Tony Pulis was sacked as Sheffield Wednesday manager more than a month ago, and yet the Owls still don’t have a new gaffer in place.
There have been plenty of out of work bosses linked with the vacant Hillsborough post, with the likes of Thorsten Fink and Paul Cook reportedly applying for the position.
However, this week one of the more interesting links have emerged in the shape of former Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic.
As Wednesday fans will know, Jokanovic is one of the best managers around at this level, he took Fulham and Watford to the Premier League, while playing some of the best football the Championship has ever seen.
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Indeed, his Fulham team were once dubbed as the Man City of the Championship by Neil Warnock amid their historic 23-game unbeaten run in 2018, and the stats back up that claim.
Fulham were top in the division for completion and total passes that season and the Whites were also the side with the most accurate short passes, second-most shots on target and the highest average possession.
In the modern game that is not only a beautiful style of play to watch, but it’s also incredible effective.
Now, compare that to what Wednesday fans have had to watch over the past few months with Pulis at the helm.
We hate to knock Pulis too much, after all, he’s done a great job throughout his career as a gaffer, memorably taking Stoke to the Premier League and beyond, while also doing a stellar job with both Crystal Palace and West Brom for a period, but it has to be said that his football is uninspiring, and to a point, ineffective.
Long ball after long ball may have worked a decade ago, but the game has evolved past that point, and his results at Wednesday speak for themselves, and the worst part is that it wasn’t even fun to watch.
Jokanovic may not immediately get things right, after all, Fulham finished 20th during his first season at the club, but once he implements his style, he gets his teams playing some of the best football you’re likely to see in the second-tier.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not Wednesday move to appoint the Serbian, but if he were to come in it’d be a massive shock to the system of a squad who have been used to playing Pulis-ball as of late.
Jokanovic is pretty much the antithesis of Pulis, and perhaps that’s what Wednesday need right now.
