It has been a rollercoaster ride for Darren Moore so far at Sheffield Wednesday since he took over as manager of the Owls towards the end of last season.

Moore was handed a very difficult task of trying to save Sheffield Wednesday from relegation in the Championship in the final 14 matches of the campaign.

The former Doncaster Rovers manager did pick up three wins in those final 14 games and also a further four draws. That though was not enough to keep Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.

The summer enabled Moore to have the chance to really stamp his authority on the playing squad at Hillsborough.

He certainly managed to do that with a huge turnover in players leaving the club and others arriving through the door to try and help them challenge for promotion from League One.

The Owls’ start to the season in League One has perhaps not been as impressive at it looked like it could be in the opening weeks of the campaign.

Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Oxford United on Saturday leaves them in 12^th place on 15 points.

There will therefore be some pressure on Moore to get more consistency from his players over the coming weeks and get the Owls moving further up the League One table.

Despite some disappointing results though, Moore has shown some signs this season that he is building in the right way and he can potentially get his side closer to the top-six come the end of the campaign.

With all of that in mind, we take a look back on the BEST and WORST moment Sheffield Wednesday have had under Moore so far…

Best: The win away at Rotherham United

It was not straightforward selecting the best moment we have seen under Moore’s tenure at Hillsborough so far, with the Owls’ highly impressive 5-0 demolition of Cardiff City arguably being deserving of earning that recognition.

However, that performance and result against Cardiff just highlighted what a major shame and underachievement it was that Sheffield Wednesday’s squad last season ended up failing to survive the drop.

Whilst it was a stunning display with some memorable goals it was tinged with the thought that they should have been getting nearer towards that level more often last term to avoid the drop.

Therefore, we have gone for Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-0 win away from home against local rivals Rotherham United back in August, as the Owls produced a very promising display to make it three league wins in a row for the first time under Moore.

Ironically Moore’s tenure had begun with the Owls suffering a devastating 97^th minute defeat at home to ten-man Rotherham United at Hillsborough in a game that summed up their season.

So, Moore and the rest of the squad that remain at Hillsborough from last season would have been aiming for a spot of revenge at the New York Stadium, a place where the Owls also lost 3-0 last term.

The Owls turned up at Rotherham in confident mood after claiming back-to-back wins against Doncaster Rovers and Fleetwood Town and that showed in their performance against the Millers.

Two second half goals from Florian Kamberi, his first league goal for the Owls, and Lee Gregory managed to make all the difference for Sheffield Wednesday in an evenly matched contest.

While Burnley loanee Bailey Peacock-Farrell produced a memorable moment when he kept out a penalty during the game to help the Owls record an all-important clean sheet.

An honourable mention goes to the Owls’ win at Wigan Athletic as well, but this one against Rotherham just carried more weight due to it being a derby clash.

 

 

Worst: The defeat at Plymouth Argyle

Again, it was not easy to select the worst moment that the Owls have endured under Moore so far with them obviously suffering the horrible moment of relegation on the final day of last season after their 3-3 draw at Derby County.

The frustration will be that Sheffield Wednesday could well have ended up surviving on the final day at Derby’s expense had they secured all three points.

Having said that, relegation was long anticipated by Sheffield Wednesday’s supporters last season and a run of three wins in their last 14 under Moore hardly warranted them avoiding the drop in all honesty.

Therefore, we have decided to go with the Owls’ recent 3-0 defeat at Plymouth Argyle as the worst moment that they have suffered under Moore’s management to date.

The Owls travelled to Plymouth off the back of their three-game-winning run being brought to an end with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Morecambe in their previous fixture.

It was expected that Moore’s side would produce a response to that defeat and get their campaign back on track by producing a strong performance away from home against a Plymouth side that have made a strong start to the season.

However, Sheffield Wednesday were second best for large periods of the game after Plymouth had taken a seventh-minute lead through Joe Edwards.

Plymouth had their chances to double their lead before they eventually did in the 40^th minute through Dan Scarr and Sheffield Wednesday laboured to try and get back into the contest without ever really looking like they could do.

That was before a 97^th minute goal from Ryan Law made it 3-0 and really summed up what had been an awful day at the office for Moore’s side.

It was after that defeat that for the first real time heavy scrutiny was applied to the way that Moore was setting up his side.

While it was also the first time that questions were being asked over whether he was getting the best out of his squad.

That defeat is perhaps still somewhat hanging over the Owls and it has affected their form since with them winning just once in the four league games that have gone by after their trip to Plymouth.