"I am astonished" - Sheffield Wednesday reaction given to "strange" Ike Ugbo situation | OneFootball

FLW's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit gives his verdict on Ike Ugbo since signing a permanent deal

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Ike Ugbo first arrived at Hillsborough back midway through the 2023/24 on loan from French side Troyes, having spent the first half of the season on loan with the then-Championhsip outfit, Cardiff City.

After instantly hitting the ground running for the Owls, he certainly introduced himself to the Wednesday faithful as he netted seven goals from just 18 league appearances was proved vital in securing survival for former manager Danny Rohl's side for yet another year.

Due to his impressive start to life in Blue and White stripes, Sheffield Wednesday, unsurprisingly, agreed to make the deal permanent with Troyes, which reportedly cost the club £2.5 million for Ugbo's services.

Fast forward to now, and Ugbo's Sheffield Wednesday career has taken a turn for the worse. To Owls fans' surprise, the 26-year-old has had a real barren run of goalscoring form as the Canadian hasn't managed to find the back of the net in his last 38 Championship appearances. A stat that is a real worry to all involved at Hillsborough, who are rapidly losing patience with the strikers' below-par performance levels.

Formerly a fan favourite, it's no secret that many supporters would have no qualms about seeing the back of the Ugbo.

Sheffield Wednesday "astonished" over Ike Ugbo's poor run of form

Ugbo's first season for Wednesday led to fans having high hopes for his future at the club after signing on a permanent deal. However, it has been shocking to see such an in-form player have a sudden never-ending nightmare.

Football League World's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit, Patrick McKenna, can't pinpoint where it went wrong for Ugbo.

Patrick said, "It's a strange case of Ike Ugbo. There's no doubt that I am astonished at how poorly it has gone for him since he signed for us permanently."

"Obviously there was no guarantee that he was going to keep scoring at the same ratio he did during his loan period, but to still be at no league goals and no league assists for us. I just did not see that coming at all.

"Did I had my hopes raised too high for him? Possibly."

"If you look at some of the cold, hard facts, he has never been a consistent scorer during his career and, indeed, does seem to do better during loan spells, but surely he could've done more for us."

Sheffield Wednesday fans have lost hope for Ugbo's future at the club

Since signing on a permanent deal, it's no secret that Ugbo's time in an Owls shirt has been a struggle, with fans losing home for what more he can give for the club. FLW's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit, Patrick believes that he can't see a change in form for the 26-year-old anytime soon.

"As last season went on, it became abundantly clear that things were not going to improve and, as a fan, I just give up on the hope that it will come good for him. That penalty he missed near the end of the season just kind of summed up his season for him and I think even Danny Rohl had given up on him by the end."

"I imagine he was getting a lot of attention from the coaches in training, and they were just working on him to provide something, but as a professional he just had to offer more."

"Even if we had a normal pre-season, there would have been no guarantee that Ugbo would have suddenly turned it on this season, and I think it's hard to judge him this season with what's been going on at the club. But certainly they aren't the circumstances for a player so low in confidence and so badly out of form to suddenly thrive in."

"So I do think things are going to remain as they have been for Ugbo, and he's going to badly struggle this season. I don't see where the next goal is going to come from for him. If I'm brutally honest, his time here has been a disaster as a permanent signing, and I just did not see it coming."