Alex Miller: Sheffield Wednesday must follow Rotherham United example – they’re well-placed for title push

It’s what makes it great, isn’t it? That feeling only a goal can give you, the highs and lows of victory or defeat.

This column has attempted to discuss the extremities of reaction to disappointment following Wednesday and won’t ramble along similar lines again, other to say that it’s understandable; two decades of let-downs make it hard to trust again, after all.

Two points per game seems a reasonable utopia for any football side to aim for and having played six of the other top eight sides, Wednesday are just a point shy of that at this early stage of the season.

Of the 36 teams to have been automatically promoted from League One since its 2004 rebrand, 22 had a lower points tally than the Owls’ current haul of 23 after 12 matches.

Early indications suggest it may end up taking a near-record effort to finish in the top two this season as it did last. But from the outside looking in, it’s surely the case that despite all the emotion that followed defeat at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday evening, it is Wednesday that are most likely to do so.

The League One table in 2022? Wednesday are top. They’ve done so much of the hard yards already this campaign, having played six of the seven sides positioned either side of them in the table, and now head out on a run of 16 league matches in which Derby County on December 3 are the only fellow top eight team.

By the end of that run and a trip to Barnsley, Christmas will have been and gone, two rounds of the FA Cup will have been played and the January transfer window will be all but over. It’s 115 days away and there 48 points to play for between now and then.

It’s a huge opportunity for Wednesday to follow a similar path trod by last year’s automatic promotion winners Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United, who were on 25 and 21 points after 12 matches before embarking on long, winding mid-season runs of one defeat in 17 (Wigan) and two defeats in 25 (Rotherham).

Let’s discuss this notion discussed online that Wednesday’s squad is miles ahead of the rest.

Given the strength and points tallies of the sides around them both last season and this, the evidence suggests there’s strength all over.

It’s akin to the bloke who says his local pub is by far and away the best in the area.

It’s a great pub, of that there’s no doubt, it’s recently refurbished to no small investment and the selection of beers are well-known to be some of the finest around.

But the fact is there are pubs he’s not been to much. The Nags Head has a new ale that’s up there with anything anywhere. The Kings Arms has an unbelievable pool table.

That bloke’s local is clearly one of the best around, but by the distance he’s claiming? It seems unlikely. He just doesn’t know those other boozers quite as well.

Or something like that.

Wednesday are well-placed to launch a title tilt. But they’re going to have to scrap for it. And there will be more defeats along the way.

Either way, it’s going to be emotional.