It was May 2000 when Sheffield Wednesday last played in English football’s top flight.
Not much has gone right since.
Right now, a grand old club which staged European football and reached the finals of the FA Cup and League Cup in the first season of the Premier League is on its knees.
Six points adrift of safety in the Championship, the Owls face the dismal prospect of a third relegation to League One since falling out of the top flight.
The man tasked with engineering their salvation is Darren Moore, their fourth manager of the season.
Garry Monk was axed in November, Tony Pulis came in and lasted just 45 days while caretaker boss Neil Thompson has spent the past two months in charge.
Former West Brom manager Moore has swapped a promotion push at League One neighbours Doncaster Rovers for a relegation scrap at the Hillsborough.
It is some leap of faith.
“It is a big challenge, but something that we have to face head on,” said the 46-year-old, speaking to the media on Monday via Zoom along with controversial owner Dejphon Chansiri.
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— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) March 1, 2021
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“We all need to come together as one and work hard through these hard times. Sometimes these opportunities come along because the situation has not been easy.
“But we have to start from somewhere. This is an excellent club, steeped in tradition, and the opportunity was too much to resist.”
Thai businessman Chansiri bought the club from Milan Mandaric for £37.5m in early 2015 and targeted promotion to the Premier League within two years.
But the club has been on the slide in the past four seasons and their dramatic decline has left deep scars on the blue-and-white half of a football-obsessed city.
Wednesday were deducted 12 points this season, later reduced to six, for breaching spending rules, severely hampering their chances of avoiding the drop.
There have been reports of problems with the payment of wages this season and Chansiri faced questions over when the club’s latest accounts will be filed.
He criticised the agent of Liam Shaw following the highly-rated homegrown product’s decision to sign a pre-contract agreement with Celtic ahead of a summer move.
Opposition to Chansiri from supporters has grown this season but he insisted: “I don’t think I’m going to sell the club. I still try to support it as much as I can.
“It has cost me more than before because we don’t have revenue. Cashflow is more difficult at the moment.”
Moore, who refused to reveal the length of the contract he has signed, has brought coaches Jamie Smith and Paul Williams with him from Doncaster.
Moore insisted: “The chairman’s heart is in the football club and he has real passion for it.
“The word is unity and we all need to join together, with the masses of fans that this club has, for the final 14 games of the season.
“How confident am I of survival? I’ve got to be confident, that’s just the nature of it. I’m competitive and that hunger and desire will always burn in me.
“It’s the biggest challenge of my career because it’s the next challenge. It’s something we’ve got to face head on.”
Moore failed to keep West Brom in the Premier League in 2017/18 and was sacked in March 2019 before being appointed at Doncaster four months later.
He addressed Wednesday’s players at training on Monday ahead of the midweek derby clash with relegation rivals Rotherham at Hillsborough.
Moore added: “I have wiped the slate clean and what has happened before has happened.
“We need to get this huge tremendous football club moving forwards – but we all have our parts to play.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2NPGrxo
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