Alan Biggs: This is how I would reverse Sheffield Wednesday decline if I was in charge

How does a football club reverse a decline? One as steep as Sheffield Wednesday’s presents a big challenge.
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How does a football club reverse a decline? One as steep as Sheffield Wednesday’s presents a big challenge.

Rather than criticise what’s gone before - that is well chronicled - this is an attempt to be constructive.

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First up, club ownership is difficult and thankless. I’d run a million miles from it. These are my thoughts if I had the money - and the courage.

Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri, right, and his advisor Amadeu Paixao.Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri, right, and his advisor Amadeu Paixao.
Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri, right, and his advisor Amadeu Paixao.

Other than learning from past mistakes, only the future counts now.

And I feel you have to strip it right back to the basics of your working model. If it hasn’t worked (it hasn’t), how to change it?

In key positions on and off the field, it’s not so much about the “who” but the “how” - in the way people operate.

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And that includes the owner (this one or any) - the degree to which he is hands on and the degree to which he delegates.

From top to bottom, I think most observers agree Wednesday need a structure and a strategy to which they commit for the longer term.

Do they have a chief executive in situ to run the business? Is the recruitment/ transfer team working as effectively as it could or should?

The Director of Football argument carries some merit. If not, do you have a manager who drives transfers in and out rather than being consulted and approving them from his perspective?

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What sort of manager you employ needs tailoring to the above. Is there a playing style you wish to imprint as a template? Again, not the “who“ but the “how.”

You can pick an historically successful manager, as Wednesday have done many times in the past, but those successes will have depended on that man having the right conditions and environment.

Is he comfortable? Is the owner/chairman comfortable working with him? This latter part is vital, whether the current model continues or not.

Then the all-important matter of team-building, in this case creating a predominantly new squad.

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This starts with a budget. Personally I think it is better to have a set figure, keeping the club financially sound and within any regulated limits, than judging signings/ sales on a piecemeal basis.

That way, a hand on the tiller, or football and business professionals in tandem, can steer it with an overall picture in mind.

How many players do you need, where are the positions to strengthen, who can you offload to make the balance?

What type of players are needed? Again, dependent on budget and division; but best worked in the round to a pre-set plan.

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Should the process start with a stock-take of the academy? Which are the players it would be prudent to secure, rather than risk losing (Liam Shaw, for instance)?

Assuming wages will be tight, where should recruitment focus? If experienced, proven players are off limits, where are the best hungry, young, promising ones on the way up? Who’s going to find them for you?

More questions than answers, all from looking in from the outside - and for a fair amount of time - while acknowledging that things can look very different from the inside.

But it all has to start from the top

And I think the points made apply whichever division Wednesday are in next season. An early opportunity to look forward, not back; given a clear sense of direction.

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