Will Danny Cowley unleash his Hillsborough hero on Tuesday night?

On Wednesday 17th May 2017 at around ten past nine Town were about to lose their playoff final against Sheffield Wednesday. Steven Fletcher had scored the opening goal on fifty minutes and since then Owls fans had been waving their phone torches around and planning their trip to Wembley for the final. Town were probing away at Wednesday but did not look particularly threatening.

Then David Wagner rolled the dice and threw Collin Quaner into the fray. He entered the field with 71 minutes gone in the game. After 72 minutes the sold out away end was in hysterics after an unlikely equaliser was bundled into the net by Wednesday’s Tom Lees. Nahki Wells was the last Town player to touch the ball but the principle reason that goal was scored was the tenacity and raw energy of Big Col. Izzy Brown picked out his run as Collin breezed past the fullback and squared a perfect ball for Wells to scuff against Lees and into the net.

Town then hung on through normal time, extra time and won the penalty shootout. Another 120 minutes of cautious football and another penalty shoot out saw Town achieve the dream of being promoted to the Premier League. None of that would have been possible without Collin Quaner’s heroics in the semi-final at Hillsborough, Town’s only goal of the three playoff games.

That’s why I think Danny Cowley needs to give Big Col a chance to save Town’s season again on Tuesday night.

Can Big Col repeat his Hillsborough heroics?

Despite never being a regular in Town’s team, Collin Quaner is a cult hero among many Town fans (me included). But even the biggest Col fans will struggle to say that he’s in top shape at the moment. A niggling hip injury has sidelined him for the majority of this season after last season seeing him farmed out on loan to Ipswich when he couldn’t break into Town’s Premier League starting team.

Collin has made a few substitute appearances so far since the restart but has struggled to make much of an impact despite a few bright moments. His lack of sharpness is understandable given how little football he’s played but I would still back him to pull something out of the bag despite all this.

A player with heart

It’s easy to talk about Quaner’s shortcomings and make him a figure of fun but he possesses something that Town have been in short supply of recently: passion. He plays the game like a child that’s won a competition to play for their dream club. There’s a natural spirit and energy that he exudes that gives him the enthusiasm to run until he can’t run any more – we’ve missed that kind of spirit in recent games.

It’s also worth mentioning that Big Col’s enthusiasm in infectious, so putting him in the team could be a boost to some of our squad that looked so jaded in the game against Luton Town. I know I would be willing to run that little bit harder if I saw Quaner’s big smiling face on the pitch next to me.

Quaner is actually not a bad player

Collin Quaner has the unfortunate problem of not moving like a typical footballer. His ungainly movement and gangly legs make him look a bit like he’s got cricket bats for legs (as TerrierBlog once described him). But if you look past the funny way he moves around the pitch, he can actually be very effective.

If you want an example of this, he was our top assister in our first Premier League season. It might not be pretty to watch but he has a tendency to confuse fullbacks and bundle his way through and get into crossing positions. Just because it looks a bit of a mess when he does it doesn’t stop if from being effective.

One of Collin’s key strengths when he attacks is that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do next, making him impossible for defenders to read. If a winger likes to cut inside and shoot then it’s easy to show him the outside and shepherd him away from danger. A winger that prefers to get to the byline and cross can be pushed inside towards a waiting defensive midfielder. When Quaner barrels straight at a defender and tries to steamroller through them it’s impossible to know what to do. Most of the time the ball will bounce out harmlessly for a throw in but occasionally he’ll make the key breakthrough to create a chance.

Quaner provides a good balance between defence and attack

Chris Willock had a good game against Reading and looked dangerous for long periods. Against Luton he struggled to have much influence and tended to run down blind alleys. He also showed some sloppy positional play when we were defending which led to Chalobah often having two men to cover.

Elias Kachunga has started a lot of games this season because he is willing to track back and works hard for the team. But it’s rare you see him even take on a fullback, never mind beat them and deliver a cross or shot.

Quaner would be my choice for the right wing slot because he has the enthusiasm and discipline to track back (though his defending is even less elegant than his attacking) while still being a threat going forward. This balance is something I think we’ll need against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night.

Is Danny Cowley likely to start with Big Col against Sheffield Wednesday?

Based on recent selections, it looks like Quaner may have to settle for a place on the bench. Kachunga and Willock are both ahead of him in the pecking order on the right wing. However, after the capitulation to Luton Town on Friday it could be that Danny Cowley looks to make sweeping changes to his starting lineup and throws Big Col into the mix.

I think starting Quaner would be the right thing but if he doesn’t play from the beginning, I hope he is given some minutes from the bench. After all, he came on as a sub three years ago and managed to make all the difference when Town were really up against it.

Want to see Big Col’s run and cross from the playoff semifinal?

Here are the highlights from the game.