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Sheffield Wednesday: Luke Varney interview
Read an interview with Luke Varney who was relieved to find that new Owls boss Alan Irvine was also a fan.
Luke Varney may have been the bees' knees as far as Brian Laws was concerned but he plainly didn't know where he stood in the thoughts of Alan Irvine.
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The Leicester-born striker had grown to love his association with the blue and white stripes of Sheffield Wednesday and was genuinely rueful when his second loan spell ended just after Christmas and he found himself seemingly back in exile at parent club Derby County.
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Highly regarded by Laws and Sean McAuley – who stood in on a caretaker basis when the Geordie was ousted in mid-December – Varney simply didn't know where his future was in the early stages of the new year.
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Clearly not 'fancied' by Rams boss Nigel Clough, despite only being signed in a 1m move from Charlton Athletic in January last year, and unsure whether new Owls chief Irvine rated him, the 27-year-old was left playing a waiting game.
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Desperate to head back to Hillsborough where he had ignited his career and become a popular figure with his workaholic displays, the former Crewe Alexandra product saw all his prayers answered when Irvine got back in touch about the prospect of a third loan spell at S6.
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It transpired the Scot had previously kept tabs on Varney's career, the recently-appointed Wednesday boss revealing he had always "admired" Varney while he was with the likes of Charlton and Crewe.
It was music to the ears of the striker and, like the rest of his Owls team-mates, he is in waxing-lyrical mode about Irvine's work to date –
the respect between the pair clearly reciprocated.
Having promptly put pen to paper for the rest of the season it goes without saying Varney would give his right arm for the deal to be made permanent in the summer as he looks to end his Pride Park isolation.
On finding a route back up the M1 to Wednesday, the centre forward – who has two years left on his Rams' deal – said: "With a new manager coming in I was a bit worried, as I'd never really crossed paths with Alan.
"It was a difficult one for me. Obviously, I'd spoken to Sean McAuley a couple of times and he'd said that he'd have loved to have kept me.
"Sean might have put in a good word for me, and the chairman must have known I'd give my all for the club until the end of the season, but I'm just delighted to get it sorted out really. Alan's a top guy.
"To be honest, coming back to the club, I felt nervous for my third stint – it's a bit weird really.
"I hoped I'd just fit straight back in and, thankfully, I have. What I did also feel is a new buzz about the place and an intensity, which is
right up there.
"Alan's been great. We've had a lot of chats and he pulls the lads out individually and tells them what he wants from them, which is really good because, if you are given those guidelines, you can go out there and enjoy yourself.
"I think that's been reflected in our performances. We don't seem as nervous anymore."
In terms of forging a long-term future in the Steel City, Varney added: "I'd definitely love to stay full-time.
"I've made it clear a lot of times I didn't want to leave in the first place to go back to Derby. I'd rather have stayed and carried on.
"I enjoyed the Newcastle game and it was disappointing to have to go back and not be in the squad at Derby.
"I enjoy being here. The people are lovely, the fans are fantastic and the staff are geared up to putting Wednesday back where they belong.
"Everyone is passionate about the club here and we get a great turn-out and if we can keep the performances going, and the fans get behind us, it gives us another 10 per cent."
Wednesday have been busy reacquainting themselves with the wins column in a bountiful start to the new year under the new broom, with ex-Preston manager Irvine's pragmatic approach to results gathering having borne instant fruit.
Given the Owls' dire predicament down among the dead men prior to his appointment, Irvine – not surprisingly – placed positive results as the be all and end all and emphasized the need for substance ahead of style.
While it's not been pretty at times, an outstanding return of four wins in five games ahead of this weekend's trip to promotion-chasing
Nottingham Forest confirmed that diligent Irvine's first task of organising his troops and developing a winning mentality had reaped a whirlwind.
The vital 2-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle was a prime example of what Irvine has brought to the Owls and while the performance didn't win many plaudits for artistic impression, it yielded three priceless points.
However, the win wasn't without beauty as far as Varney was concerned,
with the frontman firing two goals with his 'wrong' left foot to crown a stellar performance.
Indeed his expertly-driven second – from the tightest of angles – even drawing a bucketload of praise from Argyle boss and ex-England forward Paul Mariner.
Varney said: "The gaffer has emphasised that seven ugly wins will do us.
"We've got ourselves into a great position with four wins out of five – long may it continue.
"We're starting to win ugly now, that's the main thing.
"That's good and once we start playing well we'll put a couple of teams to the sword and we've just to keep that work ethic up.
"We just want the next game to come around and we feel as though the confidence is up in the group.
"If you look about us, it's quite tight up to 13th or 14th and if we can string a few results together it would be a great return for what Alan has achieved so far.
"We're not scared of anyone at the moment."
On his double against Argyle, he added: "It's nice to score with my left foot on Saturday as I think my right will take care of itself. It was good to get the benefit of a lot of practice and to pop up with a couple of goals.
"I think my second was the favourite. Obviously after going 1-0 down, it was quite an important goal in enabling us to get ahead and keep the lead.
"I've not seen to be honest what he (Mariner) said. But I've heard he's spoken highly of me and that the goals were great, so that's got to be good."
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
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