Carvalhal not affected by Sheffield Wednesday ‘trolls’

(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)

Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal says he is not affected by those who moan about the club on social media, saying they are not real fans.

After suffering play-off final heartbreak at the end of last season, Wednesday have stuttered at times this season and have lost their last two games, but still find themselves inside the play-off places and six points clear of Fulham in seventh.

But after the fast, free-flowing football on show at Hillsborough last season, some supporters have taken to the internet and bemoaned the tactics deployed by their Portuguese manager this term, as he tries to implement a more conservative approach.

“I don’t think the genuine fans of Sheffield Wednesday have Twitter,” Carvalhal told Radio Sheffield.

“Usually the people who have social media use it to talk bad things and be negative.

“I have absolute confidence that 95% of the fans of Sheffield Wednesday do not think like this.

“I sometimes receive messages from people who are fans telling me not to listen to the moaners on social media.”

As well as Carvalhal getting criticism online, recent signing Jordan Rhodes has also felt the wrath of social media, with some fans unhappy at his performances since arriving in Yorkshire.

After being the joint third highest scorers in the second tier last season, Wednesday have struggled to find the net so consistently this campaign; something the £9 million Rhodes was meant to cure.

However, it hasn’t quite worked for the former Blackburn and Middlesbrough striker yet, with just one goal in his six Owls appearances and a missed penalty against Leeds on Saturday, but his boss is standing by him.

“Jordan was not playing when he came here and now he has played six games in a row. He was completely exhausted on Saturday so we had to take him off.

“Now he has had time to breathe and train he will perform better than in previous games. There’s no question he will do better for us.”