Danny Rohl Told What To Amid Big Goalkeeping Decision Ahead Of Burnley Clash

It has been an excellent season for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, and they are currently involved in an incredibly competitive race for the play-offs.

After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, Wednesday have made significant progress under manager Danny Rohl this campaign, and they have emerged as surprise promotion contenders in recent months.

However, the Owls’ play-off challenge has stalled slightly after a run of just three wins in their last 11 games, and they were beaten 2-1 by fellow promotion hopefuls Coventry City at Hillsborough on Saturday, with Ellis Simms’ stoppage-time winner sealing all three points for the Sky Blues.

Despite the defeat, Wednesday remain ninth in the table, and they are just three points from the play-off places, but they face automatic promotion contenders Burnley and Sunderland in their next two games.

Ahead of the trip to Turf Moor on Friday, Rohl’s main priority will be to work out how to break down a Clarets defence that has kept 11 consecutive clean sheets in the league, but he also has a big call to make over the goalkeeper position.

Danny Rohl facing big James Beadle decision ahead of Burnley clash

Beadle initially joined Wednesday on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion last January, and after helping to keep the club in the division last season, he returned to Hillsborough for a second temporary spell in the summer.

The 20-year-old has started all 33 league games for the Owls so far this season, but while he has made some crucial saves and won his side vital points, he has also come in for criticism at times.

Wednesday have kept just eight clean sheets and conceded 50 goals this season, with only relegation-threated Luton Town, Cardiff City, Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle conceding more, and Beadle ranks 12th out of his fellow Championship goalkeepers for goals prevented, with a score of -0.8, as per FotMob.

Beadle’s place between the sticks has largely been secure for much of the season, but after his failure to deal with a long ball in the 92nd minute against Coventry on Saturday allowed Simms to score the winner, he has come under significant scrutiny.

Of course, Beadle should be given some latitude as a young player still in the early stages of his career, but it is difficult to offer any kind of excuse for his mistake on Saturday, and he was fortunate that one of his previous errors in the game went unpunished after Simms was adjudged to have committed a foul before slotting home.

Rohl defended Beadle post-match, stating that “we cannot point the finger to him”, but with highly-rated second choice Pierce Charles waiting in the wings, some have argued that it is time for the German to make a change in goal.

Danny Rohl should look to Darren Moore call amid James Beadle dilemma

This is not the first time that the goalkeeper position has become a subject of debate among Wednesday supporters, and Rohl should look to a decision made by one of his predecessors, Darren Moore, as he weighs up whether to drop Beadle.

With the Owls pushing for automatic promotion in League One in the 2022-23 campaign, Moore made the surprise decision to replace David Stockdale with Cameron Dawson midway through the season, despite the fact that Stockdale had done little wrong to deserve to lose his place.

Moore’s bold call reaped instant rewards as Dawson saved a stoppage-time penalty in a 0-0 draw with Oxford United in his first appearance, but it was not all plain sailing, and Moore restored Stockdale to the starting line-up in March 2023 after back-to-back defeats against Barnsley and Forest Green Rovers.

That proved to be a big mistake as Stockdale went on to make costly mistakes in draws against Cheltenham Town and Lincoln City – two games that arguably cost Wednesday automatic promotion – and Dawson was swiftly brought back into the team after just three games on the bench.

With Dawson in goal, the Owls went on to achieve promotion to the Championship via the play-offs, and they also set a new club record after keeping a remarkable 24 clean sheets in their 46 regular league games, with 13 of those coming during Dawson’s 22 appearances.

Moore may have had a minor wobble over Dawson during a difficult spell, but overall, his decision to switch goalkeepers proved to be the right call, and as Rohl looks to guide Wednesday into the play-offs this season, swapping Beadle for Charles could give his side the boost they need amid their faltering form.

Charles has shown during his EFL Cup appearances this term that he is more than ready for first-team action, and as the Northern Ireland international is likely to take over from Beadle as first choice next season anyway, it would not do any harm to bring him into the team a few months earlier than planned.