Danny Cowley v Garry Monk: A look at the stats ahead of Sky Bet Championship clash
The headline act of Sunday's Sky Bet Championship action sees Huddersfield welcome Sheffield Wednesday to the John Smith's Stadium.
The hosts are searching for their first win of the campaign while Wednesday will be hoping that they can move closer to the top-six with three points.
A Yorkshire derby has added spice this time with new managers in both dugouts. Wednesday's long search for Steve Bruce's replacement saw Garry Monk come in, while Huddersfield appointed Danny Cowley as Jan Siewert's successor.
The Terriers have a single point to their name with five losses in their six contests so far. Things are a little better for Wednesday; their nine points enough to see them sat in mid-table.
Both acknowledge the long-term projects they are embarking on, but short-term results remain a priority and the fixture list means the first game we see them come up against each other.
Who will come out on top and who will be happier with the appointment they have made? Tom Carnduff takes a look at the statistics.
What's been said?
Monk was unveiled to the media last Friday, giving him nine days to prepare for his first game at the club.
"Obviously it's moved quite quickly over the last 48 hours," he said on his decision to join Wednesday.
"Of course, it was the opportunity to come here to this club.
"I'm lucky that I was a player here many moons ago for a short period. But even in that short period I understood and got a good grasp of what this club is.
"The overriding factor over the years that have gone past, just how powerful it is and the history and the tradition. Plus the backing the chairman has given over the years.
"It's a great opportunity and one that I'm really excited about."
Sky Bet odds: Huddersfield - 13/8 | Draw - 21/10 | Sheffield Wednesday - 13/8
On setting targets, Monk continued: "I think when you look at it, at the start of every season there are 15 or so teams where that's the ambition [getting to the Premier League]. You can't get away from that.
"The process has to be, as we've discussed as big clubs do, improvement day by day. Take each day and try to improve the squad we have in terms of what we do on the pitch and daily training.
"We know it's a capable squad but there are a lot of capable squads in this league.
"It's about making sure we compete as high as we can, the quality comes through and we take it step by step."
Cowley knows the size of the task ahead - with Huddersfield sitting in 23rd after no wins in their opening six games.
"If we thought this job was easy we wouldn't have taken it. We want to be challenged," Cowley stated
"We've had an unbelievable journey and life up to this point. Certainly the safer option would have been to stay at Lincoln, a club that we loved and felt a great connection with on every level.
"It would have been easy to stay, but we're not interested in making the easy decisions, we're interested in making the right decisions and we want to test ourselves.
"I want that feeling of really living. You only need to look at the next two games (Sheffield Wednesday at home and West Brom away) - I want that moment where your back is against the wall and you're facing adversity."
While there is a long-term look at their appointment, Cowley admitted they need to motivate the players to turn around their immediate fortunes.
"We need to give the players clarity. We don't believe that one win will change everything," he continued.
"In the short-term we need to give them a way of playing that sets them up for success. We are player-centred and we are going to try and earn their respect and build that trust.
"In business they talk about the first 30, 60 and 90 days but you don't get that kind of time in football so we're looking at the first 15, 30 and 45. In this initial process we'll audit the club to see what is good and run with those and look at the areas where we can have the most influence."
Managerial records
Danny Cowley:
Braintree
P 50 | W 24 | D 13 | L 13
Lincoln City
P 176 | W 95 | D 42 | L 39
Garry Monk:
Swansea
P 77 | W 28 | D 17 | L 32
Leeds
P 53 | W 27 | D 9 | L 17
Middlesbrough
P 26 | W 12 | D 5 | L 9
Birmingham
P 59 | W 19 | D 20 | L 20
An area that benefits Cowley is that he boasts a better overall record than Monk but has been managing at a much lower level.
Cowley boasted a 54% win ratio across a big tally of 176 games while in charge of Lincoln and guided them from the National League to Sky Bet League One; leaving the club at the top-end of that division.
For Monk, his best spell came at Leeds. He posted a 51% win ratio during his season at Elland Road but ultimately the Whites failed to secure a spot in the play-offs following a late collapse.
Honours
Danny Cowley: Essex Senior Football League promotion | Isthmian League Division One North promotion | Isthmian League Premier Division promotion | National League winners | Checkatrade Trophy winners | Sky Bet League Two winners
Garry Monk: Premier League Manager of the Month - August 2014
Cowley's route to the second tier of English football came from starting at the very bottom and that means he has seen significantly more success than Monk.
He guided Concord Rangers from their spot in the regional leagues to the upper side of non-league while also ending Lincoln's six-year absence from the Football League with promotion in 2017.
Monk meanwhile, has a single honour to his name. He was named the Premier League Manager of the Month in August 2014 while at Swansea.
During that month, he'd guided the Swans to an away win over Manchester United, alongside home victories over Burnley and West Brom. That run saw them sitting joint-top of the Premier League table.
Areas needing improvement
Huddersfield:
- Shots per game - 9.3 (21st out of 24)
- Shots OT per game - 2.5 (24th out of 24)
- Aerials won per game - 15.5 (23rd out of 24)
- Fouls per game - 14.2 (5th out of 24)
- Unsuccessful touches per game - 17.5 (2nd out of 24)
- Key passes - 8 (19th out of 24)
Huddersfield's all-round game has been poor, which is hardly a surprise when you look at their league position.
Cowley needs to improve the side in a number of areas in order to boost both their short and long term prospects.
There are still a few months before the duo can properly balance the squad and get rid of those who don't want to stay, but they'll be looking to address the issues with the current group of players until the January window.
A potential partner for Karlan Grant up front would be welcome given their shots ratio compared with the rest of the Championship.
Only three teams have posted less shots on average while their number of shots on target is the worst in the league.
Again, this is probably an issue of personnel, but Charlton are the only team to win less aerial duels which is affecting the Terriers at both ends of the pitch - particularly against those sides who favour direct play.
When they do have the ball, Huddersfield have been wasteful. Barnsley are the only team to have given away the ball more due to bad control, although they are low on the charts when it comes to being dispossessed by the opposition.
Creativity is key and it's been another area lacking for Cowley's new side. Their eight key passes per game puts them in the bottom-five.
Sheffield Wednesday:
- Fouls per game - 16.7 (1st out of 24)
- Offsides per game - 2.8 (2nd out of 24)
- Cards per game - 2.5 (3rd out of 24)
- Passes per game - 348.8 (20th out of 24)
Wednesday's problems aren't as bad as Huddersfield's with Lee Bullen keeping a steady ship during his temporary time in charge.
His efforts were praised by Owls owner Dejphon Chansiri, who said: "I need to thank Lee Bullen during he be caretaker. He did quite well and that is why I was happy for him to take over. Lee will still be an assistant."
Their main issues seem to revolve around discipline. Wednesday sit top of the charts when it comes to fouls per game, and that's why they are also third for number of cards picked up on average.
Another form of discipline is timing their runs. Blackburn are the only team to have been caught offside more than the Owls; a frustrating element that sees them waste good moves forward.
Monk will also look to address the number of passes they make per game. Wednesday are in the bottom-four for passes, something that needs improvement if they are to push up the standings.
It should be noted that Wednesday commit, on average, the lowest number of inaccurate short passes but that could be down to their low total tally.
The stats behind the contest
- In all competitions, Huddersfield Town are winless in nine matches against Sheffield Wednesday (W0 D4 L5).
- Sheffield Wednesday haven’t conceded a single goal in any of their last seven games at the John Smith’s Stadium against Huddersfield (W4 D3 L0).
- Huddersfield have failed to score more than once in each of their last 29 home games in all competitions – if they fail to do so against Sheffield Wednesday, it would be a record number of consecutive games by a Football League Club in all competitions, with Blackpool also going 29 games between December 2013 and February 2015.
- Sheffield Wednesday haven’t lost three consecutive away league matches since October 2017.
- Since their 1-0 win over Wolves at the John Smith’s Stadium in February, Huddersfield haven’t led for a single minute in any of their seven home league matches (W0 D1 L6).
- Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher hasn’t scored in three consecutive league matches since a run of five between May and September 2012 for Wolves and Sunderland.
Odds correct at 1100 BST (13/09/19)
Follow Sporting Life on social media - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLifeFC
Related football links
MOST READ FOOTBALL
FOOTBALL TIPS
