Marked for Nicholas Wright
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 May 2032
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sheffield Wednesday, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout31 May 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sheffield Wednesday may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sheffield Wednesday this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2032
Josh Nichols falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout31 May 2032
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market31 May 2032
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout31 May 2032
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sheffield Wednesday, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market31 May 2032
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Michael Mylona’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Dec 2031
Aston Villa ended it 1‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Charles Bell breaks a bone — 40 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces15 Dec 2031
1-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Squad15 Dec 2031
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sheffield Wednesday may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Words at Sheffield Wednesday training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josh Nichols is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces15 Dec 2031
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Michael Mylona has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings15 Dec 2031
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom15 Dec 2031
Nobody left the Sheffield Wednesday dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match4 Nov 2031
A 1‑0 win over Cardiff City, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match8 Nov 2031
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match10 Nov 2031
Position 3 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Christian Dunbar-McDonald and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Josh Nichols was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces10 Nov 2031
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Michael Mylona has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match8 Nov 2031
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Michael Mylona in the middle of it, and Chesterfield unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
A performance of 8.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Feb 2031
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sheffield Wednesday has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
The clubs have shaken hands with Chelsea; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Player ratings3 Feb 2031
A debut Nicholas Wright will not forget — 7.19
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.19 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Market3 Feb 2031
The bid was some way short and Sheffield Wednesday did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
Sheffield Wednesday asked and Everton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market3 Feb 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Niklas Jokiniemi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sheffield Wednesday the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Sheffield Wednesday close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
The clock did what Sunderland would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Michael Mylona and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.