Cardiff City boss Omer Riza has spoken about Sheffield Wednesday and Danny Rohl ahead of their Championship clash on Saturday afternoon.
Cardiff City travel to Hillsborough on Saturday lunchtime, as Championship football returns following a two-week hiatus.
Omer Riza is the man in the away dugout. He’s been the interim manager at Cardiff City for two months now, and he’s shown some really positive signs.
Before back-to-back defeats leading into this month’s international break, Cardiff were unbeaten in six, and won four of those games as well.
Danny Rohl’s side meanwhile are coming off the back of a Steel City derby defeat against Sheffield United before the break, currently sitting in 15th place of the Championship table compared to Cardiff in 22nd.
Speaking to the press on Thursday, Rohl reminded fans of the difference between the Owls’ league position now, compared to last season, and the Cardiff City boss has highlighted the difference as well.
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Cardiff City boss hails Sheffield Wednesday’s ‘consistent’ style of play
This time last season, the Owls were in last place of the Championship table and had just six points on the table, compared to 18 right now.
It’s a massive improvement from Rohl’s side. Though Owls fans still want more, with the team having proved that they are capable of more.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Cardiff boss Riza gave his verdict on Sheffield Wednesday under Rohl.
He told the club website: “From where they were last year to where they are now, there’s a consistent element to the way they play.
“It’s Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the day, it’s Hillsborough, it’s a tough game and it will be a difficult one for us.
“We’re preparing the way we normally do, we want to be creative, we want to cause the opposition problems and we’ve got to be defensively solid.
“We’ve been focusing on that this week and hopefully, we’ll approach the game with the right mindset and have a bit more energy and intensity to try to win the game.”
Championship managers are admirers of Danny Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday
Riza certainly isn’t the first one to have spoken positively about Sheffield Wednesday’s style of play under Rohl.
The last one to do so was Mark Robins. The former Coventry City boss highlighted Wednesday’s physical output on the pitch, praising the players’ work-rate.
Robins said about Sheffield Wednesday’s style of play back in October: “They’re athletic and their physical outputs are good, and they work really hard and have a method of playing where they try and put you under pressure and their press is good, so we know what’s coming.”
Like Riza says, Rohl has certainly instilled a consistent way of playing. No matter the opponent or the occasion, it’s always the same.
At times, that’s been to Rohl’s detriment. But on the whole, he’s massively improved the side, as seen by comparing this season and last season.
Cardiff City though must be viewed as a must-win game for Sheffield Wednesday who now need consistency in results.