Brian Laws was left reeling yesterday after seeing the spine of his Sheffield Wednesday team ripped apart.
The Owls manager was already struggling to come to terms with the long-term ankle ligament injury to star striker Francis Jeffers.
But in the aftermath of Tuesday night's home shocker against Scunthorpe United – which saw the Owls concede two goals for the fourth consecutive match and leaves them just one point off the bottom of the Championship after a quarter of the season – Laws was hit by another double blow.
First, centre-half Richard Wood, who was stretchered off against the Iron, has suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Then to cap a miserable week for Laws, Sunderland manager Roy Keane has ignored Wednesday's request to keep on-loan midfield general Graham Kavanagh for a second month as he wants him back on Wearside to help in their relegation battle in the Premier League.
"You always seem to pick up injuries when things aren't going well," said assistant manager Russ Wilcox.
"They are two key players. Everybody is important to the club, but these two are key players for us. You don't want to use injuries as an excuse but we have lost Richard Wood to a shoulder injury and we lost Francis Jeffers on Saturday. When things aren't going well you do seem to pick up injuries but we have enough in the squad to turn it around and we will just have to keep battling away."
In Wood, Kavanagh and Jeffers it is three players who formed the spine of Laws's team. One of Wednesday's main problems this season has been their lack of goals at Hllsborough.
They have scored just three times in six Championship games, including Deon Burton's penalty on Tuesday evening before he was substituted with concussion, and the other two scorers – Jeffers and Wade Small – are out injured.
Laws is hoping talks with chairman Dave Allen will allow him funds to bring in an on-loan striker to boost his firepower, but with performances from the Owls like the first 45 minutes against Sunthorpe, even strikers of the calibre of Wayne Rooney would struggle to get a sniff of goal.
Wilcox criticised his side's work-rate – usually a taboo issue when coaches moan about their players – and said the Iron had been more industrious than the Owls before the break.
"We looked like we worked harder in the second half, but you shouldn't be asking players to work harder, that should be just a natural thing," said the Owls No 2.
"That was disappointing. Once we stepped up the tempo after the break, I thought we dominated the second half. We have got to perform better over 90 minutes. In the first half we never won a second ball, we couldn't just get any tempo, but in the second we won the second ball and that allowed us to play. It's very difficult as a coach or manager to put your finger on what went wrong. We just looked flat in the first half."
Of the three promoted clubs from League One, Wednesday have already lost to two at Hillsborough this season; Scunthorpe joining Bristol City in taking maximum points.
The third side, Blackpool, visit Hillsborough on Saturday and Laws will be desperate to avoid an unwanted hat-trick. It's a massive week for the club," admitted Wilcox.
One piece of good news for Laws, however, is that on-loan central defender Michael Johnson has agreed to stay at Hillsbrough for a further month.
Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson will today attend the launch of a special exhibition at Bramall Lane which celebrates the history of black footballers in Sheffield.
The event, which is organised jointly by the Blades, the "Football Unites, Racism Divides" campaign, and The Hub African-Caribbean Centre based in Sharrow, also includes the launch of a project named in honour of Robson's former West Brom team-mate Laurie Cunningham.
Cunningham, who died in a car accident in July 1989, became the first black player to represent England at international level when he scored for the under-21 side in a 1-0 win over Scotland at Bramall Lane 30 years ago.
03 October 2007
Steve McClaren last night called on his FA employers to build the proposed National Football Centre at Burton.
The £60 million project is mothballed while the game's governors debate whether they have the money or the inclination. "We need it," McClaren stressed.
England's head coach knows that all the other leading footballing countries, and some smaller ones, boast control centres focusing on coaching and elite player development.
"We want a centre of footballing excellence," McClaren added. "We have a home where we play, at Wembley, but we need one for all the administration and all the coaches because, at the moment, the coaches are here, there and everywhere. We're also in desperate need of a centre for medical development because the biggest advances in football over the last 10 years have been in medical and sports science. We need to be at the forefront of that. They have these things in France, Italy and Spain. And I've just been to a conference and discovered that even smaller countries, like Austria and Denmark, are talking about their centres of excellence. It's incredible. We need to be the best in the world and having a centre of excellence would help."
The FA's chief executive, Brian Barwick, admits there are four options for Burton: "Sell the land; build it to its original blueprint; compromise and build it to a different spec; or create a joint venture and go into business with someone."
Barwick added: "Do we need one central point? What is the football human traffic that goes through it, right through the England age ranges? I asked for someone to give me all the different age-groups, coaches, referees, so I get a sense of how much human traffic we can drive through, as well as clubs wanting to use it. We get the fact people seem to want it. We just have to bottom out the finances. At the moment, we have a fantastic set of pitches and two sheds, but not much else. We've already spent a lot of money on this project, but sometimes you have to bury the money and admit it hasn't worked out. We still believe we should give it every chance, but the next two months will be very significant. There will be a decision by the FA board in December. I guarantee that."
02 October 2007
Birmingham goalkeeper Adam Legzdins has joined Halifax for a second loan spell.
Legzdins is to spend three months at the Shay following a similar spell in the 2005/06 season when he started 11 games for Chris Wilder's side.
The 20-year-old will challenge Craig Mawson for a starting place and will be in Halifax's squad to face Burton Albion this evening (Tuesday).
Legzdins is yet to make a senior appearance for Birmingham but has been a reserve team regular.
He has also had loan stints with Oldham and Macclesfield.
