Carlos Carvalhal’s Sheffield Wednesday revolution has got off to a promising start.
Expectations amongst supporters are growing after a recent eleven-game unbeaten run which included an eye-catching 3-0 victory over Arsenal in the League Cup and has propelled The Owls to ninth place in the English Championship, just four points off a play-off place.
PortuGOAL looks at the background surrounding Carvalhal’s surprise appointment and the progress made so far by the former Vitória Setúbal, Sporting and Besiktas coach.
Confusion preceded the appointment of the 49-year-old ex-Braga defender Carvalhal, new owner Dejphon Chansiri’s surprise choice for the head coach role. Adam Pearson, one of Chansiri’s advisors, departed for Leeds United after less than a month at Hillsborough. Then, the media indicated that Wednesday had earmarked Swindon Town’s Mark Cooper as head coach, with Carvalhal operating in a director of football role. No one seems to know exactly what, if anything, transpired with Cooper but by the time Carvalhal was appointed, his position was slightly undermined by the widespread perception that he had not been the club’s first choice.
Replacing the popular Stuart Gray, who did a sound job with limited funds, was always going to be tough. Gray was exceptionally popular with the players, even those who were out of the team, but Carvalhal enthused his new charges who were particularly impressed that all the pre-season training drills included work with the ball.
Shaky start
After an uncertain start, questions were asked about the communication network within the club’s new structure. In a Radio Sheffield interview after the Owls’ 3-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough, Carvalhal intimated that he had been misled about a recent signing’s preferred position, resulting in the club having to sign another player, Fernando Forestieri, in that role, and leaving fans to speculate on the unnamed player.
The supporters’ reaction to Carvalhal’s appointment was lukewarm, probably because he had not achieved longevity in any of his thirteen management roles and, perhaps unfairly, his achievements, most notably leading third-tier Leixões to the cup final in 2002 and subsequent UEFA Cup qualification, were overlooked.
As a former chief of Sporting Lisbon and Besiktas, the personable Carvalhal is certainly accustomed to the pressure that accompanies Wednesday’s increased budget and he has several compatriots within the squad to ease his introduction to the English game. Fans favourite José Semedo and Felipe Melo were already at the club before Carvalhal and his Portuguese coaching staff arrived. And the head coach has since recruited Marco Matias and Lucas João from Nacional.
Matias disappoints, Luca João shows promise
Matias’s pedigree is well-known and despite a wonder goal in the away game at Leeds United and a deflected strike against Middlesbrough, his form, as Carvalhal has admitted, has been poor. Largely anonymous and giving the ball away too frequently, Matias has not yet resembled the marquee signing fans had anticipated although his disappointing performances may have been the result of an underlying injury which has culminated in a recent hernia operation.
João, by contrast, has shown great promise in a testing transitional period for the team. Deceptively quick and with a considerable repertoire of tricks, it is clear that if he is given time to develop, he could become a formidable player. A scorer of one of the goals against Arsenal, he has impressed both Owls supporters and the pundits covering Wednesday’s recent spate of televised games.
As Gray’s fate attests, Chansiri is unlikely to be slow to make a change should Carvalhal not establish consistent winning form. Whether the new chairman will learn anything from Wednesday’s post-Premiership history is yet to be seen. Carvalhal is the eleventh man at the helm of the team since their relegation from the top division in 2000, and while most supporters crave continuity, the odds are against that happening, unless Wednesday continue to challenge the play-off contenders.
PortuGOAL will report on the progress of Wednesday’s Portuguese contingent throughout the season.
by Daniel Burkinshaw
Related: José Semedo – the definitive interview
