‘Horrific’ Sheffield Wednesday slammed after Liam Palmer incident vs Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday came under fire during their 3-0 derby defeat to Sheffield United on Sunday.
Tyrese Campbell netted a brace to decide the game, before Tom Cannon added a third in stoppage time to extend his team’s unbeaten run against their bitter rivals to seven consecutive games.
Football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley recently told Football Insider that the recent anonymous £1million donation from a Sheffield Wednesday fan will have given vital “breathing room” to the administrators at the club.
The Owls are battling financial difficulties in the aftermath of Dejphon Chansiri’s controversial reign, and matters on the pitch have been similarly troublesome for them so far this term.
Don Goodman reacts to horrific Sheffield Wednesday set piece record
Liam Cooper recently joined Sheffield Wednesday as a free agent on a deal until the end of the season, but he was left out of the starting lineup for the Steel City Derby.
Henrik Pedersen instead opted to start with a back three of Liam Palmer, Dominic Iorfa and Max Lowe for the seismic clash at Hillsborough, and the former quickly put his team in a difficult position early into the contest.
Palmer conceded a corner in the fifth minute of the action, as United forward Campbell knocked him into the ball after a long pass over the backline, which won the visitors a corner in the process.
The Wednesday star wanted a free-kick for the incident, but Don Goodman believed that the challenge from Campbell wasn’t strong enough to be a foul, and outlined the Owls’ struggles when it comes to defending set pieces.
“He (Palmer) is saying that it was a foul,” Goodman said during Sky Sports’ coverage of the game.
“Campbell bent his run nicely, and he didn’t seem to do too much wrong here. He just eases Palmer out. Now they (Wednesday) have a corner to defend, and their defending from set pieces has been horrific.”
Wednesday have conceded the most set piece goals in the Championship
Sheffield Wednesday have had a difficult season in the Championship so far, as they have found it extremely hard to strengthen their squad due to their financial issues.
| Team | Set Piece Goals Conceded | Total Goals Against | |
| 1 | Sheffield Wednesday | 11 | 29 |
| 2 | Watford | 10 | 20 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 9 | 21 |
| 4 | Hull | 8 | 27 |
The South Yorkshire outfit are still sitting rock bottom of the Championship table after their derby day defeat, and the issue highlighted by Goodman during Sunday’s game has plagued them consistently.
Pedersen’s side have already shipped 11 goals from dead-ball situations so far this season, with nobody in the division able to match their total of set-piece concessions.
Their defending from restarts ultimately didn’t cost them during their latest defeat to their city rivals, but it is certainly a problem that needs to be rectified moving forward if they are to get the points they need to beat the drop.