Even with Sheffield Wednesday’s current lowly predicament making relegation straight back down to League One a very real possibility, there are reasons to still be optimistic at Hillsborough for what’s on the horizon in the future.
There are a number of young talents in South Yorkshire attempting to break through into the first team picture to cut through the doom and gloom, with Danny Rohl already bedding the likes of 18-year-old Bailey Cadamarteri into his starting lineup without hesitation since arriving as manager.
Cadamarteri isn’t the only young Owls hotshot banging down the door for more senior minutes, however, with one highly-rated Wednesday goalkeeper on the brink of pushing through also.
With James Beadle only in through the door on a loan deal until the end of the season, and Cameron Dawson putting in some abject displays this season in between the sticks, next campaign could well be one where Pierce Charles takes the first team by storm.
The goalkeeper situation at Wednesday
It’s fair to say the Owls have leaked way more goals than they would have liked to this campaign so far, as seen in the relegation-threatened side shipping four goals in two games on the spin recently in 4-0 and 4-1 defeats to Huddersfield Town and Coventry City in the Championship and FA Cup.
Signing Beadle on loan from Brighton would see Wednesday bin off Cameron Dawson in order for a fresh face to come in, with Dawson keeping just four clean sheets from 18 appearances so far this campaign.
Beadle has arguably not fared any better in his short time at the club to date, making just one save in total as the Owls were humbled by the Terriers 4-0 at the start of the month, but he has shown signs of his promise also with two clean sheets notched up.
With Beadle most likely just returning to the Seagulls when his loan stint is up, Wednesday could do far worse than giving Charles more regular first-team minutes soon to try and unearth a perfect heir to eventually replace a waning Dawson.
Pierce Charles could become Wednesday’s number one
Rohl has shown he’s unafraid to gift untested youth players a chance this campaign – culminating in Cadamarteri netting four goals for the senior side since bursting onto the scene when making the jump up from the U18s – and so Charles could benefit from the German manager’s boldness next.
Charles came away from Wednesday’s initial Cup tie with Mark Robins’ Sky Blues, before the 4-1 collapse in the replay at the CBS Arena, with his head held high in the 1-1 draw.
Thrown into the deep end, the former Manchester City youth player turned Owls hot prospect pulled off three saves against a Coventry side boasting the likes of former Everton striker Ellis Simms in attack.
Only waywardly giving the ball away seven times from 33 passes out from the back too, Charles looked confident and composed even under the strain of playing under the bright lights of Hillsborough as a wide-eyed teenager.
Described as being an “excellent” talent by former Owls boss Darren Moore in the wake of the 18-year-old penning his first professional contract with Wednesday, those with connections to the South Yorkshire club will keep everything crossed that Charles can blossom into a dependable first-team goalkeeper to replace Dawson over time.
With the mood around Hillsborough typically being bleak this season, there could be a slight ray of light knowing that the Owls are producing some top talents for the future.
Even with Sheffield Wednesday’s current lowly predicament making relegation straight back down to League One a very real possibility, there are reasons to still be optimistic at Hillsborough for what’s on the horizon in the future.
There are a number of young talents in South Yorkshire attempting to break through into the first team picture to cut through the doom and gloom, with Danny Rohl already bedding the likes of 18-year-old Bailey Cadamarteri into his starting lineup without hesitation since arriving as manager.
Cadamarteri isn’t the only young Owls hotshot banging down the door for more senior minutes, however, with one highly-rated Wednesday goalkeeper on the brink of pushing through also.
With James Beadle only in through the door on a loan deal until the end of the season, and Cameron Dawson putting in some abject displays this season in between the sticks, next campaign could well be one where Pierce Charles takes the first team by storm.
The goalkeeper situation at Wednesday
It’s fair to say the Owls have leaked way more goals than they would have liked to this campaign so far, as seen in the relegation-threatened side shipping four goals in two games on the spin recently in 4-0 and 4-1 defeats to Huddersfield Town and Coventry City in the Championship and FA Cup.
Signing Beadle on loan from Brighton would see Wednesday bin off Cameron Dawson in order for a fresh face to come in, with Dawson keeping just four clean sheets from 18 appearances so far this campaign.
Beadle has arguably not fared any better in his short time at the club to date, making just one save in total as the Owls were humbled by the Terriers 4-0 at the start of the month, but he has shown signs of his promise also with two clean sheets notched up.
With Beadle most likely just returning to the Seagulls when his loan stint is up, Wednesday could do far worse than giving Charles more regular first-team minutes soon to try and unearth a perfect heir to eventually replace a waning Dawson.
Pierce Charles could become Wednesday’s number one
Rohl has shown he’s unafraid to gift untested youth players a chance this campaign – culminating in Cadamarteri netting four goals for the senior side since bursting onto the scene when making the jump up from the U18s – and so Charles could benefit from the German manager’s boldness next.
Charles came away from Wednesday’s initial Cup tie with Mark Robins’ Sky Blues, before the 4-1 collapse in the replay at the CBS Arena, with his head held high in the 1-1 draw.
Thrown into the deep end, the former Manchester City youth player turned Owls hot prospect pulled off three saves against a Coventry side boasting the likes of former Everton striker Ellis Simms in attack.
Only waywardly giving the ball away seven times from 33 passes out from the back too, Charles looked confident and composed even under the strain of playing under the bright lights of Hillsborough as a wide-eyed teenager.
Described as being an “excellent” talent by former Owls boss Darren Moore in the wake of the 18-year-old penning his first professional contract with Wednesday, those with connections to the South Yorkshire club will keep everything crossed that Charles can blossom into a dependable first-team goalkeeper to replace Dawson over time.
With the mood around Hillsborough typically being bleak this season, there could be a slight ray of light knowing that the Owls are producing some top talents for the future.