Such is the state of play at Sheffield Wednesday, there are any number of players on a voyage of discovery with these 14 matches still to play.
The club is in something of a limbo position, still without owners and with the season drawing to its inevitable conclusion. But at ground level, the Owls coaching team is busy doing what it’s paid to do in no small part - improving players.
placeholder image
Harriet Massey/Getty Images
That mission does not discriminate dependent on profile of experience. Youngsters thrown into Championship football well ahead of schedule are obvious focus points, with the likes of Jarvis Thornton having followed injured pair Ernie Weaver and George Brown into a curve of improvement in fiercely difficult circumstances. Experienced players have enjoyed an upturn in form in recent weeks; Saturday’s duck-breaking goalscorer Jamal Lowe one such example.
Wednesday have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring the development of players contracted to other clubs, too. Manchester City pair Jaden Heskey and Joel Ndala are set to play vital parts in the remainder of the season - subject to punctuality of course. Another is Crystal Palace left-back Tayo Adaramola, whose first foray into second tier football after a number of successful loans elsewhere has delivered challenges.
The spritely 22-year-old is of rapid pace and encouraging profile but has had difficult moments in his 160 minutes in an Owls shirt so far, not least on debut at Swansea City on an afternoon that saw Wednesday overwhelmed in their switch to a back four system. Like Harry Amass before him, there is an appetite for Adaramola to improve his defending and understanding of the game before he returns to Selhurst Park. It’s the loan system in action.
A livewire attacking threat, it’s the pace, quality and intensity of Championship life that Adaramola is being exposed to for the first time, with plenty of behind-the-scenes focus placed on getting him closer to where he needs to be.
placeholder image
SWFC
“I see a really, really good, dynamic body,” Owls boss Henrik Pedersen told The Star last week. “He has a strong body. I see a young guy that really likes to go forward, and I see a young guy who needs tactical development, but he's a very hungry guy to learn.
“We have worked a lot with how he has to press, how he has to protect his own goal by second post, how he's positioned tactically when the ball is opposite. We have worked with him on a lot of basic things, because this is one of his big development areas, and he has seen video of his own performance. Now we speak about middle ball, we try to prepare him like we try to prepare Reece (Johnson) for the same position.”
A confident speaker, the Republic of Ireland youth international appears to be a fan of the work being placed at his door by the Owls coaching staff and is all too aware of the areas of the game he needs to improve.
He said at the time of his signing: “Growing up, I loved [being a] full-back, but since I have been in the first-team, I think wing-back suits me a lot more. I can do my stuff a lot more with not as many defensive duties, but I’ve still got to do it. Going forward is probably my main attribute, so I’d say wing-back I enjoy a lot more now these days.
“Me and the manager had a great talk and it was probably my favourite talk of all-time speaking to a manager. It was really unique, and I have never seen anything like it.”
Continue Reading