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Make no mistake about it, Steve Bruce is a safe bet. Sheffield Wednesday fans knew what they were getting when his appointment was announced: defensive solidity, an experienced leader at this level, no-nonsense football and, on paper, a genuine shot at promotion.
If any footballing cliche summed up Bruce then it’s this: football is a results business. Sitting somewhere on the spectrum close to the pair of progressive pioneers Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis, it’s fair to say that the Owls faithful know what to expect from their new manager.
A run of three fixtures with Bruce in charge has seen Wednesday bag just one goal and concede zero. Two bore draws and a narrow 1-0 victory to kick off the new era. It’s not the start of nightmares but clearly something has to budge at the right end of the field.
Steven Fletcher has been deployed at the spearhead of attack since Bruce arrived to almost no tangible effect. Work-rate and sniffing out half-chances inside the 18-yard-box have formed the pillars of the Scotland international’s career but there is a touch of ingenuity lacking from his game that Wednesday are craving right now.
Options are at a premium for Bruce but his endeavour to turn his side into a potent attacking force could well hinge on Lucas Joao – the scorer of Wednesday’s only goal under the new manager.
The Portuguese attacker has often been deployed out wide this season rather than in his favoured centre-forward position, but his goal scoring return has not suffered too drastically.
Nine goals from just 13 Championship starts is the type of prolific record which promotion-chasing clubs love to see from their centre-forwards, so why not maximise Joao’s natural goal scoring talent by starting him down the middle week-in, week-out?
Fletcher is 31 years old and well past his best; Joao is a 25-year-old, approaching his prime and well-suited to Bruce’s physically-orientated style of play at 6’4″. In the centre-forward position it’s vital to build momentum and establish coherent understanding with teammates, but that can only arrive through regular starts.
Bruce must recognise this and tweak his system to suit Joao at the spearhead of his attack, with support coming from creative midfielders rather than from Fletcher in a rarely seen front-two system.
The success Wednesday enjoy with Bruce at the helm could hinge on his success at getting the best out of Joao. However, his ability to get a clean run without collecting a serious injury will determine his success, as Bruce recently alluded to, per The Star.
“I think the big thing is staying the course. I know he has been hit with injuries like everybody else, which is something we are going to have to address.
“It is ridiculous the number of serious injuries we have had over the last 12 months and it is something we will look into.”
Bruce’s success in resolving a nagging problem at Hillsborough could make or break the latest chapter in his career.
Handing Joao – who cost £2.5 million in 2016 – a regular berth at centre-forward will give Bruce the best possible chance of catapulting his side up the Championship table, but a troublesome injury history suggests that his ambitions could be limited by factors beyond human control.
