Owls waiting for luck to change

THERE was one common thread running through analyses of Wednesday's performance against Bristol City: the Owls were unlucky.

Bristol City boss Gary Johnson thought so; so did TV pundits Andy Hinchcliffe and Chris Kiwomya; so did Brian Laws, new star Etienne Esajas and Wednesday teammates.

I'm not going to disagree. Wednesday were unfortunate. They also lacked a bit of ruthlessness and confidence, as befits a team who are at the bottom of the table without a point.

It has been a grim start to the season in terms of results - the first time since 1971 that the Owls have lost their first four league games.

But all is not lost: they suffered five consecutive defeats last winter then bounced back with a stronger and more settled side to become the Championship's surprise package.

Boss Laws and the team need all the help and encouragement they can get at the moment. So it must be comforting when opposing managers sing your praises.

Danny Wilson rated Wednesday a good side; Gary Johnson went further.

"Brian will sort it out," he said."Wednesday are not a bad side. They were unlucky. They gave it a good go, but sometimes it isn't your day."

TV commentator Kiwomya reckoned: "Brian Laws will keep them bubbling. They played well enough. If I'm a chairman or a director watching that, I'm not disappointed, because I've seen they're trying, they're creating chances; the ball's just not going in."

Esajas's view was: "It was bad to lose, because we dominated the whole game - better luck next time."

While I am also reminded of a famous Howard Wilkinson saying - "winning is a matter of luck; just ask any loser" - there is no denying that things went against the Owls at vital moments.

On Saturday I thought they should definitely have one penalty. Now I realise it should have been two.

First there was the handball by Louis Carey which obviously was not spotted by the officials and came at the height of the Owls' dominance in the early part of the first half.

Stumbling forward, Carey stuck out his arm and played the ball with it. Otherwise Deon Burton could have been in on goal. Why didn't Burton appeal? Because he too did not see it - he had his back to the incident.

The Owls were unfortunate again when they were battling for the equaliser in the second half. Richard Wood, always a threat at set pieces and trying to meet an Esajas corner, was firstly man-handled by Liam Fontaine, then pushed underneath the flight of the ball by the Bristol centre half.

The decision? A free-kick to City, presumably because the ball hit Wood on the hand, not that he will have known much about it.

Of course, Wednesday's plight over the opening weeks of the season is not just down to misfortune. They are still leaking goals - last season's flaw. There were also some anxious moments in their box in the second half on Saturday.

The goals for the Owls are not flying in like they did during last season's great run. City got bodies or the keeper in the way of efforts, the most spectacular of which was Marcus Tudgay's overhead kick which was cleared off the line.

Wednesday did repeatedly hit the target, except for one glaring miss when Tudgay shot wide in the third minute.

The Owls could have done better in the build-up to the goal. Out in midfield, they were not tight enough on the City man in possession before he played the ball up to the edge of their box; then no-one got close enough to Brian Wilson as he ran to take a lay-off and score with a precise shot into the bottom corner.

Firepower may be improved as Wade Small and Francis Jeffers return to fitness, and the early signs from Akpo Sodje and Etienne Esajas are promising. Sodje was a handful in the air and worked hard; Esajas produced quality on the ball.

Some fans may wonder why Laws did not start with both of them instead of bringing them on from the bench.

But it is common for a manager to blood new signings in this way, and there seems little doubt they will be unleashead from the start next time.

Laws was discouraged from starting with Esajas as he believes the Dutchman lacks match fitness. "He wouldn't have lasted. He's not played a lot of football recently," he said.

Esajas did indeed flourish after going on for the last 40 minutes, and there is no telling whether he would have been able to sustain that kind of impact from the start.

A big hit with the crowd, the winger was not the only success. Steve Watson, after missing three games with a stomach strain, brought drive and energy to midfield.

But things still are not running smoothly at the back; Richard Hinds felt mysteriously drained at half time, and that's why he was replaced by Bullen, who then got an eye cut that needed to be stitched and was feeling a calf problem.

There were some anxious moments for the Owls in their box in the second half; not so many as City endured in a Wednesday-dominated first half, a period when the crowd gave the team excellent backing.

One or two symptoms of frustration surfaced later - for example, the booing by some of Jermaine Johnson when he was taken off after an off-day.

Laws does not want depression to take hold of the team.

"There's no point in us feeling sorry for ourselves. We could do with a break; it could be a shot that ricochets in off somebody's backside," he said.

"It will turn. There's a not a lot wrong with us."Managers's view

They scored and we had to chase the game after that. The players are nervous.

It's to be expected. But I think they had a really good go.

You need an element of luck at times. We're very unlucky at the moment. I feel as if I have run over several black cats.

We had umpteen chances, and the keeper made some great saves.

It will turn. I feel sorry for the players and the supporters.

We'll put in hard work on the training ground, and we'll have players coming back. Then we'll try to get our season going at Preston.