Have Sheffield Wednesday signed the wrong Watford midfielder?

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Sheffield Wednesday signed Watford’s Almen Abdi in July, but the Swiss was left out of the squad which drew against Fulham.

Is it any coincidence that with Sam Hutchinson back in midfield, Sheffield Wednesday looked a lot like their old selves again?

A centre-back in his previous 14 outings this season, Hutchinson’s relocation to the centre of the pitch against Fulham saw Wednesday, for 56 minutes, return to the energetic, aggressive side which narrowly missed out on a place in the Premier League last term.

The Owls, who had averaged 13.06 interceptions per game prior to November’s international break, made 19 alone at Craven Cottage. Hutchinson’s presence, it seems, can force even good footballing sides like Fulham into errors.

He can only do it for so long, however. 56 minutes was all he was allowed on Saturday, having being shown his mandatory yellow card midway through the first half (he was booked in 14 of his 30 appearances last season, most of which was spent in midfield, although Saturday’s was only his fourth of the campaign).

History suggests, too, that even if Hutchinson were to keep things clean, his body cannot handle the rigours of playing week-in-week-out in central midfield. The trouble is, Wednesday have no one else like him. As good a player as David Jones is, he’s too refined to do Hutch’s role like-for-like. Is it any surprise that Fulham grew into the game once Hutchinson went off? And at the same time, wasn’t this inevitable whoever came on, including – had he made the 18 – Almen Abdi?

No one can deny the Owls’ other midfield recruit has struggled since his £4 million move from Watford, although he’s hardly a bad player. Abdi would get into most first elevens at this level, and would be in Wednesday’s if he didn’t play in the same position as Kieran Lee or Barry Bannan – two of Carlos Carvalhal’s mainstays.

Any Wednesday supporter could have told you that another Hutchinson type was needed last summer, as well as an alternative to Lee and Bannan, which, essentially, is what Abdi and Jones both are. Neither though, look capable of filling Hutchinson’s boots and, as Saturday proved, this could be problematic.

It makes you wonder why Abdi’s old teammate Adlene Guedioura, an energetic ball-winner and -carrier, wasn’t sought instead of the Swiss. While we don’t know for sure that this was the case, Guedioura has played barely three full games for Watford this season and £4 million for a 31-year-old seems like a generous price.

With any luck, the Owls’ Abdi receipt covers January exchanges.