'Destroy lives' - What Championship managers have said about Sheffield Wednesday crisis this season
Sheffield Wednesday’s ongoing off-field crisis has generated no shortage of sympathy from leading figures at their Championship counterparts.
Tonight’s visit of Middlesbrough is set to mark another landmark moment in Sheffield Wednesday supporters’ hopes of a change in ownership coming to fruition at Hillsborough.
The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust, earlier this month, put forward their plans to try and organise a mass boycott for the visit of the automatic promotion hopefuls amid Dejphon Chansiri’s ongoing ownership of the club.
The visit of Middlesbrough has been identified as the ideal opportunity to stage a first mass boycott because the game will be screened live on Sky Sports, meaning it is expected to generate plenty of national and international attention.
Of course, it is impossible to predict just how many Wednesdayites will follow the trust’s plea and choose to stay away, but judging by the noise on social media, no shortage of supporters, including season ticket holders, are set to watch the game on TV elsewhere.
With the latest protest movement set to offer the biggest reminder yet of the deepening crisis at Hillsborough, The Star has gathered some of the key quotes from some of the managers to have faced Wednesday in the Championship so far this season, highlighting the sympathy they have expressed towards the club.
Martí Cifuentes (Leicester City)
“I would like to give credit to Sheffield Wednesday,” Cifuentes said after Leicester squeezed past the Owls on the opening day of the season. “They fought incredibly well in the 99 minutes and showed pride.
“It’s a big club, there’s a lot of history and the fans are amazing as well, supporting their team in what is a tough period. So all the credit to them.”
Mark Robins (Stoke City)
“I really feel for them,” said Robins after watching his side win 3-0 at Hillsborough in August. “You have a really difficult set of circumstances with the cost of living and people missing their mortgage payments and all that. It has to be hard.
“It must be horrendous for everybody and that’s why you feel for everyone. It can bring you together, but it can also destroy lives as well. It is not funny in the remotest sense and it needs to be sorted out. We feel and should feel really lucky (at Stoke).”
Alan Sheehan (Swansea City)
“For me to comment on any other football club would mean I am focussing time away from my football club,” Sheehan said after leading Swansea to a 2-0 win at Hillsborough in August. “That's not how I work, I focus on Swansea.
“We're based a good way from everything and I don't watch a whole lot of TV. Ultimately the manager is doing a good job. We've watched the games, they got a good result against Leeds, against Wrexham, they could have easily won that.
“Coming here today was never going to be an easy game and we had to control the aspects of the game we could. Credit to our players to come here and put in a performance like that.”
Gerhard Struber (Bristol City)
“Of course this is an outstanding, big and traditional club in England with so many memories,” Struber said of Wednesday after Bristol City won 3-0 at Hillsborough last month. “It is something that is out of our control and speaking to the boys, we noticed a strange atmosphere and we know that when we created very quick situations and took the lead, we knew it could create something with their players.
“Our boys were super-professional. We had focus but we know what is going on at Sheffield Wednesday. My boys were 100 per cent concentrated in our way. I feel a bit sorry for this club, that they have so many problems behind the scenes.”
John Mousinho (Portsmouth)
"The depth of squad isn't there for a variety of reasons that have been well publicised; that is not me being disrespectful to Sheffield Wednesday, they have done a magnificent job considering the circumstances in the summer," Mousinho said ahead of watching his side lose 2-0 to the Owls at Fratton Park last month.
"We are facing an excellent Championship side with some excellent players and from what we have seen in the past few weeks in terms of performances, they are one of the sides that have been unlucky not to pick up more points."
Julien Stéphan (QPR)
“Our intensity, quality and end product was not good enough in the first half,” said Stéphan after watching his side draw 1-1 at Hillsborough last month. “I wasn’t surprised at how well Wednesday played.
“We had a plan and we didn’t respect it and that’s why we had to change some things for the second half.”
He added: “In the end it’s a point we have to be happy with. I have to give credit to Sheffield Wednesday; they worked hard and were very good in the first half."
Frank Lampard (Coventry City)
“It’s a really difficult game for Sheffield Wednesday players and coaching staff - and their fans actually,” Lampard said after Coventry won 5-0 at Hillsborough earlier this month. “First and foremost I sympathise with them, they’re doing great with how they are carrying themselves.
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“Even the fans who are coming on the pitch, I think it’s understandable and they came off the pitch quickly. This is a great club."
Nathan Jones (Charlton Athletic)
“I went up to the crowd with them and I really hope they don’t think that was sarcastic at all because these are tough times,” Jones said after watching his Charlton side beat the Owls 2-1 last weekend. “Our club knows what it’s like.
“We came through it and with god’s will they will too. The framework and the foundation of your football club is the fans and ours aside, there aren’t many better than Sheffield Wednesday’s.”