Sheffield Wednesday legend Carlton Palmer has opened up on his feud with owner Dejphon Chansiri.
Palmer has been a very vocal commentator on all things Sheffield Wednesday this season.
Now 58, Palmer played more than 200 times for the Owls between 1989 and 1994, being part of the team that lifted the League Cup in 1991.
Today, Palmer works in punditry for the likes of talkSPORT and more.
Earlier in the season though, he started garnering attention on Twitter for his thoughts on Sheffield Wednesday, or more specifically Chansiri.
Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri
Last season ended in promotion from League One via the play-offs.
It was a dramatic final followed by an even more dramatic semi-final against Peterborough United, and it set the Owls up for a testing, albeit exciting season in the second tier.
But Chansiri arguably set the club up for failure after failing to agree contract terms with Darren Moore who left at the start of last summer.
Xisco Munoz came in as his replacement, but during Munoz’s unveiling, Chansiri spent much of the conference talking about Palmer.
Following several posts on Twitter about the state of the club and More’s exit, Chansiri hit back at Palmer, saying:
“Carlton Palmer came out and said something. I don’t understand why you say you love this club, but you try to damage it.
“When we’ve done well in the past I’ve never seen him come out. I think he just wants to get attention.
“If he thinks he tells the true story, I invite him to talk to me face-to-face in front of fans and media. Don’t hide behind social media.”
Carlton Palmer opens up on feud with Dejphon Chansiri
And now, speaking to iNews, Palmer has given his side of the story.
Palmer said:
“The fans are restless with Mr Chansiri. He thinks I have a problem with him, I don’t because anyone who puts money into a club over a period of time deserves credit.
“He likes to micromanage in his own way. I just think with the ticket prices he’s set, it’s a big ask for fans in the current climate.
“He can redeem himself by backing the manager and I wouldn’t like to see what the backlash would be if he doesn’t.”
Dejphon Chansiri could still redeem himself at Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday fans neither side with Palmer or Chansiri here; Palmer perhaps said a few things on Twitter which he shouldn’t have done and Chansiri had already lost all faith of the fans anyway.
The 1867 Group has formed this season and they want Chansiri out, reflecting the view of a growing portion of Owls fans.
But it doesn’t look like Chansiri is ready to sell just yet and so fans’ only hope is that the Thai businessman finally starts to run Sheffield Wednesday like a proper football club.
If he can do this then he can very slowly start to redeem himself.
Like Palmer says, Chansiri needs to back Danny Rohl, providing he stays amid interest from Sunderland, and he then needs to get to work on improving the overall facilities at Hillsborough and the Middlewood training ground.
Then there’s the issue of the boardroom; Chansiri still has his hands in a lot of footballing matters but a director of football or a CEO could fix a lot of issues within the hierarchy.
The summer ahead is certainly a testing one, with a horde of changes needed. But those changes can’t be put into place until the club’s fate in the Championship is decided.
Sheffield Wednesday host Swansea City on Friday.