Sheffield Wednesday forward reflects on 'up in the air' transfer time after honest Danny Röhl talks

This time last year, the Geordie target man was in the process of closing out the regular League One season with four goals in two matches including a hat-trick against Shrewsbury Town. A penalty in the Miracle took his tally to 20 across all competitions and only injuries had prevented him from starting every league game.

Football is a peculiar business, where achieving success can increase the likelihood of you losing your job - or in Smith’s case, change it immeasurably. Niggly injuries and a change in playing style reduced his influence on proceedings under Xisco and then in the early days of Danny Röhl. He played just 11 minutes in seven matches in December and by the time January came around clubs were enquiring as to his availability.

Things are different now. After clarity talks with Röhl, Smith has tweaked his game to better suit the demands of the manager and earlier this month started three games on the spin to help kick off a five-match unbeaten run that sees them needing just a point this weekend to guarantee safety.

A home win against Plymouth Argyle is the only match that Smith hasn’t appeared in since the closure of the January transfer window and though only four of those 15 matches have come as starts, there’s no doubt he has played an important role in the Wednesday resurgence. Along with a great deal of graft, it was transfer window meetings with his manager that altered the course of his campaign.

“I spoke honestly with the manager in January,” Smith told The Star. “I've always known where I stand with game time and where he sees me. That's all you really want as a player, for the manager to be as honest as he can with you, I've fully understood the situation and when he wants me to play. The coaching staff have been spot on.

“We spoke about game time. Like any footballer who wasn't playing, I just had the conversations about why and what sort of stuff I could do to get into the team. They were really honest conversations and he was as honest as I could have wanted. He gave me the answers on what I needed to go away and improve on.”

He’s not the only Wednesday man to have battled back from a position of uncertainty with regard to his role this season of course. His great mates Michael Ihiekwe and Will Vaulks have both played starring roles in the second half of the season after times it felt from the outside as if they might be fading out. Then there’s Liam Palmer and of course Marvin Johnson. It says something for the character of the so-called ‘old guard’, a character that has served them well when the going has been tough.

“I think it's just experience,” Smith continued when asked how he controlled his mindset through time out of the side and in January transfer speculation. “You learn things can change and obviously I've been around it long enough now to witness lads being out of the team, injuries and all that. It's about preparing yourself to be ready when the chance does come around. When that time comes, you don't want to go on and embarrass yourself or be out for a longer period of time, that's when you starting losing the trust of the manager.

“It's been nice waking up on a matchday knowing that you're going to be walking about in front of a packed stadium. I got that feeling in recent games, walking out in front of our fans in full voice, I've missed it. It felt like it was a while since I've managed to do that. I have really enjoyed it.”

Derby County were among the sides to have lodged an interest in Smith in the last two windows. The Star is also led to believe that a cursory enquiry was submitted by Ipswich Town as to his availability late on in the January window as they sought out a target man before signing Keiffer Moore. But those private talks with Röhl meant nothing was likely to happen with both boss and player keen to press on with the remainder of the campaign.

“Honestly, it was up in the air at one point,” Smith admitted. “Through the conversations with the manager he made clear he wanted to keep me around. I always said that I wanted to say and do well for the football club with everything we put into last year. I was desperate to do well for Wednesday and conversations got quashed pretty early, the conversations became about what more I could do to get into the team.”

Get into the team he has. And though his role is different, if Sheffield Wednesday retain their Championship status by whatever method this weekend, Michael Smith will finish the season knowing he’ll have played a vitally important part in their great escape.