Forestieri and João Looking to Forge New Partnership Away From Hillsborough?

It was the final weekend of the football season, and as Wednesday had nothing much to play for, apart from pride, the Baston Owls decided to add some excitement and make a weekend of it, watching Doncaster Rovers v Coventry on Saturday followed by Wednesday v QPR on Sunday.

I know that pushes at the boundaries of how most people would describe excitement, but Doncaster were competing with Peterborough for the last play off spot in Division 1, with Rovers in 6th place, one point above Peterborough. There was some added tension as Rovers are managed by Grant McCann, who was a former player and manager of Peterborough before being sacked in 2018.

Doncaster sealed a 2-0 win which meant that Peterborough's victory counted for nothing as Doni secured the final play off place. I have to say for such an important game the home fans were remarkably subdued, but as the final whistle went you could see the relief as the fans poured onto the pitch to celebrate. Rovers under Grant have exceeded expectations in the league, so good luck to them in the play offs, you never know, I may be back again next season to watch Wednesday v Rovers.

Keepmoat Stadium

Doncaster's Keepmoat stadium is a modern stadium, from the outside it has the look of a ubiquitous Retail Park, as I approached the ground, it felt as though I was heading towards a branch of Curry's PC World. It is a lovely stadium though, and I thought the match day experience was great, with a fans bar for pre and post match drinks, pre match entertainment good half time facilities and great all round views of the match.

Following all the excitement in Doncaster we took the train back to Sheffield where we managed to get out and about for a few beers, followed by the inevitable Imrans Kebab, where the description of portion sizes bares no resemblance to the amount of food that appears. As I was tucking into my 'small' doner (which would probably kept me going for most of Sunday), I looked up and I was certain that I'd spotted two Wednesday strikers Forestieri and Joao, the former serving and João chatting to him eating a kebab. If it wasn't them, it must have been their twin brothers. Was this the start of the Wednesday team clear out and re build? Was João asking Forestieri for a job? I'm not certain and it could have been the drink, but if not, remember you heard it here first!

Regular readers of my blog, will know that after a few pre match beers our time estimation goes out of the window, usually arriving late for the match, and for the last two home games missing the first Wednesday goal as well. On the final game of the season, after a bit of heavy session the previous night and unable to shake the vision of Forestieri dishing up kebabs, we decided to make our way to the stadium early and have a pre match pint in the ground.

Hillsborough Stadium

We arrived 20 mins early and I know this sounds implausible but we still missed the kick off. Yep it took 20 mins to get served. It is a bug bear for me but as much as the Doncaster match experience was great, the Wednesday one is always a challenge. I should have known, because we have given up on the half time drink, as you have to start queueing 20 mins before half time to have any chance of getting served and being able to drink it before the start of the second half. How can Doni get it so right and Wednesday so wrong?

But the lethargy wasn't just in the bar it had also spread to the pitch. The game was a disappointment but not unexpected, not so much playing for pride as playing out 90 mins. Some players had clearly got their flip flops on and towels ready to throw on the sun lounges, and based on their performances, I'm thinking maybe I hadn't had as much to drink as I thought and it really was João and Forestieri in the kebab shop after all!

Thumbs Up for Next Season

Things have improved since Mr Bruce arrived at Hillsborough and the signs for the future are good, 6 players who are end of contract have already been released. I hope the advert for 'Casual Staff Hiring Now' that kept flashing up on the advertising boards wasn't related to our attempts to sign some talented  and fast wide players who can get a meaningful cross into the box, but more related to the behind the scenes team. If ever there was an inappropriate word being used for recruitment at Wednesday, its the word 'casual', if things got any more casual both off and on the pitch, they might as well start installing reclining chairs so we can all have a mid match nap.

So we look forward and not back, I will follow all the in's and out's in the close season with interest (that's the football team not the bar staff) I am optimistic about the 19/20 season, we have the right manager in place and with a build on the team I'm sure we can mount a promotion challenge. I'm less confident of progress behind the scenes. Promotion and a half time pint -  that's the dream that will keep me going through the close season!