Journalist Alan Biggs has urged Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri to make this summer appointment.
Change is in the air at Sheffield Wednesday.
The summer ahead presents the Owls with a few turning points, which might become very different if the club are relegated to League One.
Perhaps the most concerning turning point among fans surrounds Danny Rohl; the impressive Sheffield Wednesday boss would surely move on to bigger and better things if the club are relegated, with Championship teams already interested in his services.
Then there’s the playing staff; a number of players are out of contract in the summer and with finances remaining tight at Hillsborough, whether or not many will be kept on remains to be seen.
And lastly, there’s Chansiri.
Dejphon Chansiri’s Sheffield Wednesday controversy
The controversial Owls owner now finds himself at the front of Wednesday fans’ frustrations following a rather calamitous season off the pitch.
The Football League was rocked after the departure of Darren Moore following a feud with Chansiri, who would later ask Sheffield Wednesday fans to pay a £2million HMRC debt.
All of which is just the tip of the iceberg where Chansiri and Sheffield Wednesday are concerned.
Several controversies have led to the formation of The 1867 Group which is organising regular protests against Chansiri this season.
Dejphon Chansiri told to step aside and hire CEO
Writing in his regular Sheffield Wednesday column, journalist Alan Biggs has reiterated Sheffield Wednesday’s need for a CEO, or head of football or something similar; a stop-gap between Chansiri and footballing matters at the club.
Biggs says ‘one’ thing could help to ‘change public perception’ of Chansiri, and that’s a CEO appointment.
Biggs also points out that Sheffield Wednesday have had several names in similar positions over the years, Liam Dooley being the most recent, but all of whom either quit or were sacked, or left for another club; ‘it’s hard to view this turnover as coincidental’, writes Biggs, who adds:
“The strong message would be to find someone Chansiri could trust, experienced in the business of football, and put him/her in day-to-day charge. Ditto for a football director to work in tandem with Rohl. The power would still lie with Chansiri – as it does anyway, because delegation doesn’t mean loss of control.”
Sheffield Wednesday desperately need a director of football or CEO
Earlier this season, Rohl gave a pretty eye-opening interview in which he discussed his working relationship with Chansiri.
Rohl revealed that he and Chansiri make all the decision together, with Rohl even saying that he’s in charge sorting hotels for away games.
It highlights a distinct lack of organisation behind the scenes and a lack of numbers too.
Although Rohl has a very good coaching staff behind him, with names like Chris Powell and Sal Bibbo in place, there’s not enough people in the boardroom at Hillsborough.
Really, there’s only Chansiri, but he has his hands in footballing matters way too much and with no footballing expertise to his name, it’s landed the club in a very precarious position.
Although they’re doing well on the pitch right now, relegation would surely mean Rohl and a number of players leaving, which could kickstart a rapid slide down the pyramid for the Owls.
But if Chansiri, like Biggs writes, can find someone who he trusts and who can do the job of a CEO or a director of football, not taking the power away from Chansiri but simply taking the pressure off him to do everything himself, it could do the club a world of good.
So many teams now follow this model and to great success.
The way Sheffield Wednesday run with Chansiri at the top and making a lot of the footballing decisions is very old school and outdated, and this is reflected in how poorly the club is doing.
With Rohl and his staff though, and players starting to impress, there seems to be the early foundations of a successful team forming, it’s simple missing a couple of key components.