WEDNESDAY fan group personality David Coupe believes that a takeover of the Owls must be completed quickly to aid the club's chances of making a flying start to next season.
Months of hope and uncertainty have culminated in the club launching an official search for a buyer via their financial advisors, Deloitte and Touche - a move that may also spur the Geoff Sheard and Jon Sotnick consortia who were already in the hunt.
Coupe, chairman of the Shareholders Association, said he thought the latest move was a step in the right direction and declared: "It's a crucial time, now.
"It's no use new people coming in just before the start of the season, us picking the meat off the chicken bones in the transfer market and going through another season of struggle.
"We want new people in as soon as possible; we want queues of people buying season tickets at prices they can afford, instead of tickets just for the last match of the season. We want to fill the ground again; we want new owners with new energy and enthusiasm."
Coupe regards the official launch of a search for new buyers as a forward move.
"It's put a stepping stone in place. Anybody who wants to invest in Sheffield Wednesday now knows what procedure to follow.," he said.
"The guys who have been buzzing around for the last two or three months, wanting to buy the club, now have to get on with it.
"We want the deal done straight away so a new regime can make important decisions and improvements during the summer."
Coupe sees a parallel between the current situation and the summer of 2005, when most other Championship teams had a three-week start on Wednesday in the transfer market because the Owls were tied up in the play-offs.
He added: "One thing we do know for sure is that the club is for sale and the current regime want to get out. It's got to be new people coming in, and the sooner the better.
"The people who want to get out ... let them get out gracefully and let the business of Sheffield Wednesday start to move forward."
He believes that Sunday's big occasion against Norwich, watched by a 36,0000-plus crowd, was a perfect advertisement for the club as new owners are being sought.
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