his first goal in a Wednesday shirt, but sadly being taken off injured shortly after. This was the last we would see of the Southampton youngster, as Sturrock's options in attack were waining once again. Hull pulled one back through Nick Barmby, but a draw in the end was seen as a good result, and Wednesday pressure in the second half could have seen us take all three points. It was a definate improvement on last season's meeting between the two sides though, which ended in a 4-2 victory to Hull. Paul Sturrock emphasised this fact and took it in to the following game against Southampton.

The Southampton game was certainly men against boys, and although we weren't played off the park by Harry Redknapp's men, we were certainly tought a lesson in football. The Saints hadn't got off to the best of starts after relegation from the Premiership, but the came with a game plan that worked well, and it had to be ex-Owl Kenwyne Jones who scored the winner from a sloppy defensive error by Richard Wood. Still, I believed that Wednesday had showed enough in this game to make me believe they could stay in this league - our main objective afterall.

Our next game against Ipswich Town was where I left feeling frustrated, as poor individual performances left us still looking for our first win of the season following a 2-1 defeat to the tractor boys. Ipswich certainly aren't as good as they were last season after having lost some key players. They also had some key players out for our visit, but still managed a 2-1 victory. The story of our season so far was missed chances, and this was as present as ever in today's game. David Graham didn't look interested in playing upfront on his own - and misses from Adam Proudlock, Burton O'Brien, and Chris Brunt left the Owls wondering what could have been.

So despite only registering three points on the board so far (draws with Stoke, Hull, and QPR as mentioned in my last match review), I believe over the next couple of months this Owls team will definately blossom. In Glenn Whelen I believe the team have that 'John Sheridan' type player who can run the midfield for the team. I'm sure some will disagree, and I admit Glenn has had a couple of bad games for the team this season - but I believe that when the team gels, and the fitness comes back he will play an integral part in our survival this season. After the display at QPR I also believe that our defence is strong enough to put most attacks at bay. I'm disappointed that Graeme Lee hasn't adapted to the league as well as many thought he would, but am delighted with the performces youngster Richard Wood has played, despite his mistake against Southampton. As Sturrock has said on many occassions, it's all a learning curve for the team. Hopefully our injury problems will cease, and once certain players are back fit, we will have a team very capable of being safe with a couple of games to spare.

There, a bit of early season optimism doesn't hurt anyone!! I have no doubt that much of what I've said will spark debate amongst a lot of you, and that is exactly what our message board is for! So feel free to discuss on there!

For now,

Riggy.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS