This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.
Sheffield Wednesday saw a victory snatched from their grasp right at the death as Swansea City netted an injury-time equaliser at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon.
Ben Wilmot levelled for the Welsh side as he slotted home Matt Grimes’ corner just minutes after the Owls thought they had won it with substitute Fernando Forestieri bagging his first goal of the season.
Snapshot
Gary Monk’s decision to bring on the 29-year-old was the correct one, not just because he could have netted the winner, but also because he appeared to form a perfect balance in attack with Steven Fletcher alongside him.
Although, the 40-year-old soon scuppered that wise decision with a disastrous one as he introduced Jordan Rhodes two minutes after the Italian forward had made a goalscoring impact.
His presence on the pitch meant that Forestieri was forced wide, and thus made him pretty much ineffective despite looking to hold the keys to unlocking further attacking potential.
Off the Bench
Wednesday’s club-record signing failed to inspire in just his second showing under Monk – he had scored for the U23s in midweek, but clearly, that is a totally different level of football.
Per SofaScore, Rhodes failed to register a single attempt at goal and lost possession three times from just eight touches.
Swansea recorded more shots on target from the 83rd minute onwards, the time at which the 29-year-old was introduced, so it’s clear to see that he didn’t have much of an impact at all.
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It was rather a bizarre move from Monk, considering they had just taken the lead.
Someone like Jordan Thorniley or Joey Pelupessy could have been introduced instead to shore things up at the back and see the game out in the final seven minutes.
The Owls chief in command got it wrong – and while he will have plenty of time still on his side, for Rhodes, it must be a different story with January soon on the horizon.
