Sheffield Wednesday try to avoid Birmingham City, Wayne Rooney repetition vs Plymouth Argyle: View

Sheffield Wednesday will be expecting for a much better campaign in the Championship coming season.

The Owls appeared set for an immediate return to League One after a catastrophic start to the season under Xisco Munoz, but they earned safety thanks to a spectacular recovery under Danny Rohl, finishing 20th in the league.

Wednesday earned a significant boost when Rohl signed a new long-term deal with the club in May, and the German has wasted no time in rebuilding his team, with nine new players arriving at Hillsborough so far this summer.

In addition to those new arrivals, Liam Palmer, Dominic Iorfa, Di’Shon Bernard, Barry Bannan, and Josh Windass have all signed new contracts, but Cameron Dawson and Will Vaulks have left after declining an extension offer, and Ciaran Brennan, Reece James, George Byers, Tyreeq Bakinson, Juan Delgado, and Lee Gregory have been released.

The Owls begin their season on Sunday when they host Plymouth Argyle at Hillsborough. It will be the Pilgrims’ first game under new head coach Wayne Rooney, and they will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the situation that occurred when they faced the ex-Manchester United striker while he was manager of Birmingham City the previous season.

Sheffield Wednesday will be keen to forget the previous Wayne Rooney meeting.

Last November, when the Owls traveled to St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park to face Birmingham, they were at the bottom of the Championship table with only six points.

The Blues were sixth in the table when they controversially replaced John Eustace with Rooney in early October, but the 38-year-old had only one point from his first five games in charge before Wednesday’s match.

Birmingham were slipping into the relegation zone under Rooney’s leadership, and with the home fans already turning on their new manager, the Owls would have been hoping to take advantage of the increasingly toxic atmosphere inside the stadium and pick up three important points.

It appeared that they were on track to accomplish so when George Byers gave them the lead in the 45th minute, but Juninho Bacuna’s astonishing goal leveled the scores just two minutes later, and the Blues prevailed late on through Jordan James.

The setback dealt a crushing blow to Wednesday’s slender chances of survival, while Rooney would have hoped that his side could build on the triumph following a tumultuous start to his time at Birmingham.

As it turned out, Rooney would only win one more game before being fired in January after only 15 games in command, while the Owls astonishingly remained in the division at the cost of the Blues, which would have been unimaginable given their 2-1 defeat in the Midlands in November.

Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City are keeping an eye on Jeremy Livolant, who is a free agent after leaving Bordeaux.

Sheffield Wednesday has a huge opportunity with the Plymouth Argyle fixture.

Rooney made an unexpected return to management with Plymouth in May, and he will lead the Pilgrims for the first time on Sunday, but Wednesday will be determined not to give him his first win in his new post this time.

The Owls have a bad record against Rooney’s teams, and they were relegated to League One after a 3-3 draw at Pride Park in May 2021, which may provide extra motivation this weekend.

Plymouth narrowly survived on the final day of last season, and with many questioning Rooney’s hiring, they are among the Championship’s relegation favourites this season.

That gives Wednesday a wonderful opportunity to get their season off to a good start with three points against Argyle, and given the buoyant atmosphere at Hillsborough, Rohl’s side will be strong favourites.

Of course, it will not be an easy game, and Plymouth should not be underestimated, but the Owls will be unhappy if they do not win.

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