What odds it happening twice? Why does this sort of thing seem to happen when the proverbial chips are southward? Will things move in the right direction? Will Sheffield Wednesday ever be awarded a penalty ever again?
I know, ‘poor Wednesday’ from the Wednesday writer. But come on. The Owls have been diddled out of wins the last two weekends just when they need them the most. These pages will rarely step too far into the realms of criticism of officials – theirs is a painfully difficult job after all – but with two of what Röhl generously described as ‘50/50’ decisions having gone against them in a week, it’s difficult not to notice the fact that Wednesday are being soundly beaten with the branches of bad luck at the minute.
Josh Windass, rarely one to disguise his true emotions, jumped on social media after the trip to Luton to express his pride in his side’s two post-international break performances and breathe life into the old football cliché that renders it likely that these things tend to even themselves out over the course of a season. Wednesday will hope he is right – there a couple of matches from last season’s run-in that had opposition supporters squirming in injustice, after all.
It would also be fair to point out that on both occasions – QPR’s royal rumble equaliser at Hillsborough perhaps even more farcical a decision than Di’Shon Bernard’s Kenilworth Road shoulder call – the Owls could have perhaps dealt with danger earlier and done themselves out of the need to rely on the right decisions being made. Set pieces remain high on the agenda and there’s an argument to suggest they could be a great deal more clinical with the periods of momentum they are taking.
A penalty would be suitable at this stage, wouldn’t it? Again, more time spent jinking around the opposition box would help here, but to think that mad evening in May 2023 served as Wednesday’s last spot kick is a bit mad. Performances are on the up and though the gods of football seem to be taking a dim view of things, there are wholesale signs of the sort of progress Röhl has described in recent weeks and months.
For now, those in blue and white are left licking wounds to ‘go again’. As Windass surmised, there is enough there to be proud of – tighten up their blemishes and luck can turn quickly.
