Sheffield Wednesday’s season hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
Indeed, coming off the back of Steve Bruce’s short reign where the Yorkshire club lost just three in 18, it looked as though they were ready to build on something.
However, it hasn’t worked out like that, Bruce went to Newcastle, and Garry Monk came in. Now the Owls are once again sitting in mid-table.
It looks highly unlikely that Wednesday will make the playoffs, sitting eight points adrift with 11 games to go, and next season they’ll need to reassess their squad so they can have another crack at promotion.
Fortunately, it’s abundantly clear where their first port of call this summer should be – the Owls need a new goalkeeper.
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With Garry Monk seemingly intent on freezing Keiren Westwood out, the Yorkshire club have had to rely on Cameron Dawson in goal, and he hasn’t been the greatest.
The 24-year-old ranks 16th out of 24 in the Championship in terms of save percentage for goalkeepers who’ve played at least half of their squad’s minutes, and that quite simply isn’t good enough for a side with ambitions of a top-six finish.
It’s no coincidence that five of the playoff teams have a goalkeeper currently occupying a top ten spot on that list, and that’s an area where the Owls can quickly target for improvement.
Recruiting a new stopper is unlike any other position. Unless you’re a team that relies heavily on playing out from the back you don’t really need to judge how the player will fit into your system, and if Wednesday can unearth a real gem they can catapult themselves into contention next term.
Just look at Nottingham Forest, they finished ninth last season, and the xG table indicates they should be nowhere near the playoff spots, yet they’re currently sitting fourth in the league just six points off an automatic promotion place. Brice Samba has played a huge part in that.
Their summer signing has the highest save percentage in the league, and the xG table shows that he should have conceded at least 10 goals more than he actually has.
Having a solid number one between the sticks can’t be underestimated, and that should be Wednesday’s priority in the summer.
In other news, Garry Monk must end his recent experiment.