Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe has issued his verdict on new Sheffield Wednesday boss Garry Monk and indicated his appointment is “very positive” for the club.

Monk was named as the new Owls boss last Friday, replacing caretaker manager Lee Bullen who has led the side to 11th in the Championship.

His first test will be a trip to the John Smith’s Stadium to face Huddersfield Town, in Danny Cowley’s first game as boss of the Terriers.

Speaking to the Huddersfield club site, Hinchcliffe ran the rule over the 40-year-old coach and his arrival at Hillsborough.

He said: “It’s a positive. The work he did at Birmingham was very impressive, obviously what happened at the end wasn’t great in terms of how he left the club, but I felt he did incredibly well in terms of the squad he had and the financial situation there.

“They’ve got a good squad of players at Wednesday now; I’m sure Garry feels he can mould that team and get them moving (up the table). He could be the man to do that because the Club have been looking at doing that for a few years now.

“There’s a squad there that he can mould, like he did at Birmingham, into something that’s hard to beat and will win games. I see it as a very positive move as he’s proved himself in the Championship to be a good coach.”

The Verdict

Wednesday’s appointment of Monk is perhaps slightly less exciting than Huddersfield’s move for the Cowley brothers but Hinchcliffe is right, he has done an admirable job in many of his previous roles.

This meeting between the two sides should be a really interesting one given that it is both managers’ first game in charge.

The Owls have started the season much better and should be the favourites but away at Huddersfield in Cowley’s first game in charge, anything could happen.