Sheffield Wednesday are well and truly on the up under Danny Rohl as head coach, with the Owls picking up their fifth win in nine matches with a 3-1 success over Hull City at Hillsborough on New Year’s Day.
The young German has got a tune out of a Wednesday side that were really struggling and has taken 19 points out of a possible 45 in his 15 matches in charge so far – that isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it has been enough to get within three points of escaping the relegation zone.
It is a far cry from a few months ago when Xisco Munoz was in the dugout, but the Spaniard and his zero per cent win record was dismissed in early October to be then replaced by Rohl.
Xisco’s time at Wednesday will not be remembered by anyone very fondly at all, and quite a few of his summer signings have already fallen by the wayside under Rohl’s management.
The likes of Devis Vasquez have not been playing, whilst Jeff Hendrick and Momo Diaby have been on the sidelines, and another of those who has disappointed is John Buckley.
Wednesday set to terminate Buckley’s loan move from Blackburn
Buckley was supposed to add a creative presence to Wednesday’s engine room after arriving at Hillsborough on transfer deadline day in September, but it hasn’t worked out like that in his short time in South Yorkshire.
Buckley has started just twice since Rohl’s appointment, and after two substitute appearances in December, the 24-year-old was put on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury, which was picked up after coming off the bench against QPR in a match which saw him substituted after just 15 minutes of action.
Now, the Sheffield Star have revealed that Buckley’s loan deal is set to be terminated by Wednesday officially this week after he underwent surgery to correct his issue, although he will still be available for action in the next couple of months and well before the season ends.
He will however stay with Blackburn for the remainder of the campaign when he has returned to fitness in a move that will bolster Jon Dahl Tomasson’s squad depth in the final few months of the season.
Buckley’s Blackburn return will allow Owls to be active in loan market
Buckley was just one of the players who was taking up a loan slot at Hillsborough, with the EFL’s rules stating that you can have no more than five loanees in a matchday squad.
Currently, Wednesday do indeed have five loan players on their books, but Buckley’s imminent return to Ewood Park will hand Rohl and his recruitment team some leeway in the transfer window.
There has been suggestions that Owls owner Dejphon Chansiri wants to help Rohl by landing a loanee striker in the transfer market, and if that is the case then Buckley’s departure will allow a new arrival to be a part of a matchday squad alond with Vasquez, Hendrick, Ashley Fletcher and Momo Diaby if all are fit.
It does appear best for all parties though if Buckley heads back to Lancashire, where he will first have to get over his injury nightmare before he gets back onto the pitch.