Sheffield Wednesday have been slammed following the fan protests against Birmingham City.
It has been around nine years since Dejphon Chansiri’s consortium acquired a 100% stake in Sheffield Wednesday and had targeted promotion to the Premier League by 2017.
The Owls reached the play-offs in the Thai businessman’s first two seasons, however they quickly went on a downwards spiral as they were deducted points for breaching financial fair play, before spending two years in League One.
The club is now battling relegation in the Championship, with Danny Rohl having been appointed in October as Sheffield Wednesday’s ninth manager in as many years – and already the third since the summer.
The club’s off-field issues led to a protest on Friday night, organised by a fans’ group who distributed thousands of yellow posters that read: “Out of touch, out of time, Dejphon Chansiri, just sell up and go”.
Chansiri has come under heavy scrutiny in recent years, and Mail Online journalist Matt Barlow has become the latest to criticise him.
Barlow has explained some of the problems that are going on behind the scenes at Sheffield Wednesday, in what he has described as a ‘dysfunctional mess’.
Writing for Mail Online, he said: “Hot water sometimes runs out after games, a problem blamed on an old stadium in need of a power upgrade and the habit of some players draining the system with pre-match showers.
“The heating broke in the offices before Christmas, although fixed within 24 hours and the club portable heaters were brought in.
“Pitches at the club’s Middlewood Road training ground were frozen and unfit to use in the cold snap and the inflatable dome with its indoor pitch has been out of action for a year, damaged by heavy snow last year and not expected back up before next month.
“Rohl trained some days at Hillsborough, where the pitch is in poor condition as it often is in midwinter and reflects the neglect around the rest of the stadium.
“Urgent attention is required but money is tight at this level.
“Just three full-time ground staff tend the pitch at the stadium and those at the training ground. By way of reference, the ground staff at a Premier League club would be at least double this and often in double figures.
“What must Rohl make of it all? He has worked at Bayern Munich one of the best-run clubs in the world, and RB Leipzig with its space-age commitment to sports science.
“Sheffield Wednesday is a dysfunctional mess.”
Will Danny Rohl go?
Having such a promising young manager like Danny Rohl is extremely frustrating when Sheffield Wednesday have an owner like Dejphon Chansiri at the helm.
The German coach has worked with some of the biggest clubs in the world and is having to settle for this never-ending list of problems at Hillsborough.
If the Owls fail to stay up this season, then it would be a big surprise if Rohl wasn’t lured away by the temptation of a club higher up in the Championship.
Sheffield Wednesday need to get rid of Chansiri before he does anymore damage.