A tale of two different managers........Jones v Gray December 1st 2013, Sheffield Wednesday found themselves second bottom of the Championship and manager less. Having lost 2-0 away at Blackpool the previous day, Milan Mandaric opted to get rid of manager Dave Jones, a man who arrived at the club with such optimism and took them straight up from League One at the expense of bitter rivals Sheffield United. gray.gif-446457 Gray has done well at Wednesday In their first season back in the Championship, Dave Jones kept Wednesday up on a dramatic final day of the season, on which seven teams were fighting to avoid the remaining two relegation places. During the summer Dave Jones added to his squad, with the likes of midfielder Kamil Zayatte and striker Atdhe Nuhiu both joining on a free transfers. However, while many fans would like to think the club could set promotion as a target, the squad was never going to be capable of mounting a sustained challenge at the top of the table.Few expected such an awful start to the season. By the time Dave Jones departed in December, Wednesday were right in the thick of the relegation battle. They were only spared been the team that propped up the table by goal difference, that honour went to local rivals Barnsley, both teams were on eleven points. Former Southampton boss Stuart Gray took over the reins, with a view to making the job his own, and he did exactly that. In the immediate aftermath of Dave Jones’ dismissal it appeared that Hillsborough’s public enemy number one, Neil Warnock, would be taking over. The former Leeds and Sheffield United manager, along with chairman Milan Mandaric thought better of it. Gray was to get a prolonged stint in the hot seat, one that started with a 2-1 victory at home to promotion chasing Leicester City. Wednesday finished 2013 with two wins, two draws, and two defeats in the month of December under Gray’s stewardship, signs of improvement were there for all to see. January 2014 was a month to remember for Gray and his team, unbeaten in all competitions, in addition to a 6-0 battering of Leeds in the Yorkshire derby. This coincided with the start of an impressive FA Cup run. There were calls before the Leeds game for Mandaric to give the job to Gray on a permanent basis given the dramatic turnaround in fortunes already shown, but after that game there was surely no other outcome. On January 25th the job was finally his for keeps. His record previous to that official appointment was six wins, four draws, and still only the two defeats- not bad for a caretaker manager. Since landing the job on a full time basis Gray’s troops have really kicked on, and totally eliminated any threat of relegation. He has made some astute loan signings with Leon Best, and Benik Afobe coming in until the end of the season, and Gary Gardener on a one month emergency loan. All sound signings for a team in the bottom half of England’s second tier. Gray has his team playing well together, while not having a team full of world beaters. His full-time appointment has seen some memorable results for the fans to cherish such as; 2-0 victories away to both Reading and Huddersfield, along with 4-1 and 3-0 home victories over Birmingham City and QPR respectively. It is plain to see that Stuart Gray has pulled off something remarkable at Sheffield Wednesday, upon his arrival they were joint bottom on eleven points, and at the time of writing they are 15th on forty-five points, thirteen clear of the bottom three. You could compare his influence on results to that of Steve McClaren at Derby, but Gray will slip under the radar because he isn’t at a team challenging for promotion, and isn’t a familiar name with many football fans. One thing is for sure, had he had a full season he would be an outside bet for manager of the season. Teams may come circling for Wednesday’s man in the summer, but any attention he does attract will be perfectly justified.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:38:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015