Chelters

Got to keep it tight here. With Bannan, Poveda and Ugbo all off we have lost our attacking impetus completely.

Paused it on the replay. Poveda clearly behind the ball.

Saturday 5 March 1994 FA Carling Premiership Newcastle United (home) After the disappointment of the defeat to Manchester United in midweek ending the dreams of Wembley for the season, Wednesday faced a visit from the Geordies. The visitors were riding high in 4th place, having continued their momentum from promotion the previous season, due in no small part to the goals of Andy Cole (who had not decided to become Andrew at this point). The Owls had of course succumbed to a 4-2 defeat at St James’s Park earlier in the season in a televised Sky game, a game that they really could have won. Wednesday made one change from the Coca Cola Cup Semi, with David Hirst unfortunately struggling again with injury, giving Gordon Watson another chance up front. There was a also a return on the bench for forgotten man Phil King. Newcastle lined up with future Owls Pavel Srnicek (RIP) and Steve Watson, with Peter Beardsley partnering that man Cole up front. There was exciting news in the programme as well, as it was revealed that John Hemmingham had finally released a single, ‘Wednesday Blues’ by the Derby Daze, featuring everyone’s favourite bugler alongside Tango. I can confirm that it’s on Spotify if anyone wants to remind themselves of it, in fact I’m listening to it whilst I’m writing this. At least I think I am, it might be my phone malfunctioning. Anyway, onto the game and the Owls were looking much more like it as they took the game to their opponents. In fact, they could have been two up in the first five minutes as first Mark Bright flashed a left foot shot wide, and then Watson managed to air kick after Andy Sinton had set him up following a jinking run. Later in the half Watson hit a firm shot at Srnicek before Carlton Palmer agonisingly headed against the post following another Sinton run. For their part Newcastle managed a header from Beardsley that was saved by Kevin Pressman but that was pretty much the sum of their first half efforts. The second period saw much of the same as Wednesday continued to press. First King, who had come on in an unfamiliar midfield role when Graham Hyde was forced off in the first half, swung a ball out to Sinton and his cross was met by Palmer for another header, this time straight at Srnicek. Then Sinton was agonisingly close to meeting Bright’s centre after some dithering in the Magpies defence. It looked like it was just going to be one of those days, but it turned out to be even more one of those days when it all went pear-shaped in the final few minutes. In the 88th minute Andy Pearce hauled down Cole and was duly sent off. The resulting free kick was swung in by Beardsley, as Wednesday tried to clear their lines the ball ricocheted off Ruel Fox and was swept home by the lurking Cole to steal all three points. It was a totally undeserved victory for Newcastle, but another game in which Wednesday had continued their worrying trait of conceding late on. Not only that but, having been in great form over the winter, this now meant it was five without a win in all competitions, with away games at Southampton and Manchester United (again) to come. Final score : Wednesday 0-1 Newcastle Wednesday : Pressman, Nilsson, Coleman, Pearce, Walker, Bart-Williams, Sinton, Palmer, Hyde (King 23), Watson, Bright (Jemson 80). Unused sub : Key Newcastle : Srnicek, Robinson, Beresford, Howey (Elliot 48), Nielson, Fox, Sellars, Lee, Watson, Beardsley, Cole. Unused subs : Mathie, Hooper Attendance : 33,224

New breed of accountants who will avoid the term ‘accountant’ like the plague so they can be down with the hipsters. As opposed to the more traditional sort like me and mk who have been doing it far too long to be impressed with that sort of nonsense.

Yeah it’s all pretty much as you were. Still a bit tricky to figure out the ins and outs in relation to rent, deferred consideration on stadium sale and other transactions with DC but that would be the same in any similar set of accounts. I would say that anyone finding anything to get excited about in these is doing it because they want to, not because there is genuinely anything to be too negative about.

And Leicester get a goal back

QPR 2 up at Leicester now

Stoke, QPR, Millwall all winning.

Wednesday 2 March 1994 Coca Cola Cup Semi Final Second Leg Manchester United (home) After the postponement of the game the previous week due to the snowy conditions at Hillsborough, the second leg of the League Cup semi-final went ahead at the second time of asking with the ITV cameras in attendance, with millions watching on TV in a prime time slot. Would this be the chance for the Owls to show the watching public what they made of by overturning a 1-0 first leg deficit and marching on to Wembley? Well........ Make no mistake, this was a daunting task for Wednesday, with the visitors unbeaten in an impressive 33 games in all competitions as they looked odds on to retain their Premier League title, and possibly win a domestic treble in the bargain. Despite the disappointment of conceding an injury time equaliser in the previous game at Norwich, it was an unchanged side – in fact an unchanged 14 man squad – that were given the task of achieving a fifth Wembley appearance in two years. Wednesday had a reasonable recent record against the Red Devils, and the form over the previous couple of months did give some hope. But then the game started. It took just 10 minutes for United to effectively wrap the tie up. Just four minutes in, the Owls’ defence fell asleep and Roy Keane crossed for Brian McClair to open the scoring – his fifth goal in three starts at Hillsborough. The home crowd had only a few minutes to get over that disappointment when the impressive Keane instigated an attack by releasing Andrei Kanchelskis down the right, he fed Ryan Giggs and the young winger’s cross was met by Kanchelskis, squeezing a header home from a narrow angle. It was not to be the last time the Russian winger would torment Wednesday in his career. To say this had knocked the stuffing out of the team and the crowd was an understatement, but Wednesday managed to gather themselves and have a bit of a go. Graham Hyde followed up his original cross with a driven effort that David Hirst crashed in from virtually on the line for just his second goal of an injury hit season. Sadly, it was to prove a false dawn as the visitors quickly restored their two goal cushion. Mark Hughes capitalised on the Wednesday defence sloppily ceding possession, and his long range effort slipped through Kevin Pressman and into the net. It was an unfortunate moment for the Owls’ keeper, who had been on a great run of form. After that somewhat chaotic first half, there was definitely a feeling that the game was up and so it was to prove as the Mancunians strolled through the second half with the confidence flowing. Wednesday had a few token efforts but never really troubled Peter Schmeichel. It was a bit of a surprise that it took until near the end for United to get a fourth as Hughes turned in McClair’s cross. No doubt this was a very disappointing evening, and the difference between the two sides was perhaps a bit of a wake-up call. Having exited the FA Cup in similar fashion it suddenly felt like an anti-climax of a season after the excitement and success of the previous three. Final score : Wednesday 1-4 Man Utd (agg 1-5) Wednesday : Pressman, Nilsson, Coleman, Pearce, Walker, Bart-Williams, Sinton (Watson), Hyde, Palmer, Hirst, Bright. Unused subs : Poric, Key Man Utd : Schmeichel, Parker, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Kanchelskis, Giggs, Keane, Ince, McClair, Hughes. Unused subs : Robson, Dublin, Sealey Attendance : 34,878

Sadly for quite a few of our fans, the overriding desire - above actually wanting the club to do well - is to not lose face on social media and forums.. Once they have chosen a particular argument they cannot and will not deviate from it and they will resolutely refuse to take an objective view or hear the other side. Because they simply cannot deal with the perceived consequences of being proven wrong. As we have shown on here is it possible to have a reasoned ‘middle ground’ debate about DC bur I have yet to see anyone in the ‘Chansiri out’ mob accept even the slightest alternative view. And that for me is why they are not credible. They claim the majority are with them. I would claim the majority are actually more like the view on here I.e. a change in ownership would probably be welcome but we don’t believe in the protests and the people behind them.

Indeed, he’s from the rough end of Cheltenham. Complete scumbag.

Just heard the same off a Leeds fan. Cheltenham’s finest.

Yeah something like that, they were at Evesham for a while. Always used to play in gold and black but they are indeed Melchester red and yellow now.

Once you’ve got that figured out, get your head round teams from the Natuonal League North being relegated to the Southern League (which one of my local teams Gloucester City is heading for)

Saturday 26 February 2024 FA Carling Premiership Norwich City (away) After the postponement of the League Cup Semi Final in midweek, Wednesday turned their attention back to league matters with a tricky looking game at Norwich. The hosts were enjoying another good season, in more or less the same place as their visitors in the top half of the table and enjoying an impressive run in Europe. Earlier in the season, the Canaries had come from three goals down to deny the Owls their first win of the season in an exciting 3-3 draw. But this was a different Wednesday side, enjoying a prolonged spell of decent form and much more confident as a result. Wednesday were forced into one change as Chris Bart-Williams came back in for Chris Waddle, who had perhaps returned too early in the first leg of the semi at Old Trafford. David Hirst continued his comeback up front alongside Mark Bright. As far as Norwich were concerned, the danger man was the in-form Chris Sutton, who partnered a certain Efan Ekoku in attack. It was the hosts who were to dominate the first half, in possession terms at least, but without troubling the scoresheet. Sutton and Jeremy Goss had chances, but in general Wednesday managed to keep Norwich at bay, with Andy Pearce in particular dealing well with Sutton. The Owls were better in the second half and almost took the lead within a few minutes of the restart. Andy Sinton made inroads into the Norwich half and, when the ball broke to Hirst, his first time shot crashed off the crossbar. The reward tor the improvement in the second period arrived 15 minutes from time, with Carlton Palmer being the main architect as his run down the left ended with Hirst’s shot being blocked, but substitute Gordon Watson was on hand to slot home his ninth goal of the season. The home side were duly spurred into life and went for an equaliser, but Kevin Pressman kept them at bay with two great saves from Ekoku efforts. With the game deep into injury time Norwich won a corner. Goalkeeper Bryan Gunn lumbered into the area and his presence seemed to cause chaos in the Owls’ defence, and after a bit of goalmouth pinball it was Sutton who fired home to rescue the point. It was probably hard to argue that the Canaries didn’t deserve something from the game, but that was no consolation for Wednesday, who were left frustrated after conceding in the last 10 minutes for the 14th time that season. Was it the psychological hangover from the FA Cup Final Replay the previous season? Who knows, but even this quality of Wednesday side seemed to have a bit of a vulnerability about them that was perhaps the first hairline crack into the decline that was to come. Final score : Norwich 1-1 Wednesday Norwich : Gunn, Culverhouse, Bowen (Butterworth 86), Newman, Polston, Adams, Ullathorne, Goss, Crook, Sutton, Ekoku. Unused subs : Smith, Howie Wednesday : Pressman, Nilsson, Coleman, Pearce, Walker, Bart-Williams (Poric 75), Sinton, Hyde, Palmer, Hirst, Bright (Watson 59). Unused sub : Key Attendance : 15,193

It definitely helps when we get refs who don’t give soft free kicks when we are trying to win the ball back quickly on the turnover.

Palmer had a great game today. Poveda is a proper player and we have a goalscorer in Ugbo. And we finally had a decent ref.

That was the game where one of their defenders punched the ball off the line, we scored from the follow up…..and Andre Marriner gave them a free kick. Possibly the singular worst bit of refereeing ever seen at Hillsborough.

30 years ago today the Owls were due to play the second leg of the Coca Cola Cup Semi Final at home to Manchester United. However, Arctic conditions had set in and, despite the best efforts to clear snow from the Hillsborough pitch, the game was called off. Not only were the fans left disappointed, but ITV were left with a big hole to fill in their Wednesday night schedule. The game was rearranged for a week later.

30 years ago there was…..no game. But I just want to keep this thread somewhere near the top!

He’ll never get a promotion reffing like that

Only if someone else pays for the cars.

Sunday 13 February 1994 Coca Cola Cup Semi-Final First Leg Manchester United (away) Having exited the FA Cup in disappointing fashion, the Owls now turned their attention to the League Cup in what was their third semi-final in the competition in four seasons. These were the days when the League Cup still carried a sense of real importance, and a semi-final was a big event indeed. In these early days after the Sky takeover of football, ITV were left with the relative crumbs under the table in the form of the Football League (you may recall Baddiel and Skinner mocking Saint and Greavsie for ‘talking about the Endsleigh League as if it’s important’). What this did mean, however, was that they also had the League Cup and were therefore keen to make the most of the big games, resulting in this game being shown live on ITV on a Sunday afternoon. Wednesday’s opponents Manchester United were, of course, the reigning Premier League champions, although their League Cup record was not actually that great. Their squad was littered with star names such as Paul Ince, Roy Keane, Mark Hughes, Eric Cantona etc etc. All of the aforementioned were not only great players, they were also in their own ways horrible gits, making the Red Devils not just a team to be feared, but a team to be very much disliked as well. The main team news involved two of the Owls’ stars returning to the starting lineup for the first time in ages, with Chris Waddle and David Hirst replacing Chris Bart-Williams and Gordon Watson respectively. So to the match and....well, there isn’t an awful lot to say. My match reports usually ramble on a bit but this one will be necessarily short as it was a very dull game. United took the lead in the 19th minute when Roland Nilsson’s slip was pounced on by Ryan Giggs. The young winger rounded Kevin Pressman and squeezed it in from a tight angle. Giggs was being hyped up to the rafters by the media at this time and I don’t know about you, but I always thought he was a bit overrated at this point, certainly compared to our own wing wizard. But he turned out to be reasonably decent to be fair...... After this the teams – both of which were in form and capable of showing some real attacking talent – basically cancelled each other out. Hirst had a couple of chances, one being deflected into Peter Schmeichel’s hands, the other being blazed over. The hosts had the odd half chance but nothing to write home about. And, er, that’s about it. The watching public would have been having a nice Sunday afternoon doze through this one, but it was at least nicely set up for the second leg and Wednesday would be thinking they had a real chance of getting to the final again. But, with United midfielder Ince ominously suggesting afterwards ‘we play better away from home’, it would certainly be a tough ask. Final score : Man Utd 1-0 Wednesday Man Utd : Schmeichel, Parker, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Kanchelskis, Giggs, Ince Keane, Cantona, Hughes. Unused subs : McClair, Dublin, Sealey Wednesday : Pressman, Nilsson, Coleman, Pearce, Walker, Waddle (Bart-Williams 72), Sinton, Hyde, Palmer, Hirst, Bright. Unused subs : Watson, Woods Attendance : 43,294

Personally I just want to enjoy having a team to support, and that of course involves ups and downs. I don’t have any right to expect that team to be brilliant, just like life in general some are more lucky than others. As football supporters go I haven’t landed particularly fortunately but it could be a lot worse. I would rather have a somewhat crappy team to support than none at all, and that’s why I don’t think protesting against DC is a great idea, it feels like jumping up and down on a wobbly trapdoor.

Don’t be silly, our keyboard warrior fans know more about the transfer market than a mere couple of ex-professional footballers who have been involved in several transfers themselves.