Sheffield Wednesday sacked Danny Wilson yesterday, three days after the club lost their vital relegation battle with Watford at Vicarage Road, and installed former assistant manager Peter Shreeves as Wilson's successor until the summer when a new long-term manager will be sought. Wilson was the direct victim of Wednesday's results this season, only five wins in 29 Premiership matches and eliminated from the FA Cup by Gillingham, but also of the political changes at Hillsborough in the past fortnight. The former Wednesday chairman Dave Richards, the man who persuaded Wilson to leave Barnsley in July 1998, has departed to become chairman of the Premier League. With him went the personal loyalty Wilson has counted on for support.
Wednesday's new chairman Howard Culley felt no such personal bond and was given an easy outlet to sack Wilson after the 1-0 defeat at Watford, especially as the previous weekend, following Wednesday's rather fortunate 3-1 victory over West Ham, Wilson had declared that his side would not be beaten again this season. Allan Smart's 88th minute goal for Watford on Saturday was an abrupt contradiction of Wilson's claim.
Watford remain the only club below Wednesday in the Premiership and with a sevenpoint gap between Wednesday and fourth bottom Derby County Saturday's defeat was a hammer blow to the Yorkshire club's hopes of survival. Had the result gone the other way Wilson would no doubt be planning optimistically for this Saturday's fixture at Middlesbrough.
Instead Shreeves, formerly in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, will be organising Wednesday's fight to retain their Premiership status. They have been part of it since its formation in 1992, having been promoted under Ron Atkinson the previous season, and twice finished as high as seventh. Last season, Wilson's first, Wednesday finished a respectable 12th, but this season has been dispiriting from the opening day when they lost at home to Liverpool. There was a humiliating 8-0 defeat at Newcastle along the way but although a section of the fans called for Wilson to go, Richards insisted that Wilson would stay and see out the full term of his four-year contract.
Even when in January a quartet of Sheffield MPs made a public appeal for Wilson to be removed, Richards stood firm. The players reacted by winning at Tottenham, at home to Bradford City and by drawing with Arsenal. Wilson ended up being voted Manager of the Month.
That was in part a tribute to Wilson's popularity within the game and within the managerial profession. The esteem in which Wilson is held rose further every time an outsider shouted for his sacking and Wilson kept his council, and again yesterday there was no comment from the former Northern Ireland international. Wilson (40) was born in Wigan but his father had played for Derry City, where Wilson's mother came from.
It was left to John Barnwell of the League Managers' Association to convey the message that Wilson was "extremely distressed" by Wednesday's board's decision and Wilson was probably surprised by its timing. Shreeves revealed that he got a telephone call out of the blue while jogging on Monday morning.
"I would like to thank Danny Wilson for his time as manager of Sheffield Wednesday," said Shreeves's new boss, chairman Culley, "he has worked tirelessly and is hugely respected by everyone at the club."
