Opinion: Expectations Are High For Friday

Going into work on a Monday is only ever helped by the fact that you can brag about your club winning the previous Saturday. For a long time, Blues’ fans have not been able to do this. No win in the previous 10 games since Gary Rowett departed, Gianfranco Zola’s side picked up their first win under his management in a 1-0 victory against Fulham.

Now, I know that by winning one game, it doesn’t make Zola a hero or indeed make me think that the team is going to go the rest of the season unbeaten. But I can see that the team are now starting to play for Zola and it seems that he has won over the dressing room. At the start of his tenure, I am pretty sure that many players still mourned the loss of Rowett. He had gave many of the players there an opportunity to play regular football and this would be under threat with a new manager. He also played in a way that the players were familiar with, again, this would change with a new manager. So initially, I think that the players were very sceptical to change and were in a state of shock at the sudden departure.

But it was noticeable on Saturday that the team pulled together. Both in terms of the wonderful celebrations both when the goal went in and at the final whistle; but also during the game they all backed each other up. We were finally playing as a team rather than individuals and I think that this new mentality is really beginning to shine through and the players are responding really well to the new style of play. Obviously it takes time and the new players need time to settle so we can’t expect fireworks straight away but it looks to be headed in the right direction.

In terms of for Friday night, I would usually be quite pessimistic about playing the Owls. Not only are we away from home in a night fixture which often doesn’t work out too well, but also Sheffield Wednesday are always tough opponents. Westwood, whom I identified as the one to watch in an earlier article, will be hard to beat in the goals but they also have strength throughout the team. Jordan Rhodes and Sam Winnall are new additions to the attack and both are capable of scoring goals. Rhodes will have a point to prove based on his lack of games for ‘Boro and so I would presume that he will be eagerly awaiting his chance to play. We know how dangerous Winnall can be especially with his head. So they do have the fire power to cause us a lot of damage with the new look to the team.

Fernando Forestieri will always be a threat too, but a number of suspensions does mean that he is capable of losing his head and any little niggles that we can put in as challenges will certainly make his day a lot harder to control himself. Ross Wallace and Adam Reach certainly increase the squad’s ability to win games as they control the midfield area and can pick passes all over the park. Not to mention chip in with a few goals also. So yes, it will be tough to keep them out but if we play as a team like in the last game, then we can succeed. It’s all about being tactically aware and everyone being on the same page. The win over Fulham couldn’t have come at a better time.