The Wednesday

[orion523]

Sheffield Wednesday:
The Long Road Back

A dynasty I've been wanting to do since FIFA 12, I've finally decided that now's the time. The goal here is simple, guide Sheffield Wednesday back into the Premier League, and keep them there. Trophies of course would be a nice bonus but right now at least they're not the main goal. Closer to my heart than any club in Europe, SWFC were my "first love" so to speak, they're what got me interested in English football way back in the early 90's with their miracle cup/league runs which included of course maybe they're most famous victory of recent times anyway, a 1-0 league cup final victory over Manchester United in 1991, to this day the last domestic cup won by a club outside of the top flight. Glory days aside, Wednesday's fortunes took a turn for the worse at the turn of the century when poor spending choices resulted in out of control debt, and finally relegation to the Championship after the 1999-2000 season. Another relegation followed in 2002-03, dropping them to the third division for the first time since the 1970's. Two seasons in League One were followed by five in the Championship, then another two in League One before another promotion to the Championship for the 2012-13 season. Their return to the Championship in 2012-13 was a difficult one, luckily however they survived, staving off relegation by a mere four points. Now entering their second season in this most difficult of leagues, SWFC must continue their slow build towards the top of the Championship table. Will they succeed? This is their story....

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday Club Almanac

2013-14
Manager: Stuart Gray
Sky Bet Championship:
FA Cup:
Capital One Cup:

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

2013-14 Sheffield Wednesday
Squad List

2013-14 Sheffield Wednesday FC Depth Chart -
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
GK	Chris Kirkland(72)	Damian Martinez(63)
RB	Lewis Buxton(65)	Sam Hutchinson(64)	Liam Palmer(70)
RCB	Miguel Llera(66)	Kamil Zayette(66)	Anthony Gardner(68)	Adedeji Oshilaja(54)
LCB	Glenn Loovens(67)	Oguchi Onyewu(66)	Martin Taylor(63)
LB	Reda Johnson(67)	Joe Mattock(65)
RM	Michail Antonio(69)	Jermaine Johnson(65)	Kieran Lee(62)
RCM	Jose Semedo(66)	Giles Coke(64)	Rhys McCabe(64)
LCM	Gary Gardner(68)	Chris Maguire(66)	David Prutton(64)
LM	Jacques Maghoma(67)	Jeremy Helan(64)
RS	Gary Madine(67)	Benik Afobe(65)	Caolan Lavery(60)
LS	Atdhe Nuhiu(63)	Leon Best(70)

Club Roster Notes

-Midfielder Gary Gardner is here on loan from Aston Villa

-Striker Leon Best is here on loan from Blackburn

-Striker Benik Afobe is here on loan from Arsenal

-No less than 12 players on the roster are in the final 12 months of their contract. Another player, Jermaine Johnson will retire at season's end. Those in the final year are:
GK Kirkland(Age: 32, Ovr: 72), RB Hutchinson(Age: 23, Ovr: 64), CB's Onyweu(Age: 31, Ovr: 66), Llera(Age: 33, Ovr: 66), Loovens(Age: 29, Ovr: 67), Oshilaja(Age: 20, Ovr: 54), A. Gardner(Age: 32, Ovr: 68), M. Taylor(Age: 33, Ovr: 63) LB R. Johnson(Age: 25, Ovr: 67) CDM Semedo(Age: 28 Ovr: 66), CM Prutton(Age: 31, Ovr: 64) ST Lavery(Age: 20, Ovr: 60)

-Midfielder Danny Mayor(Age: 22, Ovr: 63) is out on loan at Bury

-GK Arron Jameson(Age: 23, Ovr: 56), is out on loan

-GK Cameron Dawson(Age: 17 Ovr: 56) is out on loan at Plymouth Argyle

-Formation wise, the club is expected to play a 4-4-2 diamond at home, and a flat 4-4-2 on the road

[KG]

Re: The Wednesday

GL. I had Afobe in my '13 Portsmouth CM and he was a stud. Young, strong, great size, and pacy. Hopefully you can either extend his loan or buy him outright.

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

GL. I had Afobe in my '13 Portsmouth CM and he was a stud. Young, strong, great size, and pacy. Hopefully you can either extend his loan or buy him outright.

Nice, because although "The Goal Machine" is back in the team, striker is easily our neediest position.

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

Gray Named New Manager At Wednesday


New Sheffield Wednesday gaffer Stuart Gray

Stuart Gray has been appointed new head man at Sheffield Wednesday, having agreed on a three year deal with club chairman Milan Mandaric earlier today. The former Southampton boss takes over for Dave Jones who was sacked at season's end following a disappointing campaign which saw the club just barely escape relegation back into League One after just one season in the Championship.
Hired as caretaker manager back in May, the former Northampton Town coach had made no secret of his desire to land the role on a full time basis, but chairman Mandaric had emphasized he was in "no rush" to appoint the club's fourth manager in four years.
"Talks were finalized on Monday, and it's been backwards and forwards, but the players have got me the job with the effort, performances, and commitment you could see out there on the training ground, and in the preseason friendlies."
Gray will make his managerial debut in just one week's time in a first round Capital One Cup clash with League One side MK Dons at Stadium MK.

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

2013-14 Capital One Cup
First Round
13 August 2013
Stadium mk, Milton Keynes

MK Dons 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday

Scoring Summary
27' Gary Gardner - SWFC
40' Gary Madine - SWFC

Debutantes Impress As Wednesday Dispatch Of MK Dons


Wasting little time, loanee Gary Gardner needed just twenty seven minutes to give Wednesday the lead

In their Sheffield Wednesday debuts, midfielder Gary Gardner found the back of the net, striker Leon Best earned himself two assists, and new manager Stuart Gray began his reign with a fantastic victory, as Sheffield Wednesday deftly negotiated the minefield that is a road cup tie on their way to a 0-2 triumph over Karl Robinson's MK Dons here in Milton Keynes. Cautious throughout much of the early going, The Owls sprung to life midway through the first half, twice hitting the Dons on the counter, and twice putting the ball into the net, allowing them to take a 2-0 lead into the break in a match where they had just 3(2) shots and 43% possession as opposed to the Dons 7(6) shots and 57% possession.
The second half saw more of the same, lots of possession for the hosts, but little in the way of chances and in the end it was the visitors who moved on.

Aug 13, 2013 - Sheffield Wednesday vs MK Dons
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Sheffield Wednesday ()	2	0	2
MK Dons ()	0	0	0

Team Stats Comparison
Sheffield Wednesday		MK Dons
43%	Possession	57%
8	Shots	9
4	Shots on Target	8
31	Tackles	17
1	Fouls	5
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
1	Corner Kicks	2
50%	Shot Accuracy	88%
75%	Passing Percentage	84%

2013-14 Capital One Cup
First Round Results

13 August 2013
Barnsley 3-0 Mansfield Town
Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Stevenage
Bradford City 0-2 Doncaster Rovers
Brighton & Hove 2-0 Colchester
Bristol City 1-2 Reading
Bristol Rovers 1-3 Notts County
Charlton Athletic 3-1 Walsall
Chesterfield 2-1 Bournemouth
Coventry City 2-1 Sheffield United
Derby County 3-2 Birmingham City
Ipswich Town 3-0 Yeovil Town
Leicester City 3-1 Gillingham
Leyton Orient 3-1 Crawley Town
Middlesbrough 4-1 Carlisle United
Millwall 2-2(5-4p) Nottingham Forest
MK Dons 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Morecambe 3-1 Accrington Stanley
Oldham Athletic 1-0 Burnely
Peterborough United 2-0 Dagenham & Redbridge
Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Newport County
Port Vale 3-1 Exeter City
Preston North End 3-1 Rotherham United
QPR 1-0 Northampton Town
Rochdale 1-0 Bolton Wanderers
S****horpe United 0-1 Bury
Southend United 2-1 Cheltenham Town
Torquay United 1-0 Portsmouth
Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Burton Albion
Watford 5-1 AFC Wimbledon
Wigan Athletic 4-0 Swindon Town
Wolverhampton 3-1 Huddersfield Town
Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Brentford
York City 3-2 Crewe Alexandra

14 August 2013
Hartlepool United 1-0 Blackpool
Leeds United 4-1 Shrewsbury Town
Oxford United 3-0 Fleetwood Town

[Brahvocado]

Re: The Wednesday

Always enjoy reading your cm threads Orion

I was wondering if you could post the sliders you are using currently? I am getting frustrated tweaking the set I'm using and it always helps me to steal ideas from you and Gonira lol

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

Always enjoy reading your cm threads Orion

I was wondering if you could post the sliders you are using currently? I am getting frustrated tweaking the set I'm using and it always helps me to steal ideas from you and Gonira lol

Thanks, and sure thing. First off, I'm back playing on legendary, slow, 15 min halves, and full manual. My only other rule is that I never, never, never, quit a match, and restart. It's cheap and cheesy and I'm guilty as the day is long, just as I'm sure plenty of guys are. Never again though. Anyway, here are the sliders:

Sprint: 45/45
Acceleration: 49/49
Shot Error: 54/53
Pass Error: 52/58
Shot Speed: 50/50
Pass Speed: 51/51
Injury frequency: 73/70
Injury Severity: 40/40
GK Ability 49/49
Marking: 48/48
Run Frequency: 49/49
Height: 50/50
Length: 49/49
Width: 52/52
Fullbacks: 51/51
First Touch: 51/51

Now I'm a huge believer in sticking with a set for a minimum of 15 games, and then maybe adjusting keepers only up or down depending on the scoring trend, anywhere between 2.5 and 3.2 goals per game are acceptable IMO.

[Brahvocado]

Re: The Wednesday

LOL

I wish I could say I've never ragequit a game and restarted, but I definitely can't say that. The funniest part is that I always did poorly in the restart, because now I'm pissed and playing terribly. I too had to make a conscious effort to stop doing that lol.

My problem has always been that I play D1 online and I'm just used to winning almost every game. Combine that with my naturally competitive nature and there you go. Thankfully I'm also a very calm person so I've never broken anything, just lots of whisper-cursing with the occasional "leaving the room for a few minutes".

Thanks for the sliders btw, looks like my line settings might be the source of my issues. Looking forward to making some changes when I get home from work.

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

LOL

I wish I could say I've never ragequit a game and restarted, but I definitely can't say that. The funniest part is that I always did poorly in the restart, because now I'm pissed and playing terribly. I too had to make a conscious effort to stop doing that lol.

My problem has always been that I play D1 online and I'm just used to winning almost every game. Combine that with my naturally competitive nature and there you go. Thankfully I'm also a very calm person so I've never broken anything, just lots of whisper-cursing with the occasional "leaving the room for a few minutes".

Thanks for the sliders btw, looks like my line settings might be the source of my issues. Looking forward to making some changes when I get home from work.

Ha, yeah I've rage quit my share of matches to be sure, another one of the reasons I wanted a fresh start.

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

2013-14 Sky Bet Championship
Match Day #1
17 August 2013
Pride Park, Derby

Derby County 0-0 SWFC


Stalemate At Pride Park


Midfielder Paul Coutts reacts to near miss late in the first half

Fresh off of an impressive road victory over MK Dons in the opening round of the Capital One Cup, Sheffield Wednesday turned their attention to the league, where they found themselves away from home once again, but this time facing a very strong Derby County side with aspirations of promotion, and as expected it was the hosts who got the better of the chances, outshooting the Owls by more than a 2-1 margin, but thanks to a tremendous man of the match performance by keeper Chris Kirkland, and a little help from the woodwork, Wednesday escaped Pride Park with a fortuitous 0-0 draw in what was the opening match of the season for both clubs.

Aug 17, 2013 - Sheffield Wednesday vs Derby County
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Sheffield Wednesday (0-1-0)	0	0	0
Derby County (0-1-0)	0	0	0

Team Stats Comparison
Sheffield Wednesday		Derby County
50%	Possession	50%
8	Shots	17
4	Shots on Target	10
20	Tackles	21
2	Fouls	2
2	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
1	Corner Kicks	3
50%	Shot Accuracy	58%
78%	Passing Percentage	84%

Results From Match Day #1 In The Sky Bet Championship

17 August 2013
Birmingham City 1-1 Watford
Bolton Wanderers 4-0 Yeovil Town
Bournemouth 2-0 Doncaster Rovers
Brighton & Hove 3-1 Barnsley
Burnley 1-1 Leicester City
Charlton Athletic 2-1 Huddersfield Town
Derby County 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Middlesbrough 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Ipswich Town
Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Leeds United
Reading 2-1 Millwall
Wigan Athletic 2-1 Blackpool

[pfgosher]

Re: The Wednesday

Well I must say I also do quit and restart matches although have reduced doing those. Still have to make sure I keep my cool specially against greater opposition. M playing as fulham for the past 3 and a half season and have made some good progression. Will have to just take it on chin and stride forward. Also lately thanks to champions league inclusion in the current season and reaching R16 I got a good heavy prize money which will help me make sufficient investment in the Jan window. Although I m enjoying my playign on PC with keyboard controls though there is problem coz of no 360 direction control to play but anyways I m happy lately with my playing. And one thing I m enjoying is that playing with deault line settings. Only changes in other sliders. It hlps me to play according to my play. Although I m not good from middle but I try as much as possible to play from middle. Only if I could have been comfortable with analog joystick then I would have played and enjoyed much more but still it is finally giving me immense satisfaction to play. Although in some parts I m not happy specially relating to player changing from CPU and also quick acceleration of CPU players however I have adjusted my game a little bit to help myself.

[orion523]

Re: The Wednesday

Well I must say I also do quit and restart matches although have reduced doing those. Still have to make sure I keep my cool specially against greater opposition. M playing as fulham for the past 3 and a half season and have made some good progression. Will have to just take it on chin and stride forward. Also lately thanks to champions league inclusion in the current season and reaching R16 I got a good heavy prize money which will help me make sufficient investment in the Jan window. Although I m enjoying my playign on PC with keyboard controls though there is problem coz of no 360 direction control to play but anyways I m happy lately with my playing. And one thing I m enjoying is that playing with deault line settings. Only changes in other sliders. It hlps me to play according to my play. Although I m not good from middle but I try as much as possible to play from middle. Only if I could have been comfortable with analog joystick then I would have played and enjoyed much more but still it is finally giving me immense satisfaction to play. Although in some parts I m not happy specially relating to player changing from CPU and also quick acceleration of CPU players however I have adjusted my game a little bit to help myself.

The fact that you have any type of success at all playing on a keyboard shocks me, you'd prolly be runnin' things like a boss if you had a controller lol.

[pfgosher]

Re: The Wednesday

Yeah. Although its not full manual. I mean except crossing everything is naual. Crossing is semi. Also I think I m having success coz my shot error is 51 as compared to CPU's 55. Although I kept shot error at 51 coz I use keyboard. And I tried to play with analog controller but couldnt just handle the analog stick and quick reaction on selecting right controls specially with the game too fast. As compared to reality football where players just dont go into tackling when a player is just standing with the ball as they know that any rash decision and it could backfire them however the CPU is too quick so I have to react quickly which in many cases I couldnt