Section:GDN 1N PaGe:46 Edition Date:190815 Edition:01 Zone:S Sent at 14/8/2019 19:24 cYanmaGentaYellow
- The Guardian Thursday 15 Aug ust 2019
(^46) Sport
Football
Bullen
happy to
answer
Owls’ call
Sheffi eld Wednesday’s
caretaker manager is steering
the club in the right direction
after Steve Bruce’s departure
Ben Fisher
A
few days ago Chris
Wilder joked that
Billy Sharp is always
stealing his thunder as
“Mr Sheffi eld United”
- but across town,
a couple of miles up the A61, it is
increasingly easy to apply a similar
moniker at Sheffi eld Wednesday,
even if it is the kind of label with
which Lee Bullen, the voice in
the dugout at Hillsborough and
the former club captain, is a little
uncomfortabl e.
A former defender who spent four
years at the club as a player, Bullen
has garnered maximum points
at this embryonic stage – which
translates to the club’s best start to a
season for 23 years – after picking up
the pieces as caretaker manager for
the third time in less than two years
following the protracted departure
of Steve Bruce.
“It is a club that I now see as my
own club,” says Bullen. “I came
down to Sheffi eld Wednesday late
on in my career, had a good few
years on the playing side and really
enjoyed it and I’ve taken the club
to my heart. I was brought up a
Hearts fan because I was brought
up in Edinburgh, and as a Liverpool
fan because Kenny Dalglish was
my hero as a kid but now Sheffi eld
Wednesday is my team. I’m living a
boyhood dream now, or manhood
dream should I say, given the
opportunity to take the team for a
few games. You never know how
long that will last so we will enjoy
the ride as it goes.”
It has seldom been dull over the
past couple of years, with the club
operating under a soft embargo
this summer after submitting their
2017-18 accounts late and they
were banned from signing players
between April and August last year
after breaching the profi tability and
sustainability rules. Last month, the
club sold the stadium to the owner
Dejphon Chansiri for around £60mto avoid breaching EFL rules, in the
same way Mel Morris has done at
Derby.
When Chansiri calls mayday,
Bullen is ostensibly Sheffi eld
Wednesday’s superhero. When
Carlos Carvalhal was sacked, he
stepped in for four games. When
Jos Luhukay was dismissed in
December, Bullen went unbeaten
in four games over the Christmas
period. It is a case of so far so good
this time around, with Bullen
earning successive wins after being
promoted from his role as fi rst-team
coach once more. “When you’ve
got that managerial status it’s your
head that is on the chopping board,”
he says. “You’re responsible for
backroom staff , 30-odd players,
28,000 fans as per last Saturday. You
get pats on the back when things are
going well but you have to be ready
for the knocks as well .”
Bullen is a big-hearted and classy
character. When he restored the
goalkeeper Keiren Westwood to
the team during his last stint in
interim charge following Luhukay’s
departure, he went around to
Cameron Dawson’s house to explain
his decision out of respect. Once
again, the 48-year-old is certainly
giving Chansiri food for thought.
Asked if he wants the job on a
permanent basis, Bullen says: “I
think I could do it going forward but
I’m not going to put words in themouth of anybody out there. I will
just carry on doing what we have
been doing and hopefully the results
can do the talking.”B
ruce’s messy divorce
after six months in
charge rankled with a
Wednesday fan-base
that had garnered
optimism from the
green shoots on display at the end of
last season, when they fi nished 12th.
Impressive performances, notably
wins over Nottingham Forest and
Bristol City, a draw at Norwich City
and even a narrow defeat at Elland
Road, whetted the appetite for
this campaign. “We felt we had the
right man in place but he’s gone
and we cannot quite dwell on it.
I think we’re calm, I think we’re
comfortable and the players have
proved that in their attitude over
pre-season and in the games.”
The club made a beeline forplayers with pace this summer.
Jacob Murphy scored with his fi rst
touch on debut, while the free
transfers Kadeem Harris and Moses
Oduba jo have added further zip
in wide areas. Up front the striker
Steven Fletcher has been handed
the responsibility of leading the line
ahead of Fernando Forestieri, Atdhe
Nuhiu and Jordan Rhodes. They
have sold Lucas João and have so
far failed in their pursuit to re-sign
Michael Hector on a permanent
deal from Chelsea but in Adam
Reach they have retained a versatile
jack-in-the-box with a knack for a
thunderbolt or two. “I think every
one of his goals was from 35-odd
yards out last year,” Bullen says.
Wednesday were given a breather
in midweek owing to Bury’s troubles
and the fi xture list appears kind –
Wednesday face Millwall, Luton,
Preston and QPR in August – but
Bullen knows turning a solid start
into a spectacular one will not be a
straightforward task. Across town,
Sheffi eld United entertain Crystal
Palace on Sunday. “That has to be
the aim of the football club, to get up
there,” Bullen says. “And from the
city’s point of view, it would be great
to have two Premier League teams
up here but we cannot continually
look over the city with envy. We
will let them take part in with their
league and we will get on and deal
with ours.”▲ Lee Bullen spent four years
at Hillsborough as a playerРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS