Don't just judge this Sheffield Wednesday on whether they go up or not - Alan Biggs
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Sometimes others say it better. Everything I’d want to say about Sheffield Wednesday going into this new season was contained within the 280 characters of a recent reply to me on Twitter.
So come and get a rare collector’s item as this column abdicates to Owls supporter Gary Abbey (@garyabbey44).
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Hide AdWe all know about the excesses of social media but most people are well meaning and, sifting through, you’ll find the odd gem.
Gary, who I don’t know personally, wrote this on Darren Moore;-
“Without disrespecting previous managers DM is a leader, who looking from the outside seems to be able to manage up as well as down. If in 12 months he is still here and as a club we are being run efficiently I’d take that especially over a boom and bust approach.”
A nod here to every word of that and I think it is a balanced view shared by a lot of Owls followers.
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Hide AdEveryone wants promotion. Of course they do. Many would argue that some of the most patient and let down fans in football have a right to expect it.
But an immediate return to the Championship cannot be the sole yardstick for a club that has incurred points penalties, failed to pay players and generally run aground financially.
Hillsborough has to be a house in order again. If it is - as the signs suggest - then redemption on the field will surely follow.
Which is not to say Wednesday can’t do it this season or realistically set that target. With the players added and the nucleus remaining, Moore looks equipped for at least a strong challenge (providing strikers are signed).
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Hide AdHowever, I feel this cannot be the only judgment if the club is to recover long term from one of the lowest points in its history.
Here there’s particular significance in the words of Gary’s tweet that Moore looks “able to manage up as well as down.”
This is hugely important as a reason for optimism. As I’ve pointed out previously, owner Dejphon Chansiri has never had a better relationship with a manager than with the first he appointed, Carlos Carvalhal.
Carvalhal was also the most successful, albeit benefiting from far more expansive recruitment than any afforded to his successors.
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Hide AdHis departure was premature at best and I remain convinced that Wednesday could have undertaken the squad overhaul delayed until it was far too late had Carvalhal been given his head to drive it.
Yet the main point is the harmony in the relationship. By reputation, Chansiri is not easy to work with. You sense - as one of the most combative of former Owls bosses, Gary Megson, suggested to me once - that Moore is naturally able to achieve this.
Not that he’s some sort of “yes man.” I’m sure his views are firm but, with the nature of his personality, more readily accepted without rancour.
And besides, hopefully the penny has dropped that in-house football expertise has to be driving the club in future.
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Hide AdNo-one can be sure how this pans out over the course of 12 months but it seems like the right conditions are in place for the future.
And credit where due to Chansiri. He is a fighter and has lifted both the club and himself off the canvas this summer.