Wednesday 'mediocrity' worrying for Yorath

Sheffield Wednesday 0 Grimsby Town

In a hostelry near Hillsborough, a poster for the Sheffield Wednesday fanzine War of the Monster Trucks demanded: "Give it to the man with the mullet!" Unless Jim Smith has taken to wearing a Frank Worthington wig, this was surely a call for Terry Yorath to be named "permanent" manager, although a grim draw with Grimsby did nothing for the caretaker's candidacy.

Yorath knew it, too, entering the post-match press conference bearing the look of someone who sensed his opportunity had just been blown by the ineptitude of people better paid than himself. A bright, affable character, sufficiently well acquainted with genuine tragedy after the sudden death of a son to be able to accept the vagaries of football, the Welshman would probably have been offered the job had Wednesday won.

In the event, they seldom looked like beating a Grimsby side in freefall since their storming start to the season, the stalemate leaving Wednesday with only two wins from 10 home fixtures. Such a result was hardly calculated to sway directors in favour of Yorath. The performance – worse, apparently, than when Portsmouth won at Hillsborough a week earlier – suggested the team were operating a go-slow in solidarity with the players' union vote to strike.

"Mediocrity rules," sighed Yorath. "It was a bad 0-0." A less honest would-be manager would have snatched at a reporter's invitation to take satisfaction from a clean sheet; he laughed off the notion. Nor did he buy the idea that a sparse gathering in the cavernous stadium contributed to an uninspired display, saying: "The team should create the atmosphere."

Wednesday's next match is at Wolves, the First Division leaders, next Sunday, by which time the board need to end the uncertainty over the post vacated by Peter Shreeves a month ago. Smith, a boyhood Wednesdayite, is understood to feel he can work with Yorath. It remains to be seen whether the veteran former Derby manager could work with a £16m debt and no obvious asset who could be sold to raise funds for shoring up the squad.

That is not to say there was no potential on parade against Grimsby. Like Yorath's hair, most of it was at the back. Leigh Bromby, 21, was assured on the right and slotted seamlessly into central defence following a late shake-up in an attempt to force victory. At left-back, the diminutive, right-footed Derek Geary, 21, did a passable impersonation of Aston Villa's Alan Wright, though inevitably he cut inside on to his "wrong" foot, thereby narrowing attacks.

In midfield, too, Owen Morrison, 19, and Alan Quinn, 22, combined commitment with quality in measures which embarrassed some more seasoned professionals. Danny Maddix endured an error-prone game at the back, while Gerald Sibon's shooting threatened Grimsby's goal less than spectators midway up the Kop. The 6ft 3in Sibon also took the corners, and with all the subtlety of a monster truck in a china shop at that.

Grimsby's morale might have crumbled had Ashley Westwood's header found its target instead of flashing wide after five minutes. Despite the calm authority of Westwood -- matched by Marlon Broomes and Paul Groves at the heart of the visitors' rearguard -- Lennie Lawrence's side made the better chances, Bradley Allen coming close on three occasions and Alan Pouton shaking the bar in the first half.

Lawrence, who admitted Grimsby "over-achieved" during their early run of success, was pleased with a point gained by a young, inexperienced team. "Wednesday needed to win," he said by way of succinct summary. "We needed not to lose."

Sheffield Wednesday (4-4-2): Pressman; Bromby, Westwood, Maddix (Crane, 86), Geary; Donnelly (Di Piedi, 72), Quinn, Soltvedt, Morrison; Sibon, Bonvin (McLaren, 56). Substitutes not used: O'Donnell, Stringer (gk).

Grimsby Town (4-4-2): Coyne; Butterfield, Groves, Broomes, Gallimore; Campbell, Pouton, Willems, Boulding; Allen (Raven, 88), Jevons (Rowan, 81). Substitutes not used: Chapman, Bolder, Croudson (gk).

Referee: C Webster (Durham).

Bookings: Wednesday: Sibon, Morrison. Grimsby: Jevons, Gallimore.

Man of the match: Westwood.

Attendance: 17,507.