Former Southampton man takes subtle dig at Portsmouth after Sheffield Wednesday victory

Sheffield Wednesday defender Yan Valery hasn’t forgotten his previous Southampton allegiances in the aftermath of the Owls’ 2-0 victory over Pompey.

It was a day to forget for the Blues, who fell to a disappointing defeat to the early Championship strugglers.

A Barry Bannan free-kick and George Brown’s strike after the break ensured Henrik Pedersen’s men picked up their first three points of the campaign.

For Valery, Saturday’s victory at Fratton Park meant much more than just maximum points for the South Yorkshire outfit but also triumph over his former rivals.

The versatile defender, who played the full 90 minutes at PO4, started his career at St Mary’s where he rose through the ranks before going on to break into the Saints’ first-team set-up.

The Tunisia international registered 53 appearances for Southampton and was also named in Ralph Hassenhuttl’s squad who ran out 4-0 winners against Pompey at Fratton Park in 2019.

Former Southampton man’s dig at Pompey

Despite departing the Blues’ fierce rivals in September 2022, Valery hasn’t forgotten his roots and has taken a subtle dig at John Mousinho’s side following Saturday’s 2-0 win.

A post on the 26-year-old’s Instagram read: ‘3pts, clean sheet and always a pleasure to win at Fratton Park, hard work and togetherness always pays off. Big thanks to all the fans who travelled yesterday’

And his comments on social media was met with a great reception by Southampton supporters, who lauded the defender.

One fan replied: ‘Once a saint always a saint yesss Yan’, while another added: ‘Saints boy at heart’.

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John Mousinho on Sheffield Wednesday defeat

The defeat was a real shock to the system after the Blues had gone into the contest after an impressive start to the season.

And it was a performance which left Mousinho far from impressed, with the head coach hammering his side’s display against the Owls.

He told The News: ‘It was a really, really poor result, we got what we deserved and Sheffield Wednesday were far better than us.

‘They outfought us, outran us, out competed, were better on the ball, more clinical and made better decisions in every department. All of those things add up to a 2-0 loss.

‘It’s really difficult to put your finger on it, particularly after the positive performances in the first five games and the extremely positive performance last week when everybody came off the pitch thinking we had made a massive step forward.

‘There are really concerning signs, though. You look at today and there’s a lot of complacency which has crept into the group, thinking this was going to be a much more straightforward game than the others.

‘You try to protect against that, we spoke all week about how unlucky Sheffield Wednesday had been. Yet the complacency is there and the fact we started the game so poorly and made awful decisions.

‘I genuinely thought this group had turned the corner in terms of putting in those sort of performances, it has happened previously but to happen today - after being so solid and so impressive for the majority of the game this season - is disappointing.’

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