This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Former Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has called for Keiren Westwood to be brought back into the side by Garry Monk.
Westwood has made nearly 200 appearances for the Owls but hasn't featured since last November and seems to have fallen out of favour under Monk.
Speaking to Football Fancast, Kirkland has called for the Wednesday boss to bring the 36-year-old back into the side to help solve their goalkeeping issue.
But would that be a good ideal? And is Westwood the best keeper at the club?
We asked our FLW writers for their thoughts...
Alfie Burns
It would send out the wrong message.
Westwood is on the fringe and has been for some time. Monk has made it clear he won’t play and tried to move him on in the summer.
Bringing him back in now would lead to him losing the respect of some in the dressing room and it’s a sign of weakness.
Cameron Dawson and Joe Wildsmith aren’t perfect, but they need the manager’s backing here and don’t want to fall behind Westwood again in the pecking order.
It would be a step back for Monk and he needs to avoid rocking the boat.
George Dagless
I've always thought he was but I can't see Garry Monk changing things back any time soon to be honest.
He has made it clear that he prefers both Dawson and Wildsmith as his options between the sticks and I don't really see him changing the way he views the situation at the moment.
He's the elder statesmen in terms of their goalkeepers as well, of course, and I think Monk has decided that he needs to leave.
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Sam Rourke
Things haven't been great for Westwood at Sheffield Wednesday in recent times, there is no denying that.
It's pretty evident that his time at Hillsborough is coming to a close with Dawson and Wildsmith chosen ahead of him in the pecking order, and for me, I don't think a recall for Westwood makes a whole load of sense right now.
Westwood is 36 and it's inevitable that he will be departing the Owls this summer, so I think it's imperative that Dawson and Wildsmith are afforded as many opportunities as possible to continue their development.
In truth, I don't think Dawson has done a whole load wrong and Westwood has been out of the first-team picture for so long, you'd imagine there would be an adaptation process for the goalkeeper and at this time, Sheffield Wednesday can't afford to make any major calls like that.
It would dent the confidence of Dawson if Westwood was suddenly catapulted into the first-team picture at Sheffield Wednesday, so for me, Monk should stick with what he's doing.