Alan Biggs: Sheffield Wednesday heading towards a positive transfer window

That has been clarified by this period without a manager, if not in previous times with one.

Have to say, however, that if all the projected moves come off it’ll look a pretty decent window once again.

That doesn’t remove the strong conviction that the Owls should be working to a plan pulled together by a football professional from the top, rather than piecemeal in reacting to a crisis rooted in the lack of the above.

But in fairness, it must be acknowledged that the owner is again stretching his personal resources to the limit.

He has good cause to be desperate to keep his club in the Championship and, in consultation with interim head coach Neil Thompson, is certainly intent on plugging gaps in the squad.

League One interest in Sheffield Wednesday’s Alex Hunt

Perhaps it is by design that there is no new manager to appease when it comes to what can and can’t be afforded - and no reopening of the debate about who calls the shots.

My impression is that, for the moment, it is Thompson’s position to lose. To gain for the rest of the season with more good Championship results; or lose if a precarious situation worsens in the short term.

That could lead to any sort of appointment, from left field or right, such is the chairman’s unpredictability.

Writing ahead of the midweek game at Coventry, you can only assess the signings made in the meantime.

Personally, I can see the merits of Andre Green and some of my reservations about bringing back Sam Hutchinson have been cleared by it being a short-term, performance-related deal.

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Both are good players, let there be no doubt. Just that with Wednesday needing recruits to hit the ground running for a relegation dogfight, you wonder whether a hands-on manager would have signed players who, after prolonged inactivity, will have to work up to match speed.

But if Hutchinson stays fit and suspension-free, no doubts.

No obvious drawbacks with winger Josh Murphy, targeted from Cardiff and an all-round box-ticker. Or with Crewe’s 22-year-old left back Harry Pickering, as the Owls need to be alive to young players from the lower leagues - just as they are developing a few of their own, not least Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide.

Sign a striker on top, preferably a powerful line leader, and Wednesday should be far better equipped for what I believe will be a very close run survival race.

As for Celtic’s interest in Shaw, realism applies. It’s potentially a big call for a player nearing the end of his contract with a club in no position to hand out lavish long-term deals.

But I hope he stays to continue his development because Shaw strikes you as a player Wednesday could build around for years to come - given more stability in the short term.

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