Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper David Stockdale has explained he broke play up against Bolton last season during his Wycombe days to stop Wanderers gain momentum and ultimately win games of football.
The veteran 37-year-old stopper did the double over Bolton last season with the Chairboys. A 1-0 win at Adams Park was followed by a 2-0 triumph at the University of Bolton Stadium in January.
In the win over Bolton at the UniBol, Stockdale himself admitted he was part of stopping the game as he stayed down after his side had taken the advantage and Wanderers were on the up. Wycombe's game management drew the frustration at the time of Wanderers, as Ian Evatt highlighted afterwards.
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The stopper, now at Sheffield Wednesday, spoke of how his previous club did a study of how the momentum in matches can shift with breaks in play. Though accepting some take issue with it, Stockdale believes it is part of trying to win games and take the sting out of opponents'.
Speaking on the Under the Cosh podcast, he said: “In football, a team is always going to have that 20 minutes where you think ‘they’re on top’.
“If you can just break it up, at Wycombe we did study to say the momentum in play changes, even after a silly foul and you stay down and get a physio it can take it. I did it against Bolton and it was second half, they were having sustained play when we were 2-0 up and I stayed down for about 10 minutes.
“Even their manager said afterwards ‘it’s the old Wycombe thing, you can add another 10 minutes on after, but our momentum is gone then’. It’s all about picking your time.
“Even Sheff Wednesday fans say 'we hated you when you did it to us last year and you beat us 1-0, but it’s even better when you do it for us!' It’s not being a d**k and people hate it, stop the clock.
“If you stop the clock, but you can’t get your momentum back and that’s fine. People say that’s against sportsmanship, but I want to win a game of football."
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