It’s been almost a month now since the start of a new era at Sheffield Wednesday.
After such a miserable and depressing season, the scenes at Hillsborough as the Arise Capital Partners takeover was confirmed, the points deduction ticking down to zero and then an actual win - yes, a genuine, scored-more-than-the-opposition win - at home in the Sheffield sunshine were an amazing key change to finish the 2025/26 season.
Now, as the dust settles and focus turns to the future, what lies ahead for Wednesday as we move out of the wreckage of the Chansiri era?
THE CLUB
David Storch and his team haven’t taken long to get to work.
As someone whose love of the Owls developed in the early 1990s, I cannot be happier to see the good old simple owl logo back. It’s just a symbol but it means so much to us.Like stripping the name of Chansiri from the stands at Hillsborough within moments of the club entering administration last year, switching away from a badge decided upon by our former owner is a symbolic step away from those times and a chance for everyone at the club to focus on the future.
It also says a lot about how we’ve been run down the years that something as business as usual for any football club as confirming a season ticket on sale date was greeted so joyously by our fanbase. This is not a big deal for most clubs who are run sensibly and logically - two things we cannot say we’ve associated with Wednesday much in recent years. It was an encouraging sign that we were back to being operated like a normal football club.
The hits have kept coming with Wednesday appointing a well-credentialled CEO with a history in the game in David Bruce and apparently closing in on Simon Wilson as Sporting Director.
These are key off-field positions and, again, it’s refreshing - and a bit of a strange feeling as a Wednesday fan - to see Arise working so swiftly to secure their targets and also targeting people with a history in the business of football, not just the business of business.
With 15,000 season tickets already bought, Bruce is now targeting over 21,000 sold - a number that just goes to show the potential we all know Wednesday has as a club for anyone willing to run it well and sensibly.
THE SQUAD
Wednesday’s retained list I feel indicates a team already actually pretty well equipped to perform at League One level. Svante Ingelsson and Jamal Lowe are surely more than good enough to shine in that division, with their work rate and experience good to go. Ingelsson in particular could be a top player in League One I feel, especially if he adds some end product to his game and can become a goalscoring threat from midfield.
It also makes sense to keep Liam Palmer. He’s clearly getting on and age waits for no-one but it cannot be denied he isn’t Wednesday through-and-through and again will provide leadership and experience even if it’s more in the dressing room than on the field.
Of the youngsters thrust into the team due to our situation this season, George Brown looks a great prospect and hopefully can come back from that hamstring injury to continue getting opportunities. For those offered a new contract or in dialogue, Liam Cooper and Max Lowe are the main names that would surely be handy options for League One.
Dom Iorfa and Nathaniel Chalobah (if fit) would also have been handy to keep I reckon but like Cooper and Max Lowe, not having them isn’t making or breaking our season.
In terms of new faces, it is obviously a time for plenty of speculation with Bruce already stating the club will be “aggressive and active” in the transfer market but equally there have been statements that “restrictions” inherited from the previous ownership also have to be considered.
That probably means we’re not going to suddenly be dropping cash like Birmingham or Wrexham to get out of League One but seeking high-quality free transfers and loans. The main links so far have been a return for Barry Bannan and signing Jamie Vardy.
I’m sure no-one would begrudge Bannan a return to S6. The fella is a club legend and his exit was as much about the situation at the club than him wanting to go.
Like Palmer, I believe the biggest benefit for having Baz in the squad would be off the field than on it. Could he do a job in League One? Almost certainly. However, signing Bannan would just be one, not THE ONE, signing that Wednesday need.
Same for Vardy.
I’m sure, even at 39, he could do a job in League One but I wouldn’t want us to be putting all of our wage budget towards him when there’s so many parts of the squad that need attention. My take is sign him for sure if we can, but let’s not break the bank to do so.
One of the biggest stories could potentially be more about an outgoing than incoming player.
Pierce Charles is surely going to attract attention from clubs in the Championship and potentially even the lower reaches of the Premier League.
Hopefully now we’re out of administration and with the new owners we can get a decent price for the young goalkeeper. If we can hold onto him however, we’ve got a No.1 who is going to be one of the best in the division already at the club.
Whatever happens there has to be lots of incomings for a squad that still looks painfully skinny on experienced options.
With Di’Shon Bernard hopefully back to fitness joining options like Gabriel Otegbayo, hopefully Cooper and Ernie Weaver, our centre back options are strong but almost every other area of the squad needs strengthening leading into the season.
Fingers crossed there are plenty of new player announcements from the club in coming weeks.
THE MANAGER
The last component that I think we need to work out is whether Henrik Pedersen should get the chance to stay in the manager’s office for the new campaign.
Other clubs - most notably Blackburn - are reportedly admirers of Pedersen so the decision could be taken out of the club’s own hands. I’m sure however that Storch and his team would have held talks with the Dane before the takeover was completed to form their own ideas.
For what it’s worth I don’t see any need for drastic change at this stage. Last season was such a write-off from the outset that it is, in my opinion, impossible to judge Pedersen’s managerial credentials yet. It’s clear he’s a good human being who held together a team in the most uncertain of circumstances over the past 12 months but next season will need more than just an arm around the shoulder and we should get to see if Pedersen is up to the task more properly.If he gets the backing to get a squad together that can challenge for promotion from League One then he deserves to be given the time to show what he can do with a normal squad and off-field stability under him.
Let’s revisit that one after say 10-15 league games.
THE FUTURE
So where does that leave us all as we head into the second month of our new era?
Hopeful, but also cautious.
The new owners, Bruce and all at the club know there is a huge amount of work to be done and it’s unlikely to be an overnight transformation but one that could take months or years to achieve.
The announcement of a sporting director - most likely Wilson - will be crucial to then get the ball rolling on landing the new faces the squad simply has to have heading into the new season. There’s no way, in my opinion, we’ll be competing for promotion without at least 10 new arrivals that add the experience and nous we lost in the chaos of last year’s pre-season.
Nail those signings and keep hold of Pierce Charles and the excitement could be very much justified. But we also need to be patient and believe there’s now an ownership structure in place at Wednesday to get our club back where it deserves to be.As ever when it comes to the Owls, it won’t be dull, but just like that day in the sunshine on May 2 against West Brom - it’s finally time for all of us to get excited about what might lie ahead for Wednesday after so long with so little to cheer.