Opposition View: Sheffield Wednesday – London Owls

After last year’s memorable run to the last four of the FA Cup, Brighton and Hove Albion kick off their 2020 run in the world’s greatest cup competition against a familiar foe.

Sheffield Wednesday will be the visitors to the Amex, ironically the opponents the only time the Albion have ever won a semi final in the cup.

Wednesday gained their revenge for that 1983 defeat at Highbury by eliminating Chris Hughton’s side from the Championship play offs in 2016 and there were plenty of other meaningful games between the clubs in the intervening 33 years, the majority of which resulted in victories for the Owls.

Can they chalk up another success against the Albion, despite the fact that Brighton are now a top flight club while Wednesday remain in the second tier? And what are the chances of Garry Monk’s men joining us in the Premier League in five months time? We spoke to Wednesday fan Paul from London Owls to find out.

Talk us through Wednesday’s season so far. You were third going into the Christmas and still look in good shape to challenge for a top six place which would appear to be a big improvement on the past couple of season’s mid table finishes?
Inconsistent is probably the best word to describe it. We’ve ground out some really good results without being particularly spectacular and we’ve thrown away numerous games late on that we really should have won.

Frustratingly we’ve dropped so many points from winning positions that we could be up there challenging with Leeds and West Brom right now. That’s the Championship though. If someone had offered me third place at the halfway stage of the season I’d have snapped their hand off.

We’ve got a decent squad but’s an ageing one, quite a few of our players featured in the 2016 play-offs. We’ll have to see if we have the legs or mental strength for a top six finish but this division is such a level playing field you only need to go on a run of games to stay in contention.

Garry Monk was appointed as boss at Hillsborough for this season. How’s he been getting on and what kind of side are you under his management?
Monk arrived in September so he’s only really had three months in the role so it’s probably too soon to judge him. He’s not had a transfer window yet so he’s only able to work with the players he’s inherited.

Monk generally seems to favour a more direct style of football, playing a 4-5-1 with Steven Fletcher as the lone striker although in recent weeks he’s dabbled with two up front. But even with that direct style we tend to have a lot of possession without necessarily doing anything useful with the ball!

Who have been Wednesday’s star performers so far this season? And any disappointments?
Julian Borner, Fletcher and Dominic Iorfa have probably been our most consistent performers this season. Fletcher has already equalled his best tally of goals for a season and we’re only in January!

Adam Reach has been the biggest disappointment so far. Last season he had his own Goal of the Season competition having scored a number of worldies but he’s really yet to find any sort of form and has been in and out of the side.

How seriously are you expecting Monk to take the FA Cup? Will we see a second string side if promotion is your aim for the season?
Good question. If our League Cup tie against Everton in September is anything to go by he may not take it that seriously. I’m not sure we’ll see a second string side out but they’ll most likely be changes. I expect a few of the fringe players will have a run out simply to get some game time.

Back in November, Wednesday were charged with misconduct relating to financial irregularities – but it all seems to have gone a bit quiet. What’s the latest on that?
The financial irregularities relate to the sale of the ground and there appears to be a discrepancy between when the sale actually took place against where it appears in the financial accounts. According to the club, everything was ratified with the EFL prior to the sale taking place but the EFL say otherwise. The club is currently proceeding with an arbitration claim against the EFL so nothing is likely to happen until that is resolved.

Our last season in the Championship aside, Wednesday have definitely enjoyed the better of our past meetings. What are your favourite memories of games with Brighton?
On the whole, we’ve always done well against Brighton – especially at Hillsborough. Until recently I don’t think you’d ever won at our place. I think both play off games will live long in the memory. Brighton were the favourites and there was a great atmosphere in the game at Hillsborough. The stadium looked absolutely amazing when people all around shone the torch lights from their mobile phones.

In the second leg at the Amex you absolutely battered us in the first half an hour and somehow we nicked a fortunate equaliser through Ross Wallace and managed to cling-on. Talk about squeaky bum time! I felt that game was our revenge for the 1983 FA Cup Semi Final.

Finally, what’s your prediction for Saturday at the Amex?
I’m going 2-1 to Brighton. I think your Premier League experience will see you through to the 4th round.

Thanks to Paul for taking the time to answer our questions. You can read all about Wednesday’s promotion push over on London Owls or follow their Wednesday supporters group on Twitter.