Sheffield Wednesday have parted company with Garry Monk. 

News of Monk's departure from Hillsborough came last night, despite the fact that Wednesday had moved off the bottom of the Championship table.

A win over Bournemouth and draw with Millwall, combined with their 12-point deduction being halved, had put a real positive spin on things at Hillsborough.

Sheffield Wednesday quiz: Are these 10 facts about Hillsborough true or false?

 

However, Dejphon Chansiri had seen enough and pulled the trigger on Monk, bringing his tenure to an end after a really disappointing 2020.

Monk had Wednesday placed for a promotion push at the turn of the year, with a win over Leeds in January something that should've catapulted them further forward. Yet, things haven't gone to plan and off-field issues have left them fighting for their lives in 2020/21.

A upward turn had come in the last week, but Monk overseeing such a woeful calendar year has cost him his job.

We explore the knock-on effects his departure will have at Hillsborough...

Fans back on onside 

Of course, we are still behind closed doors and Wednesday fans have been kept away from Monk.

However, they've voiced their displeasure on Twitter at how things have gone and they are pleased to see the back of the ex-Leeds, Boro and Birmingham boss.

We don't know when the fans will be allowed back into the stadium, but Chansiri is in credit with them now and he's given them what they wanted: a change of management.

They were unhappy with how things were going and, in truth, had they been in the stadiums, Monk might've been out sooner than this.

Change in system 

It's not entirely clear who will succeed Monk at Hillsborough, but we might now see a formation change at Wednesday.

Monk has been quite committed to a five-man defence, which has covered for the Owls' shortcomings in terms of defending.

However, that has limited what he can get out of a pool of attacking players that should be nowhere near the bottom of the Championship even with a point deduction.

Wednesday's new boss needs to be braver. He needs to throw caution to the wind and get a proper structure to this attack.

There are good options to play out wide, with Izzy Brown and Josh Windass two capable support players. Jack Marriott and Callum Paterson offer variation in their No.9 play, they just need the right structure in place to really see them thrive.

Westwood in from the cold? 

One decision Monk made at Hillsborough was to freeze out Keiren Westwood.

The goalkeeper never departed in the summer, though, and is still kicking around on the fringe.

Cameron Dawson and Joe Wildsmith have been trusted with the gloves this season, but both make mistakes that Westwood doesn't and there's little denying that Wednesday would be that little bit more secure with the Irishman between the posts.

A change in management offers Westwood another clean slate.

It'll be interesting to see if he's back in the starting line-up before the turn of the year. Sensible money says he might be.