NERVES
After a five-year absence the Sheffield derby is back rights at stake as the bosses get ready for their first
CARLOS CARVALHAL is about to discover why the Steel City derby is football’s ultimate shock and ore battle.
The first meeting of Wednesday and United for fiveand-a-half years at Hillsborough tomorrow will be Carvalhal’s first taste of a game that is enough to make your heart smelt.
In the city where Robert Carlyle and his stripper mates shed their inhibitions, the real full Monty is the rivalry between Owls and Blades.
Chris O’Grady’s winner separated them in the last meeting 2,036 days ago in February 2012, when both were in League One.
For two clubs who were part of the original Premier League in 1992, this derby belongs in the penthouse, not below stairs in the Championship.
One man’s Terry Curran is another man’s Tony Currie on the Sheffield fault line of cult heroes, but Carvalhal (right) cannot wait to sabotage opposite number Chris Wilder’s 50th birthday celebrations this weekend. The Owls’ Portugese pied piper, who fell agonisingly short of the promised land at Wembley 16 months ago and again in the play-offs last May, said of his rival: “He is doing very well since he arrived at United and they were fantastic last season. “The few contacts I have had with him have been sympathetic and normal. We talked a little about football, but I cannot say he is my friend. “I’ve never invited or he has never invited me, for dinner or lunch, but he is a person I respect and I appreciate the work he is doing so far. “I understand the importance of this game because I have played and managed in a lot of derbies – some unbelievable occasions like Sporting-Benfica in Portugal and BesiktasGalatasaray in Turkey. “Every derby is hard so I don’t have favourite memories, but there was something special about Sporting-Benfica. “You see thousands of fans along the route, a lot of cars follow the bus and when you arrive at the stadium there are 5,000 fans of the opponents waiting for you, sometimes with stones.
“I know what this game means to the fans. I live in the city and I’ve talked with the people since the day I arrived.
“But I’m calm and I’m sleeping well. Last night I was asleep by 10 o’clock and I woke up at 6.30, no problem.
“Never in my life have I gone into a game thinking I will lose – never – even when I know the opponent is stronger than me. That’s how I took Leixoes from the third division to a cup final in Portugal and it’s why we beat Arsenal [in the League Cup] two years ago.
“I have an experienced team and the environment will not disturb them – quite the opposite. It will give them more confidence, more power, more energy.”
Carvalhal’s side includes Steven Fletcher, whose career has trawled some of Britain’s most febrile derby hotbeds from Hibs and Hearts to Wolves and West Brom, Sunderland-Newcastle and Burnley-Blackburn.
“The key to derbies is keeping your head,” said the Scotland striker.
“Don’t let emotions get the better of you and stay level-headed.”
“I understand the importance of this game and I know what it means to the fans. I live in the city and I’ve talked with the people. I really feel like I’ve lived in Sheffield a long, long time”
SAYS WEDNESDAY BOSS CARLOS CARVALHAL