Asking stupid questions instead of writing a proper match preview? Yep, as always at TNS, we’ll have some of that and this week we’ve tracked down Steve from Wednesday fanzine War of the Monster Trucks and peppered him with the questions that you’ve all been wondering about, oh and something about pies, because it’s ok to do negative stereotyping as self-depreciation.
Over to Steve…
How do? How’s the perennial quest for a return to the mythical land of ye olde Premiere League going? Can you wait to reclaim your rightful place at the top table or are you desperate to leave us commoners behind?
Where we are at the moment a myth it certainly is! Transfer fees are a no no (unless funded by sales) and the wages budget is definitely bottom half of the Championship level. And as this league heads towards being a Premier League II we know what that means – if you ain’t got the cash you don’t prosper. If we finish mid-table this season we’ll be delighted. Only significant new investment will raise us above this and that doesn’t look to be on the horizon at the moment. The club has tremendous potential still but we’ve been out of the PL for 14 years and until the legacy of the Hillsborough tragedy is resolved I reckon it won’t happen. Personally I would be happy with being a really competitive top 6 Championship club that has the occasional season in the PL – take the money and run to strengthen the club without getting involved in that PL money driven nonsense.
Football chairman, eh? You’ve had your fair share of fun with them, how are things at the moment? What do you reckon to Father Jack err, Dave Whelan?
Milan Mandaric did a great job at saving the club from oblivion when we were last in League One but he either hasn’t got, or doesn’t want to risk, the cash to make a big difference at Championship level. I don’t want to spend his money for them so that’s fine by me. He has the respect of most fans for stabilising the club even though we know we will struggle until he does. Then again we could get much worse. He is very astute and strong willed but tends not to say things that are politically unwise. Mr Whelan’s politics don’t cut much mustard over here and neither do his views on diversity. His threat to resign if he can’t have his way sounds like our last self made millionaire businessman Chairman (Dave Allen) who fell out with Wednesdayites massively.
“We’re all racists now” discuss…
It’s a sad indictment of modern football’s bubble that people in it think they can say what they want with impugnity. It is pleasing that the FA are trying to get to grips with it but culture change is the hardest thing to achieve in any system. More power to those who are trying.
Your season so far seems to be a very mixed bag. You’ve had a fair run of nil-nils recently but, what can we expect from Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow? Who should we look out for?
Defensively we’ve been sound so far, apart from the aberration at Man City in the League Cup, and we’ve kept more clean sheets than most. At the other end of the pitch we’ve struggled – only 3 goals at home all season! We don’t create enough chances and those that we do we don’t take. Hopefully you’ll be looking out for Lewis McGoogan in midfield, Stevie May upfront (waiting to catch fire since his move from St Johnstone) and possibly Caolan Lavery also upfront.
…and what are you expecting from Latics, who are you worried about? What do you reckon the result will be?
Your squad is much stronger than ours but it has clearly underperformed. I thought Rosler was good appointment so I am surprised at where you are. Last season at Hillsborough you outplayed us totally so I’m hoping for something more competitive than that. Many years of watching Wednesday have taught me never to make predictions about games so I will just keep fingers crossed!
Consulting the funny and excellently written pie bible (I’m contractually obliged to call it that) “Life of Pies”, written by one of our team Martin Tarbuck, Sheffield is the home of some reasonable but not spectacular meat and potato pies from the likes of Lilys and Beres. Can you convince us that there’s better out there, what’s your favourite matchday pie and what’s your eating technique?
We may have given you a lesson cricket wise in 2014 but I have to admit you usually win in the pie race. In addition to Lily’s and Beres Pukka Pies are not too bad. The critical thing is to add plenty of Henderson’s Relish, a Sheffield delicacy known to Sheffielders as Hendo’s. It knocks Worcester sauce into a flat cap and is near to perfection as you can get.
Well, I think we’ll ignore the cricket comment but, on principle if nothing else, would like to distance ourselves from any promotion of Pukka Pies, we’ve nothing against the use of condiments and the Henderson’s is now on the “must try” list. Thanks for your time Steve and good luck for the rest of the season, after today of course.
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