Sheffield Wednesday need to improve defensively this season, and fans are pointing fingers at goalkeeper, James Beadle. But, according to new data, the might actually be right.
After impressing in the second half of last season, Sheffield Wednesday made the decision to keep James Beadle on loan for another year.
The young goalkeeper, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion, has played every minute of every league game for Danny Rohl’s side.
But, while he may have kept four clean sheets, Beadle has also conceded 25 goals in 15 games, and some fans are not particularly pleased with the 20-year-old stopper.
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Fans are not happy with James Beadle this season
It would be harsh to say that Beadle has necessarily been underperforming or that the fanbase has turned against him, but there are certainly murmurs of discontent out there.
For one thing, fans were unhappy with James Beadle for the goal he conceded in the Steel City derby, with many suggesting he is prone going to ground too soon and conceding soft goals from time to time.
With this in mind, it’s not all that surprising that some sections of the fanbase are keen to see Pierce Charles take over from Beadle in goal.
And now, the fans calling for Beadle to be dropped actually have some data to back up their points.
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Statistics show James Beadle is leaking goals
As per statistics shared by George Massey on Twitter/X, it is revealed that of every goalkeeper in the Championship, Beadle has prevented less goals per 90 minutes than all but one of his peers.
Beadle has conceded just under -0.3 goals per game for Wednesday this season, with only Thomas Kaminski at Luton Town faring worse, at just under -0.4 goals per game.
However, it is worth noting that Beadle has actually faced the highest quality of shots of anyone in the division, too, at 0.38 per game. So, while he is conceding too many goals, it would seem his defenders are also letting their opponents through for game-changing chances.
Still, this data does go hand in hand with the worrying statistic that James Beadle has underperformed when it comes to xG against this season. The Owls should have conceded 22.27 goals, meaning Beadle is 2.73 goals worse off.