Football Uncovered

Five managers have been in charge of Sheffield Wednesday during Dejphon Chansiri’s tenure as chairman.

Tony Pulis is the latest manager to take the Hillsborough hot seat following the sacking of former manager Garry Monk.

Pulis has endured a slow start as Owls boss failing to win a game in his opening eight matches following a 2-0 defeat to fellow relegation contenders Nottingham Forrest last night.

Tony Pulis defended his players performances following the result as he said, “I don’t want to criticise the players because I do believe they are giving their best but it’s not enough to win games.”

The defeat to Nottingham Forrest meant the Owls slipped to their fourth straight defeat meaning Tony Pulis has picked up less points in his opening eight fixtures than his predecessors.

His three draws and five losses makes Pulis’ start the worst of any manager since Dejphon Chansiri has owned the club.

Former manager Garry Monk enjoyed the best start of any manager as he collected 15 points from his first eight games.

Steve Bruce was the only manager to go unbeaten in his first eight games as Owls boss as he guided Wednesday to three wins and five draws collected 14 points.

Fan favourite Carlos Carvahal guided Wednesday to a playoff final in his first season as boss but only collected nine points from his opening eight games.

Carvahal’s successor, Jos Luhukay only scraped seven points as he won one, drew four and lost three.

Sheffield Wednesday currently sit rock bottom of the Championship, seven points from safety after 19 games.

Tony Pulis’ men host Coventry City on Saturday as the Welshman will be looking to secure his first win as Owls boss.

The Formula 1 calendar reached it’s climax last weekend as the Abu Dhabi grand prix rounded off the shortened 17 race season.

Although the calendar was shortened, the drama certainly wasn’t as Mercedes clinched their seventh consecutive Constructors Championship.

Formula 1 fans were put through all sorts of emotions this season from a surprise poll from Lance Stroll to the return of Nico Hulkenburg and to Romain Grosjean’s miracle escape from flames.

Lewis Hamilton smashed the record for the amount of race wins as he beat Michael Schumacher’s previous record of 91 wins.

Hamilton also equaled Schumacher’s number of World Championships as they both have seven.

23 drivers participated in at least one Grand Prix this season and here’s I ranked their performances;

23: Pietro Fittipaldi

Fittipaldi replaced Romain Grosjean after he suffered a major crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pietro finished at the back of the grid for both races he was involved in. He finished two laps behind the leader.

22: Jack Aitken

Aitken only featured in one race as he replaced George Russell in the Williams for the Sakhir Grand Prix. He qualified 18th and finished the race in 16th after a crash which resulted in a new front wing being needed.

21: Nicholas Latifi

Nicholas Latifi was outclassed in his rookie season by his younger but more experienced teammate as he was outqualified in every race him and George Russell. Latifi’s best finish was an 11th place finish in Monza.

20: Kevin Magnussen

In his final season in Formula 1, Kevin Magnussen only managed 1 point this season however narrowly edged out Romain Grosjean in qualifying as he outqualified him 7-6.

19: Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean’s final season in Formula 1 will be remembered by his miraculous escape from his burning car at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Frenchman managed to score 2 points this season.

18: Kimi Räikkönen

A quiet season for the Finnish veteran as he scored 4 points and was outqualified by his teammate 9-8 over the season.

17: Antonio Giovinazzi

Similar to his Alfa Romeo teammate, Antonio had a relatively uneventful season also scoring 4 points. He outqualified his veteran teammate Kimi Räikkönen 9-8 and also showed some great first lap speed recording a high number of lap 1 overtakes.

16: Nico Hulkenburg

Nico only raced at 2 events but showed some quality as he managed to finish p7 and p8 despite a lack of sharpness.

15: Danil Kyvat

Danil Kyvat’s season was rather unspectacular as he only managed 32 points and finished 14th in the Driver’s Championship. His season was overshadowed by his teammate Pierre Gasly who outperformed massively. The Russian’s seat is in doubt at Alpha Tauri for next season.

14: Sebastian Vettel

The former World Champion will be very disappointed with how his season has gone as he only scored 33 points. He showed his experience and class in the wet conditions of Turkey to claim his only podium of the season. Sebastian’s last season in Ferrari wasn’t his best it’s safe to say.

13: Alex Albon

Alex Albon suffered more lows than highs this season as his seat is now under threat following a disappointing season which saw him finish 7th in the standings. He did manage to score his first podium when he finished 3rd at the Tuscany Grand Prix but time will tell if he has done enough to save his seat.

12: Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon had an average season for Renault scoring 62 points. He managed a career best finish with a second place finish at the Sakhir Grand Prix. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo outqualified him 15 times over the season.

11: Valtteri Bottas

A rather unspectacular season for the Mercedes man as he only managed two wins this season. Bottas didn’t have a fantastic season which was highlighted in the wet conditions of Turkey as he spun six times before being lapped by his teammate Lewis Hamilton. He still managed to secure second in the World Championship as he finished nine points ahead of Max Verstappen.

10: Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll endured a season of highs and lows as he finished 11th in the standings with 75 points. The young Canadian started on pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix with an impressive lap in wet conditions. Lance managed to score two podiums during the season as he finished 3rd at both the Monza and Sakhir Grand Prix’s. However, multiple DNF’s haltered his season as well as him testing positive for Covid-19 resulted in Lance’s final position in the Championship being lower than it should be.

9: George Russell

George Russell showed his pace throughout the season as he outqualified his teammate Nicholas Latifi in every race and even making Q2 on a few occasions. Russell managed to score his first points in Formula 1 at the Sakhir Grand Prix when he replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. After qualifying second, Russell took the lead on the first lap and looked certain to secure the win until a calamity pit stop from the Mercedes crew and a puncture meant the young Brit had to settle for 8th.

8: Lando Norris

Lando started the season brilliantly as he got his first Formula 1 podium at the season opener in Austria. Norris outqualified his teammate Carlos Sainz 9-8, however finished below him in the standings.

7: Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly’s redemption went from strength to strength this season as he scored consistent points and outperforming his team mate in qualifying,12-4. To top it off Pierre took the top step of the podium for the first time in his career as he secured a shock win at Monza narrowly holding off Carlos Sainz.

6: Carlos Sainz

A superb season for Carlos Sainz in his final season for McLaren as he helped guide the team to 3rd in the Constructors Championship. He also recorded a career best finish as he claimed 2nd at the Monza Grand Prix, only missing out P1 by 0.415 seconds. Sainz was able to beat his future teammate Charles Leclerc in the World Championship as he finished 6th.

5: Max Verstappen

A very good season for Max as he pressured Mercedes and pushed them all season long, he managed to win the 70th anniversary Grand Prix early on in the season before he took pole position and dominated the final race at Abu Dhabi. Verstappen very nearly pipped Valtteri Bottas to second in the World Championship only missing out by nine points. The Dutchman didn’t have a flawless season as he was still too rash and impatient at times. The Turkish Grand Prix was a prime example of this as he spun when an attempting an overtake which he could’ve waited to get it done easier.

4: Sergio Perez

The experienced Mexican showed his quality for Racing Point this season consistently scoring points and finishing 4th in the World Championship. He managed to secure his first win in Formula 1 at the Sakhir Grand Prix. His season is made more impressive by the fact he missed both races in Britain due to testing positive with Covid-19 but still finishing 4th. Sergio is currently without a seat for next season but however is linked with replacing Alex Albon at Red Bull.

3: Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo’s final season with Renault will go down as a success as he managed to finish 5th in the Drivers Championship. The ‘Honey Badger’ scored his podium for Renault at the Eifel Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo showcased his pace and racecraft throughout the season as he almost doubled his teammate Ocon’s points.

2: Lewis Hamilton

A dominating season from the World Champion who won 11 out of the 16 races he raced in. The record breaking season saw the Brit claim his seventh title (joint with Michael Schumacher) and his 95th race win beating Schumacher’s previous record of 91.

1: Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc claims top stop in the list as he managed to massively over perform in the Ferrari which was so far behind other teams. Leclerc was able to score 2 podiums throughout the season. He was able to score 98 points over the season seeing him finish 8th in the Championship only 27 points off Sergio Perez in 4th.

Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to get back-to-back league wins for the first time this season as they welcome Millwall to Hillsborough.

Millwall have started the season in fine form despite no win in their last two games as they occupy the eighth place spot.

The Owls currently sit bottom of the table due to points deduction, which was reduced from -12 down to -6 on Wednesday.

Owls boss Garry Monk said, “Obviously we would have liked all 12, but it is a big positive and we have to be happy. It should give everybody a boost.”

A positive result for Sheffield Wednesday could see them climb out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.

Whereas Millwall will be looking to move up into the playoff spots as they look to record their fifth win of the league campaign.

Both teams come into this weekend’s game in contrasting form with the Owls winning one game in five, however Millwall have only lost one game in their last five.

Millwall will be lacking firepower as both young striker Troy Parrott and Kenneth Zohore will both be unavailable for this weekend’s game.

Wednesday will still be without Massimo Luongo (knee), Aden Flint (hamstring),Chey Dunkley (leg) and Kadeem Harris (suspension).

The Lions are a strong side away from home having kept seven clean sheets in their last ten games on the road, winning six.

This is a worrying stat for the Owls who recorded their first home victory in 251 days as they narrowly beat Bournemouth 1-0 in midweek.

A Ross Duggan brace sealed the points for the visitors as Handsworth suffer back to back defeats.

AFC Mansfield dominated the opening 15 minutes before taking the lead on 18th minute through Duggan.

Duggan added his 12th league goal of the league season, as he found the bottom corner with a composed finish.

Handsworth reacted well to going behind as only four minutes later as wing back Ant Mackie struck the outside of the post after a cross from the left flank.

Handsworth ended the half with a flurry of chances as Leon Howarth and Kyle Jordan came close to levelling the score only to be denied by two fantastic stops from the Warhurst in the AFC Mansfield goal.

Only 30 seconds after the restart Handsworth found the equalizer through a goal of the season contender courtesy of Leon Howarth.

Howarth picked the ball up on the right flank before cutting in on his left foot and bending his shot into the top corner.

Duggan restored AFC Mansfield’s lead five minutes later as his shot took a deflection and found the bottom corner.

AFC Mansfield nearly had a third a few minutes later as Ross Duggan was denied a hat-trick by the post.

Duggan had the ball in the net for his hat-trick six minutes later only for it to be chalked off after the striker strayed into an offside position.

The Handsworth goalkeeper was forced into a superb save only a minute later as Duggan was once again through on goal only to denied by the reflexes of Townsend.

AFC Mansfield came close again through Duggan as the strikers effort from the edge of the box clipped the bar before heading out for a goal kick.

Handsworth mounted a late threat as Howarth nearly doubled his tally as his long range effort narrowly went over the bar.

AFC Mansfield had a great opportunity to kill the game off through substitute Matt Sykes after he rounded the keeper but couldn’t apply the finish with the open goal at his mercy.

The hosts were very close to stealing a point at the death as substitute Harry Mitchell’s strike flew just past the post.

The result sees AFC Mansfield climb up to fourth in the league whereas Handsworth drop down to eighth.

Handsworth head into lockdown after back to back defeats following a three game unbeaten run.

AFC Mansfield will be heading into lockdown in high spirits as they record their fourth consecutive win in the league.

Ross Duggan has been in fine form this season netting 13 goals in all competitions topping the goal scoring charts.

Attendance: 268

In a close end to end game Garforth Town came out on top after a frantic opening ten minutes.

Garforth took the lead on the five minute mark after James Burgess took advantage of a wayward pass, to spin and fire the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Only four minutes later Sam Denton doubled Garforth’s lead with a bullet header from a corner.

Handsworth pegged Garforth back immediately after a darting run down the wing from Ant Mackie left him one on one with the goalkeeper where he drilled the ball into the bottom corner.

Before the break both teams had great chances to score as Handsworth midfielder Bailey Hobson forced Aaron Burn into a smart save with a strike from range.

Garforth nearly added a third through a piece of great strength and an acrobatic bicycle kick from James Burgess which was brilliantly tipped over the crossbar by Ben Townsend in the Handsworth net.

Shortly after the restart Handsworth had claims for a penalty as Leon Howarth was adjudged to have been brought down in the area however the referee waved play on.

Just before the hour mark Sam Barker added Garforth’s third and final goal with a cool finish into the bottom corner.

Tempers began to flare shortly after which saw the Handsworth skipper Gascoigne and Garforth manager both see yellow cards.

Gascoigne saw a second yellow in the 75th minutes after a late challenge which ensued protests from the Handsworth resulting in Sam Smith being sin binned for ten minutes.

Charlie Marshall nearly added a fourth for the visitors five minutes from the end as his strike rattled the crossbar.

Handsworth remain fifth whereas Garforth climb from fourth up to third.