Sheffield Wednesday certainly did their share of business during the summer transfer window, signing nine new players.
Danny Rohl wanted his team to act fast when the summer transfer window opened, following their great escape last season, and that they did.
Before Sheffield Wednesday had even jetted off on their pre-season tour of Austria and Germany, the Owls had signed eight of their eventual nine new players, with Shea Charles arriving on loan from Southampton after the season had started.
But the jury is still out on a lot of those players. Rohl is even facing criticism among Sheffield Wednesday supporters for this poor start to the season which sees the Owls sitting in 21st place of the Championship table.
Whilst Sheffield Wednesday were unlucky vs Luton Town in their last outing, there’s still a sense of under-performance this season, with some having been worse than others.
Sheffield Wednesday players failing to hit 2023/24 highs
Last season, everyone pulled together and played above and beyond. This season, there’s many who’ve fallen behind, with fans having been critical of many.
Sheffield Wednesday fans have been critical of Barry Bannan this season, but the Owls skipper’s recent scoring form has seen that criticism ease off.
Elsewhere, Josh Windass has been poor this campaign, with many critical of his shooting ability having had some clear-cut chances to add to his one goal this season.
But summer signing Ike Ugbo is one who may soon warrant criticism; Sheffield Wednesday paid £3million for Ugbo during the summer, having worked relentlessly to bring him back to Hillsborough following his impressive spell on loan.
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Ike Ugbo risks becoming Sheffield Wednesday flop
Ugbo scored seven in 18 on loan with Sheffield Wednesday in the second half of last season. But he’s not found the back of the net in six Championship outings so far this season.
Having already proven his worth in the Championship, and being a costly investment from the club, Ugbo will be given time, and many might have more patience with the Canadian than say Windass.
But Ugbo simply has to start scoring soon, and Rohl has already showed that he’s not undroppable by starting Michael Smith over Ugbo last time out.
Ugbo ranks among the most expensive Sheffield Wednesday signings of all-time, ranking 7th in the list of record signings under Dejphon Chansiri.
So he certainly has a lot to live up to. Rohl and indeed Chansiri will be eager for Ugbo to repay his transfer fee with goals in the coming seasons, and it they don’t come soon, he could be given the label of ‘flop’ at Wednesday.