• Stuart Gray confirmed manager after win at Rochdale
• Swansea come from behind at Birmingham to progress
Stuart Gray will be able to enjoy Sunday’s fifth-round draw as the permanent Sheffield Wednesday manager, his appointment having finally been confirmed around after they negotiated “a proper FA Cup tie”, winning 2-1, on a proper Rochdale afternoon.
Gray confirmed that negotiations have been completed with the Wednesday owner, Milan Mandaric, to remove the caretaker status he has held, as at several other clubs in his career, since succeeding Dave Jones at the start of December.
“It’s been going backwards and forwards to the lawyers,” he said, having agreed a contract until the summer of 2016. “Talks were finalised on Thursday and hopefully I’ll just get my signature on it tomorrow [Sunday]when we’re in training.
“It’s dragged on but the pleasing thing is the players deserve all the credit because it’s the players who end up getting me the job with their effort, their performances, the commitment – and you could see it out their today especially when we went down to 10 men.”.
Mandaric watched from the Spotland stand with longer-term Wednesday stalwarts including Roy Hattersley and David Blunkett as Joe Mattock, the former England under-21 left back, scored his first goal for the club, set up another but was then dismissed for a second yellow card – all this in the space of 15 second-half minutes to leave the Owls with 10 men for a nervy half-hour.
“Joe’s a little bit disappointed because he didn’t think there was contact on the second yellow, but it was given and you have to get on with it,” added Gray. “For us to go down to 10 men, suddenly it was an FA Cup tie, every fan was woken up.”
Rochdale’s captain, Michael Rose, had already halved Wednesday’s advantage with a spectacular left-footed volley, but their manager, Keith Hill, admitted they rarely threatened to equalise, their cause hindered by the gale blowing into their faces in the second half.
Hill, who cut an unusual touchline figure in green jacket and rust cords, preferred to praise Wednesday for the quality of their set plays rather than blast his defenders for their inability to defend them. Mattock’s goal came from Chris Maguire’s accurate delivery as he pounced on a header from Glenn Loovens, and 11 minutes later the left-back was the provider for Oguchi Onyewu, who also scored his first Wednesday goal.
Michael Laudrup heaped praise on Wilfried Bony after the striker’s two second-half goals spared Swansea‘s blushes as they came from behind to beat Birmingham 2-1.
The Swans’ poor recent run looked set to continue when Lee Novak’s glancing header gave Birmingham a deserved lead in this fourth-round tie.
But the introduction of Bony at the interval changed the game, with the Ivorian scoring twice in three minutes to take his tally to 16 for the season.
Victory means they can approach Tuesday’s key Premier League fixture against Fulham with a positive result behind them at the end of a week dominated by the training ground row between Chico Flores and Garry Monk, and reports of divisions within Laudrup’s squad.
Swansea’s manager said: “I thought the way they played in the first half meant we had to bring on Bony and he scored two great goals to turn the game. We talk about the need to adapt on the pitch and it is not easy as a foreign player. I have been a foreigner in most of the counties I played in and I understand that.
“But when you have a big price tag it is about patience and I am happy for him and the team.
“He has a cool head, you can see how he finished his goals, he is playing with confidence. The first goal is a great finish, the second goal is one you do not score without confidence and that is very good to see.
“Hopefully we can build on this result in the game on Tuesday against Fulham.” Laudrup also felt Swansea’s recent run had affected their first-half performance. He said: “When you are on a difficult run you can be tense and you could see a lack of confidence on the ball. We were too tight and tense and that makes it difficult to move the ball.
“At half-time we said we needed to relax and we were better in the second half and scored two good goals.”
The Birmingham manager Lee Clark also praised Bony’s contribution but felt his side had missed a big chance to cause an upset and reach the fifth round. He said: “Bony is in very good form at the highest level, I watched him over the last few games and he looked very, very in-form. You know you have that to contend with if you get in front. It is a huge game for them on Tuesday and we are disappointed.
“His first goal was very good but the second goal we could have done more to prevent. You always need that second goal against a Premier League team especially with their fire power, we had chances, but we weren’t able to take them.”
Clark also said the decision to omit Nikola Zigic from his matchday squad had been for “football reasons”.
The Hull manager Steve Bruce praised the battling qualities of his squad after a much-changed Hull side safely negotiated a trip to League Two Southend to book a place in the fifth round.
Matty Fryatt’s second-half double proved enough for victory at Roots Hall over the former Hull manager Phil Brown, with Bruce fielding nine changes from the last Premier League match.
With record signings Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long ineligible, Fryatt and recalled Danny Graham – linked with a move away in the January transfer window – led the attack while goalkeeper Steve Harper came into the side along with the likes of Abdoulaye Faye and David Meyler.
The Premier League team, though, had more than enough quality to see them through, with the Shrimpers – going well in the promotion race – restricted to a few chances, although things could have been different at the start of the second half when a 30-yard strike from Michael Timlin crashed against the crossbar.
Hull eventually made the breakthrough on 62 minutes when Fryatt latched on to a loose ball in a crowded box to drive a low effort into the bottom right corner. The Hull forward made sure of progress when he cracked home a second in stoppage time after collecting a ball down the right and cutting in at the near post.
Bruce said: “I would not expect a team of mine to roll over just because we are coming here in the cup, so they showed the right desire and attitude.
“The pitch was difficult, and towards the end it was awful conditions, a typical cup tie, sometimes in football you have to roll up your sleeves and we did that in abundance today to get through.”
Bruce feels the competition offers him the chance to fully utilise the squad. He said: “Somebody like Matty Fryatt, if I don’t give him an opportunity to play, then they are knocking down the door.
“Matty had come back into the side today and reminded me what a good player he is.
“I was confident we could come here and make the changes, they are all experienced players – Abdoulaye Faye, [Paul] McShane, Meyler, [Stephen] Quinn, [George] Boyd, Matty Fryatt, Danny Graham, and we should be good enough if we do it right to get through and I had big belief we would do that.”
Brown felt his side could take heart from their efforts. The Southend manager said: “I am proud of them, but just disappointed that in the final third was a difference between the two teams, which is where Hull showed a lot of quality.
“We just did not have that belief and that comes from the exposure to Premier League football and the depth they have.
“
Huddersfield‘s manager, Mark Robins, said the Charlton midfielder Dale Stephens should have been sent off for a high tackle that put Adam Hammill out of the game. Stephens escaped with a booking after a 28th-minute challenge which sparked an angry response from players on both sides as Charlton went on to claim a 1-0 victory.
Robins said: “I think it was a red card but the referee has a decision to make. I have seen the photograph and both his feet were off the ground and it doesn’t make good watching.
Robins said there were some other “tough challenges” in the game and added: “I could moan all day long but it sounds like sour grapes so I will desist.”
Stephens was lucky not to have been sent off for a high tackle on Hammill, who limped off the field minutes later.
Players from both sides reacted and referee Stuart Attwell booked Stephens and Michael Morrison for Charlton and Anthony Gerrard for Town.
Charlton manager Chris Powell said the referee’s decision was a 50-50 one.
“It was a tackle Stuart saw and he has to make an instant decision,” said Powell.
“Emotions were running quite high and I don’t want to see any dangerous tackles.”
Huddersfield had chances to win the game in the first half but Oliver Norwood, Oscar Gobern and Danny Ward were wasteful.
Keeper Ben Alnwick pulled off a great save from Ward and Powell said: “We rode our luck at times and our keeper made a point blank save to keep us in it. We just kept chipping away and got our just rewards.”
Former Town loanee Simon Church scored the only goal in the 54th minute with a good finish beyond Alex Smithies into the far corner.
theguardian.com