Now is perhaps not the time to be singling out individual Sheffield Wednesday players for criticism.
The Owls have collectively underperformed throughout the past two months, in which time they have won once, drawn twice and lost on seven occasions.
Yet it is a run that has coincided with the return of one particular Wednesday player, who has started six of those matches – from which his side has accrued just two points.
The Sheffield Wednesday left-back, Morgan Fox, right (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)
And although it would be unfair to lay the blame solely at the feet of Morgan Fox – especially not while Jos Luhukay remains at Hillsborough – stats like those are nothing new for the Owls left-back.
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To save me a job, the ESPN stats-jockey, Dale Johnson – a Wednesday fan himself – has crunched some numbers, and this is what he found:
#swfc record when Morgan Fox starts. Even season when 4th was barely above relegation form.
18-19 W0 D3 L4 – 3 points in 7 games (0.43 points per game)
17-18 W6 D9 L11 – 25 pts in 26 (0.96 ppg)
16-17 W3 D3 L4 – 12 pts in 10 (1.2 ppg)TOTAL
W9 D15 L19 – 42 pts in 43 (0.98 ppg)— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) December 15, 2018
Worse still for Fox, without him this season, Sheffield Wednesday have won six league games, drawn two and lost five – which works out at slightly better than 1.5 points per game.
And the Owls’ left-back for many of those, Matt Penney – who wasn’t even on the bench at Swansea – can perhaps feel harshly done by, even if his own form appears to have tailed off of late.
The Sheffield Wednesday wing-back, Matt Penney – left (photo by Steve Feeney/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Time for a(nother) change at Hillsborough?