Recent Southampton developments may concern Sheffield Wednesday after Shea Charles reveal: View
After a somewhat slow start to the 2024/25 Championship season, things are starting to look up again for Sheffield Wednesday.
Following their 4-0 thrashing of Plymouth Argyle on the opening day, the Owls then proceeded to pick up just one point from their next five league games.
However, they did start to turn that around prior to the international break, with two wins and a draw in their last three outings.
That has seen Sheffield Wednesday climb to 15th in the Championship table, and one play who has had an important contribution to make to those effort is Shea Charles.
Southampton loanee Shea Charles making a big impact for Sheffield Wednesday
Back in late August, Charles made the move to Hillsbrough on a season-long loan from newly-promoted Premier League side Southampton.
Since making that move, the midfielder has started all six Championship matches that Danny Rohl’s side have played.
Already, Charles has produced some impressive performances for Sheffield Wednesday, and made a big contribution to keeping their positive run going last time out.
Drawing 1-1 away at Coventry City in the third minute of stoppage time, Charles received the ball just inside the area from Anthony Musaba, before coolly finishing into the bottom corner.
In doing so, the Northern Ireland international not only scored his first goal for the club, but he also earned them a dramatic 2-1 win to pick up some more welcome points.
So far this season, Southampton have taken just one point from their seven league games, meaning they sit 19th in the table, with only Wolves’ worse goal difference keeping them off the bottom.
Consequently, there appears to be plenty of pressure building on manager Russell Martin at St Mary’s.
Indeed, recent reports have claimed that the 38-year-old is at risk of being sacked, with the Saints’ board split over whether or not to change managers amid their poor start to the campaign.
If results do not improve – a clash with another newly-promoted side, Leicester City is up next – then you would imagine the chances of Martin losing his job will increase.
Should he depart in the near future, that may have an impact on Charles’ own situation at Sheffield Wednesday.
There is a chance that while Martin was willing to loan Charles out this season, a new manager will want to take a look at all options available to him when he arrives at St Mary’s.
That could include Charles, meaning he may be inclined to trigger that recall clause in his loan spell at Hillsborough come January, to see if he can help to get Southampton out of trouble.
Indeed, the more the 20-year-old catches the eye for the Owls, the more tempting such a move could become for any potential replacement for Martin, as they potentially try something different.
In turn, that would be rather frustrating for Rohl’s side, given it would cost them the services of a player who right now looks as though he could be vital over the course of the campaign.
With all that in mind, it may be no surprise if many Sheffield Wednesday fans will be hoping Martin can turn things around at Southampton himself, over the course of the next few months.