A chance to Bury the Shakers or will we dig our own Cup grave...?
The league is the priority but a Cup run would be nice...
Even if we don't emulate the class of '91!
-v- 
The opening day of the season has come and gone with the end result being the Owls comfortably dispatching the game but quality-lacking Dagenham & Redbridge in what could have been a tricky game.
Despite some expecting us to rack up a cricket score against the Daggers this was not achieved. However there were several pleasing signs out of the team but then again as Alan Irvine alluded to in his post-match interview there are several things that need to be worked on. The general consensus amongst the fans is that the result was better than the performance and we will have to do much better against the division's heavyweights.
That being said it was a brilliant feeling to be back at Hillsborough for the new season and especially early on in the game it appeared our opposition were overwhelmed and intimidated by the 22000+ Wednesday faithful.
The table on Saturday night made for pleasant reading with The Wednesday being in the giddy heights of 4th. Although it is the very early stages of the season it is the sort of area where we must look to be and exceed for us to get back to the Championship.
The Owls move on to a very early season distraction from the league as League Two Bury make the trip over the Pennines to S6 in the first round of a competition that hasn’t been very kind to us in recent years – the Carling Cup.
| This really is a potential banana-skin as League Two opposition have dispatched the Owls in three of the last four seasons with Wrexham comfortably defeating a very weak Wednesday side 4-1 at Hillsborough in 2006; Rotherham getting revenge for their 2007 first round defeat by holding their nerve in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in 2008; and Port Vale comprehensively outplaying us in the second round at Vale Park last season after the Owls easily dispatched Rochdale in round one with the small crowd having the rare pleasure of seeing Etienne Esajas make a favourable impact with his goal of the season contender – a superlative volley from around 30 yards out. |  |
WHO ARE YA?
Their best times in recent memory were in the mid 1990s under the stewardship of the fiery Stan Ternent as he steered the Shakers to successive promotions in 1996 and 1997 aided by the goals of David Johnson and the presence of Dean Kiely in goal.
The good times lasted until the unfortunate appointment of Neil Warnock who then proceeded to get them relegated in 1999 before departing to the dark side of Sheffield. Needless to say Colin is far from the most popular man in Bury.
 | The most notable former Shakers playing at a relatively high level are goalkeeper Dean Kiely and strikers David Nugent, who started his career at Gigg Lane before really making his name at Preston North End, and Colin Kazim-Richards who, after spells at Brighton and our porcine friends from S2, moved to Turkish side Fenerbahce where he has won international honours for Turkey and is now known as Kazim-Kazim. |
They also were the victims of the unfortunate yet hilarious Chris Brass own goal where the hapless defender tried to acrobatically clear the ball yet somehow smashed it into his own face and past the goalkeeper. To add insult to injury this goal turned out to be the difference maker as the Shakers lost that game 3-2 to Darlington.
A further relegation occurred in 2002 and since then Bury have plied their trade in the basement and have never really looked like escaping apart from in 2009 when Lady Luck did not smile on them. A solitary goal was the difference between Wycombe Wanderers in 3rd and the Shakers in 4th.
Play-off heartbreak followed and last season Bury were in the promotion shake-up for nearly all of the season but were really hamstrung by the loss of Andy Bishop for much of the campaign; a lack of goals saw them manage to win only two of their last fifteen matches.
| Bury, like us, endured a lot of change in the summer with several departures including former Owl Brian Barry-Murphy and a lot of new faces, the most notable being former Everton youngster Steven Schumacher. Gaffer Alan Knill admitted in his post-match interview on Saturday that his focus this season was on developing youth and that coming to Hillsborough would be a real test of character for his young side. |  |
HAVEN’T WE MET BEFORE?
On many occasions but, bar our stay in Division Three in the 1970s, we haven’t really played on a regular basis since the 1950s. The two clubs’ most recent league meetings were in the memorable 1979/80 Division Three campaign as the Owls beat the Shakers 5-1 in February 1980 but lost the return fixture 1-0 at Gigg Lane two months later.
Across 75 competitive fixtures between the sides, The Owls have won 34, The Shakers winning 25 with 16 draws.
The most recent competitive match between the sides was in this very competition back in August 2001 in an emotional match after the tragic death of Owls youngster Tom Staniforth a few days before when he collapsed and passed away on a night out with friends.
The Owls overcame a determined Shakers side and prevailed 3-1 courtesy of goals from Efan Ekoku, Danny Maddix and Paul McLaren.
This would be the first result of a memorable run to the last four of the competition as the Owls defeated Sunderland, Crystal Palace, pulled off a remarkable away win at Aston Villa and of course defeated Watford 4-0 with one of the strikes being THAT Matt Hamshaw goal. Few remember that this was a rare appearance and goal for the late Phil O’Donnell whose Hillsborough career was sadly blighted by injuries.
Our cup adventure was ended by eventual winners Blackburn Rovers who defeated us 6-3 over two matches.
Neither side has had a really good League Cup run in recent times with both failing to advance past the last 32 since 2002. Bury pulled off an upset win over Bolton Wanderers in Round Two before succumbing to Fulham at their temporary Loftus Road home in the 02/03 season and Wednesday beating Rotherham and Hartlepool before a 3-0 home loss to a strong Everton side in the 07/08 season.
The Shakers’ best ever effort in this competition were the semi-finals in 1963 with our best effort being of course the legendary victory over Manchester United in 1991 resulting in then Division Two Wednesday lifting the trophy, the last team outside of the top flight to do so.
DANNY'S ARMY
Having heard Alan Irvine’s comments on the radio that he wasn’t going to put a reserve side out and researching the Preston sides he fielded in the Carling Cup, I believe AI will be as good as his word and put a strong side out but will make a couple of changes. I don’t expect Clinton Morrison to start as he looked absolutely spent after about 55 minutes yesterday but he may make a cameo appearance from the bench.
I don’t see Jones and Otsemobor appearing together in defence either as it looks like Irvine prefers some semblance of balance on the defensive flanks like he does in midfield. Jermaine Johnson and Tommy Miller remain unavailable for selection.
With James O'Connor and Marcus Tudgay well below par on Saturday, Darren Potter and Paul Heffernan may be given opportunities to impress. Gary Teale should continue on the left and although he was slated in some corners for his overall contribution he did have a hand in creating both Wednesday goals against Dagenham & Redbridge.
WEAVER |
BUXTON | PURSE | BEEVERS  | SPURR  |
SEDGWICK | POTTER | COKE | TEALE |
MELLOR | HEFFERNAN |
DANNY'S DEITY
| Neil Mellor The son of Spider would have been disappointed not to start on Saturday and will be eager to make a good impression akin to the one Clinton Morrison made. He’s been fairly sharp in pre-season and looked okay on Saturday but lacked any real service as he came on in a disappointing second half. With the striking options we now have available to us every striker will be looking to get amongst the goals and a good performance against the Shakers will give Irvine plenty to ponder going into our next league game against Colchester United. |  |
 | Ryan Lowe At 32 the Liverpool born striker is now approaching the veteran stage of his career. He started his career at non-league Burscough before having spells at Shrewsbury Town, Chester City and Crewe Alexandra. His career really came to life during his second spell at Chester City where he often carried the brunt of the attacking workload and scored 16 goals despite their relegation in 2008/09. He moved to Bury for the 2009/10 season and chipped in with a third of their total league goals, netting 18 out of their 54, the most prolific goal-scoring season of his career. |
PADDY POWER BETTING
(Click banner to open Paddy Power window)
| WEDNESDAY | DRAW | BURY |
| 8/15 | 11/4 | 4/1 |
| WEDNESDAY | ODDS | DRAW | ODDS | BURY | ODDS |
| 1-0 | 11/2 | 0-0 | 9/1 | 1-0 | 14/1 |
| 2-0 | 6/1 | 1-1 | 6/1 | 2-0 | 30/1 |
| 2-1 | 7/1 | 2-2 | 14/1 | 2-1 | 17/1 |
| 3-0 | 10/1 | 3-3 | 66/1 | 3-0 | 100/1 |
| 3-1 | 11/1 | 3-1 | 55/1 | ||
| 3-2 | 22/1 | 3-2 | 55/1 |
GOALS
| 0 OR 1 | 2 OR 3 | 4 OR MORE |
| 5/2 | 10/11 | 2/1 |
DANNY DELIBERATES
Like Saturday there isn’t really a lot of value in the gambling market so I’m going to tempt you with a 3-1 Wednesday win at 11/1
DANNY SAYS
The atmosphere will be low key with only the South Stand and the West Stand open. The pressure on us won’t be quite as intense as it was against Dagenham & Redbridge but the carrot of a Premier League side in Round Two is a real incentive for both sides to do well in this competition.
Bury won’t make it easy for us but they like us are yet to really gel with their new look side and reports say they offered very little against Port Vale on Saturday.
Wednesday, despite some of the grumblings, did do some things well on Saturday and Irvine’s focus should be on keeping things solid at the back and see if he can get the team to add a bit of flair, poise and élan going forward and to keep possession well - we were very clumsy at times against the Daggers.
At this early stage of the season, getting a bit of momentum and confidence going is all important for me. Defeat wouldn’t be seen as disastrous but a dent to the side’s ego going into a tough trip to Colchester is far from ideal. It’s not going to be pretty but given we don’t underestimate Bury we should have enough to overcome their challenge.
The atmosphere will be low key with only the South Stand and the West Stand open. The pressure on us won’t be quite as intense as it was against Dagenham & Redbridge but the carrot of a Premier League side in Round Two is a real incentive for both sides to do well in this competition.
Bury won’t make it easy for us but they like us are yet to really gel with their new look side and reports say they offered very little against Port Vale on Saturday.
Wednesday, despite some of the grumblings, did do some things well on Saturday and Irvine’s focus should be on keeping things solid at the back and see if he can get the team to add a bit of flair, poise and élan going forward and to keep possession well - we were very clumsy at times against the Daggers.
At this early stage of the season, getting a bit of momentum and confidence going is all important for me. Defeat wouldn’t be seen as disastrous but a dent to the side’s ego going into a tough trip to Colchester is far from ideal. It’s not going to be pretty but given we don’t underestimate Bury we should have enough to overcome their challenge.
SALLY -v- DANNY
As most of you will know, myself and Sally have a friendly rivalry going with points awarded for various elements of our predictions. Each game, Sally and I will go head to head predicting the score. A completely correct score will be worth 5 points, the correct result (win lose or draw, predicted correctly) will be worth 2 points, and the correct goals total for SWFC will be worth an additional point.
Sally’s Saint Nicky Weaver came off with a clean sheet on Saturday earning him three points, while also correctly predicting a Wednesday win however I managed to pull off a completely correct match prediction saying that we would conquer the Daggers 2-0. So the current score is: Sally 5-8 Danny
DANNY’S PREDICTION : WEDNESDAY 3 BURY 1
SALLY’S PREDICTION : WEDNESDAY 3 BURY 0
Danny
Owls Alive
