‘Absolute disaster’ – Sheffield Wednesday fans rage at senior player’s ‘stupid’ incident vs Derby
Sheffield Wednesday fans have fumed at Liam Cooper after he was at fault for the first goal they conceded against Derby County.
Wednesday have the slimmest of chances of staying up in the Championship this season, so the rest of this campaign is more about pride and playing for the fans than anything else.
Henrik Pedersen’s side are clearly finding that tough to deal with, after a 3-0 loss to Derby County on home turf on Monday consigned them to a fifth defeat in their last six games.
A Patrick Agyemang brace on either side of Liam Thompson’s goal just before the hour mark saw the Rams seal a comfortable three points to move up to the 12th in the second-tier.
Former Leeds captain Cooper joined Wednesday last month after being a free agent, and his lack of recent playing time was clear to see against Derby as he struggled to keep the hosts’ backline together.
Cooper’s stray pass led to Derby’s first goal after encouraging Wednesday start
Pedersen’s side were able to keep the Rams out for the first half-hour of the clash, as they matched their opponents and looked to be confident that they could get something out of the game.
That all changed in the 32nd minute, however, as Cooper played a loose pass to Svante Ingelsson, who was forced to tackle the ball away but could only do so to a Derby midfielder.
Barely five seconds later, the ball was in the net for 1-0 as Bobby Clark played Agyemang through and he finished with aplomb past Pierce Charles.
It was pretty much all Derby from then on in as they went on to score two more, with 34-year-old Cooper struggling to play out from the defence as he completed just three of seven attempted long passes.
Derby fans goaded Wednesday and their recent financial troubles as they eased to three points, but things could have been so different had Cooper not misplaced a simple pass to allow John Eustace’s side a chance on goal.
Wednesday fans fume at Cooper
Football Insider recently revealed that Wednesday are interested in signing Everton centre-back Reece Welch in January, so they are clearly targeting defensive additions as they aim to stop conceding so many goals.
Cooper could be the man dropped from the starting eleven if he does join, despite his experience, with many Owls supporters taking to X to slate him due to the mistake against Derby.
One fan said: “Never thought I’d see someone worse on the ball than Iorfa, but Cooper really is. Absolute disaster waiting to happen every time he gets it.”
Another said: “Get Liam Cooper off. Garbage player“, as one also asked: “(Is) Cooper’s deal up in January? Please say it is.”
While one supporter added: “Cooper again man. Killing us with his inability to pass accurately.”