Bolton Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher expresses Sheffield Wednesday sympathy - he understands their plight
Bolton Wanderers boss, Steven Schumacher, knows a bit about what Sheffield Wednesday are dealing with at the moment.
Schumacher was Ryan Lowe’s assistant manager in 2018 when the financial issues that hurt Bury so badly first started to impact them, so he’s seen first-hand the sort of effect it can have on a football club.
Wednesday remain in a state of crisis under the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, and started their 2025/26 season without a single new signing to their name. They lost 2-1 to Leicester City on the opening day of their Championship campaign after a spirited display, but are running with a threadbare squad and could make extensive changes tonight.
Schumacher has hailed the remaining experience in the Owls side, naming a few players specifically, and spoke of the opportunity to create a siege mentality at the club.
Steve Schumacher understands Sheffield Wednesday’s situation
“There’s a lot of outside noise,” he told The Bolton News about his time with Bury. “The way we coped with it was just to try and explain to the players that they had to focus on the things we could control on the pitch, in training, on a match day. All that turmoil that the team went through, it sort of galvanised the squad. We created a siege mentality and we managed to get our heads down and get on with business.
“From the outside and looking at Sheffield Wednesday I’d ve very surprised if that is not what they are speaking about because they have got good experience in that squad. They have got good leaders like Barry Bannan, experienced players like Jamal Lowe, Dominic Iorfa, Liam Palmer – my God, he’s played a million games for them – so that type of player will be brilliant to go round and speak to the younger players who may be a bit uncertain, and say ‘look, don’t worry about what you can’t control right now, get the football right.’ And as I say, sometimes it can bring you closer together and make you a tighter unit.”
And Schumacher expects a difficult task against Wednesday, despite their troubles, with the club’s website quoting him as saying, “I watched Sheffield Wednesday's game on Sunday and they were really difficult to play against... They've still got really good players. I know they're in a tough situation as a club right now but sometimes that can bring you closer together and give you that extra bit of spirit.”
Wednesday and Bolton lock horns at the Toughsheet Community Stadium at 7.45pm this evening, with a very young Owls side expected to take to the field in Greater Manchester.
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