I can't think of another Sheffield Wednesday head coach I've felt this conflicted about. The club were right to part company with Henrik Pedersen on Sunday. There's little room for sentiment in football, and after two flat 2–0 defeats in five days at Notts County and Doncaster, the decision was coming. That doesn't make it any easier to sit comfortably with.
A coach who connected with the club
Pedersen arrived at Hillsborough as Danny Röhl's assistant in October 2023 and stepped up to head coach in July 2025, weeks before a season you wouldn't wish on anyone. It brought administration, 18 points deducted, a stripped-back squad and relegation confirmed in February, with just two Championship wins all season. He said publicly that he never once considered walking away. Through all of it, his connection with the players and the fans was obvious.
That's why the message from his wife, Isabella Holmgaard, hit so hard. She posted a photo of the two of them on the Hillsborough pitch after the 5–0 win over AFC Wimbledon, saying those smiles "would become the last photo of Henrik and me at Hillsborough". She thanked the fans, the players and their families, and the staff, and signed off: "We'll keep singing." It's hard to read that and not feel something.
Handled with respect
I respect how this has been handled. The club's statement credited him with "providing stability and leadership during a time of significant uncertainty and change", which is fair. Sporting director Simon Wilson was also honest about the reasoning. The club expected a recognisable style of play and more consistency to develop as the season went on, and as Wilson put it: "Although we have accumulated points, we haven't seen enough progress in those areas."
Pedersen deserved his chance. He earned it through the worst season in the club's modern history, and he gave it his best shot. Wednesday are eighth in League One after 11 games, two points off the play-offs, with five wins, so this isn't a crisis. But the performances of the last week, and the chants from the away end at the Eco-Power Stadium, told their own story. He isn't at this level yet.
Time is on his side
I say "yet" deliberately. Pedersen is 48, and that's no age in management. Dave Challinor, the early favourite to replace him, didn't manage in the Football League until Hartlepool won promotion from the National League in 2021, when he was 45. He was 48 when he took charge of his first League One game with Stockport, the same age Pedersen is now.
Pedersen has time to improve, but we know that will happen elsewhere. Like any job, you learn more from your failures than your successes, and he'll take plenty from Hillsborough into whatever comes next. I hope it goes well for him.
Challinor the obvious name
It's hard to look past Challinor. He left Stockport by mutual consent in June after their League One play-off final defeat to Bolton, and the link to Wednesday is plain to see. Wilson spent six years at Edgeley Park, first as director of football and then as chief executive, and the pair were together as County won the National League title in 2022 and League Two in 2024. Challinor has won promotion with all four clubs he has managed: Colwyn Bay, AFC Fylde, Hartlepool and Stockport.
The caveat is that none of that success has come above League One. He's a proven builder of clubs, but managing Sheffield Wednesday, with the size and expectations of this fanbase, is a different test. Nothing has been confirmed, and Matt Hamshaw takes interim charge for tonight's game against Cambridge United at Hillsborough.
A chance to come together
Whoever comes next will have the backing of the fans. That kind of unity has been missing for most of this season, with opinion on Pedersen split almost from the start. Whoever walks in should be able to count on that support from day one.
Thank you, Henrik.
Sources: The League Paper (PA), Training Ground Guru, The72, Isabella Holmgaard (Instagram).