The reality of Sheffield Wednesday’s on-field plight as relegation beckons
A 4-0 defeat to Swansea City over the weekend saw Sheffield Wednesday move a step closer to relegation, and it’s no surprise whatsoever.
The Owls have been decimated on the back of the actions of Dejphon Chansiri. With points deductions, transfer embargoes, numerous restrictions and an ongoing takeover, there’s nothing normal about the current state of this football club.
Mathematically they’re not down yet, but it’s coming this month. One final twist of the knife from the Chansiri era could be the fact that Sheffield United could be the ones who deal the final blow, and at Bramall Lane as well.
Sheffield Wednesday have been decimated
Wednesday’s plight has been discussed in depth, we all know the battles that have been fought and what fans have had to go through with the hope of getting their football club back. And one man in particular has been hit hard by it all – Henrik Pedersen, the man with the most difficult job in English football.
Against Swansea there was not a single player in the XI that started when the Owls beat the Swans a year ago, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Since the last game of the 2024/25 campaign, Sheffield Wednesday have seen over 20 players leave the club, while several others such as Harry Amass have come and gone. January saw four more go as captain, Barry Bannan, left alongside Bailey Cadamarteri, Yisa Alao and Yan Valery. Far too many of them left for free, as well, with the departure of Josh Windass and Michael Smith in particular leaving a particularly bad taste in the mouth.
Those that left, most notably Windass, Smith, Djeidi Gassama and Callum Paterson, scored 53 of the 66 goals that Wednesday got across all competitions last season. They also now have undoubtedly the lowest-value squad of any team in the division.
Then there are the injuries, they’ve been almost constant for months, but as things stand now there are eight senior players unavailable on that front. Svante Ingelsson missed out for personal reasons on Sunday, which makes it nine potential starters missing in action as they tried - in vain - to end their 25-game winless run. Pierce Charles, Max Lowe, Di’Shon Bernard, Dom Iorfa, Sean Fusire, Ernie Weaver and George Brown are among those unavailable.
As replacements, Pedersen has been left with almost entirely a group of youngsters. On top of the plethora of academy kids that have been fast-tracked into senior football, only four outfield players have been signed that are over the age of 22. In total there have been 40 players used by the Owls across all competitions in 2025/26, including 25 Championship debuts for the club - 19 academy players have been called upon.
When you zone in on the Swansea game in particular, it’s not difficult to see why Wednesday struggled. Seven of the XI had 58 senior starts between them, the midfielders - Jarvis Thornton and Jaden Heskey - had nine. Even the senior players barely featured last season in the grand scheme of things, and the bench was made up of six youngsters and players short on game time due to injury or lack of selection elsewhere. The XI had 16 goals at Championship level collectively last season - and 10 of them were from Jerry Yates.
All Wednesday Podcast
Interviews, match analysis and behind-the-scenes chat - new episodes every week.
Several of those out with injury aren’t expected back anytime soon, and Valery’s exit has seen what is already a threadbare squad thinned out even further. Add in the fact that relegation has been certain for months, even if it wasn’t official, and it can’t be easy issuing any sort of rallying cry.
So Wednesday are where they are. Relegation will be confirmed soon, and the only game that actually feels like it matters - against the Blades - will have passed by as well.
The Owls will go down with the worst points tally that the English Football League has ever seen, and will set more unwanted records along the way. And unfortunately we have to just grin and bear it, because until new ownership comes on board, it isn’t going to get any better.