A former Sheffield Wednesday player has opened up on what he describes as a ‘tough’ spell at Hillsborough.
Sheffield Wednesday has played host to a horde of players over the past few seasons in particular.
Plenty have come and gone and there’s been plenty of mixed results, especially in the loan market where Sheffield Wednesday have uncovered some talented players, and some not so in the past few years.
And one loan player who may eventually become quite forgettable for his time at Hillsborough is John Buckley.
The 24-year-old midfielder joined on loan from Blackburn Rovers on deadline day last summer.
He initially looked like he had the potential to become the Owls’ best signing of a testing summer transfer window.
But after just 13 Championship appearances, and surgery on a shoulder injury, Buckley returned to parent club Blackburn prematurely at the start of this month.
John Buckley ‘happy’ after concluding ‘tough’ Sheffield Wednesday loan
Having returned to Ewood Park, Buckley has now opened up on his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, telling Lancashire Telegraph:
“I went out to Sheffield Wednesday, it was a different environment, a good change for me to try something different after being here for so long.
“I am back now which I’m happy about. I want to get fit and get myself back in the team. I’m looking forward to playing at Ewood again.
“At the start, the first few weeks, it was tough, I didn’t know anything different (from Blackburn). Day-to-day things, I got on with the lads very well, Sheff Wednesday were picking up some results just before the end when I left as well which was good.
“I am back now and looking forward to cracking on. It has opened my eyes a little bit, I am really happy to be back now. I get on with everyone here and hopefully, I’ll get back on the pitch soon.”
Wrong player at the wrong time for Sheffield Wednesday
Nobody can argue the fact that Buckley is a talented Championship player who still has a lot of potential left to fulfill.
He’s been a good servant for Rovers since breaking through the academy with his performances in the 2021/22 campaign being particularly impressive; he featured 42 times in the league that season, scoring three and assisting seven from the centre of midfield.
But he didn’t have the same impact at Sheffield Wednesday, and maybe for a few different reasons.
The first is that Wednesday were simply terrible under Xisco Munoz, who was the manager who brought Buckley to the club.
Buckley also arrived alongside Jeff Hendrick; this only served to overload the Wednesday midfield, leaving game-time limited for Buckley.
Then under Danny Rohl, Buckley made just two starts, with both coming in Rohl’s opening two games at the helm.
He then went on to make five more cameos late in games and was barely given a run in the XI to show what he can do; Rohl obviously knows what he’s doing, but many fans might have liked to see Buckley given a proper chance to show what he could’ve done in a more positive Wednesday XI under the German.
Buckley will surely go on to impress wherever he ends up next, or if he stays at Blackburn for the rest of this season.
For Sheffield Wednesday though, Buckley was maybe the wrong player at the wrong time.