|
| |
|
| To Win
the League |
40/1
|
| To Get
Promoted |
12/1
|
| |
|
James O'Connor (Burnley) Jimmy
Smith (Chelsea) - LOAN TO 10th JANUARY
|
Date
|
Opponents
|
Result
|
| 15th
July |
HFC Haarem |
2-0
|
| 17th
July |
Stormvogel Telstar |
3-0
|
| 22nd
July |
MK Dons |
4-1
|
| 23rd
July |
Stocksbridge |
1-1
|
| 26th
July |
Bury |
2-0
|
| 29th
July |
Chesterfield |
0-1
|
| 30th
July |
Sheffield FC |
2-2
|
| 2nd
August |
Wigan |
2-3
|
|
|
|
Sheffield Wednesday were many
people's dark horse for last season and tipped to do well after
a strong finish to the previous year.
It was a poor start for them though
and they failed to win until the end of September when they beat
Hull City at Hillsborough. Until then they were making QPR look
good keeping our winless wonders off the bottom of the table.
That win gave them confidence
and they began to improve with Deon Burton getting back among the
goals and pushing them away from trouble.
That poor start though meant they
were never totally clear and a few bad results put them back in
trouble and by January they were in the bottom three and stuck in
a relegation battle.
Brian Laws brought in some loan
talent in Adam Bolder and Ben Sahar and they battled to some vital
draws before finally pulling clear of trouble in April.
Sheffield Wednesday may well rue
the vents of last season as a missed opportunity. Failure to build
on a good second half of the 2005/06 season meant they struggled
and missed a great chance to get promoted.
That may sound odd about a side
that finished sixteenth but if they had built on their momentum
there was never a better chance to go up than last year when the
top six was littered with a few average sides.
Instead they struggled and in
a tougher league this year I think they'll struggle again. The fighting
spirit they showed last season will be needed again and they will
need to be clever in the loan market if they are to stay up again.
The arrival of Jimmy Smith on
loan could be a good move, Smith can score goals from midfield and
will add some spark to their side but they still lack some genuine
quality up front so I expect them to struggle again.
Prediction:
19th in the Championship
|
Sheffield
Wednesday Fans View
|
I asked fans on the Rivals message board
for views on the new season and here is what they had
to say.
How do you think
Sheffield Wednesday will fare this season?
If we get a good start top
half but if we start like we did last year then we will struggle
Who are your players to
watch out for?
Lee Grant
is a top keeper
Is your Manager the right
man for the job?
Everyone
wants him to succeed with us but he didn't win many over last season
Which three teams will
be promoted this season?
Reading,
Birmimgham and Wolves
Which teams will be relegated?
Blackpool,
Barnsley and Bristol City
How do you think QPR will
fare this season?
Top half
but no better than that despite all the money.
Wednesday defender Frank Simek
had a short spell at QPR back in 2004. He signed on loan from Arsenal
and looked decent at both right back and central defence but in
the end opted for a move to Sheffield Wednesday where he has impressed
in recent years.
Going back to the 1980's Trevor
Francis destination after being sacked as QPR manager was Sheffield
Wednesday. He started as a player winning the league cup with Ron
Atkinson before becoming manager. As the boss he took Wednesday
to the league cup final and FA Cup final in the same season but
ended up losing them both.
Danny Maddix was a
hugely popular defender at QPR. He joined from Spurs in 1987 and
despite two horrific knee injuries he is still remembered as one
of the best defenders from that era. He left QPR in 2001 after our
relegation and went on to be a very good defender at Wednesday some
of the last few years of his career.
Sheffield Wednesday have a good record
against us and during the 90's and used to regularly beat us at
Hillsborough and Loftus Road until the 1994/95 season when we did
the double over them.
In our relegation season from Division
one Sheffield beat us twice. At Loftus Road Gavin Peacock gave us
a first half lead but it didn't last as Wednesday ran out 2-1 winners.
Chris Kiwomya had a last minute goal disallowed to rob us of a point.
The return game was nowhere near as
close. Peter Crouch got on the score sheet twice for Rangers but
an embarrassing defensive performance saw us lose 5-2.
A few years on we met again in Division
two and Sheffield Wednesday were hot favourites for promotion. That
pre season prediction was made to look a bit stupid as they struggled
all year and Rangers did a memorable double over them. Rangers thrashed
Wednesday at Loftus Road with Steve Palmer, Tony Thorpe and Kevin
McLeod all getting on the score sheet.
QPR fans will never forget the game
at Hillsborough. We needed a win to gain automatic promotion back
to Division one. Sheffield Wednesday put the Bristol City score
on the scoreboard which upset many of the QPR players and supporters
but it didn't matter when Kevin Gallen and Paul Furlong put us 2-0
up.
They grabbed a goal back and it looked
like we might blow it but a late own goal sent us back to division
one and set off a fantastic party in Sheffield and West London.
In 2005/06 the two matches were very
forgettable. Rangers hosted the Owls in a Friday night game which
ended 0-0 with very little happening.
The return game also ended in a draw
but Rangers had Paul Jones to thank as he produced a series of excellent
saves to keep us in the game. Marc Bircham scored the only goal
for us with Deon Burton netting for Sheffield Wednesday.
In the 2006/07 season Paul Sturrock
was sacked just days before we traveled to Sheffield and it seemed
to inspire the home side to a 2-0 lead. Dexter Blackstock scored
twice to draw us level before a late penalty gave the home side
all three points.
At Loftus Road a penalty from Martin
Rowlands helped us to a point and it was a third draw in a row at
Loftus Road last season as both sides played out an entertaining
0-0 draw. The return game was not a good one for rangers, we lead
through Damien Delaney's first QPR goal but a poor second half resulted
in another home win for Wednesday and a late red card for Hogan
Ephraim was the cherry on the cake for a miserable day.
Click on the match
for a report of the game from this web site.
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Queen's Park Rangers wins
|
draws
|
Sheffield Wed wins
|
| League Games |
16
|
11
|
21
|
| Cup Games |
1
|
0
|
3
|
| Total |
17
|
11
|
24
|
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