Exclusive:'An amazing job' - Barry Bannan shares verdict on David Storch and key Sheffield Wednesday hires
Millwall midfielder and former Sheffield Wednesday man Barry Bannan has been impressed by what has been happening at Hillsborough in recent weeks.
Former Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has praised new chairman David Storch for the quick improvements he has overseen since completing his takeover of the club last month, applauding the appointments of David Bruce and Simon Wilson.
After Storch’s US consortium, Arise Capital Partners, secured control of the club on May 1, they wasted no time in installing Bruce as the Owls’ chief executive. The former MLS marketing guru became the club’s first CEO since Katrien Meire left Hillsborough in February 2019.
Wilson was added to Wednesday’s new-look hierarchy last week and has been tasked with leading the club’s sporting strategy as sporting director. Former Owls owner Dejphon Chansiri never saw the value in appointing a sporting director during his ten-and-a-half years in charge.
The appointments of such important figures have given Wednesdayites huge confidence that the club is in safe hands under Storch and his Arise colleagues. A record-breaking number of season tickets have been sold, highlighting just how excited everyone associated with Wednesday is ahead of the forthcoming campaign.
As well as making key appointments off the pitch, Wednesday have started work on rebuilding their squad, drafting in Ricardo Santos from Bolton Wanderers last week and tying experienced defender Liam Cooper down to a new deal. Defender Sil Swinkels is expected to join the club from Aston Villa, while a deal to bring Bannan back to Hillsborough, less than six months after he moved to Millwall, is in the works.
The Scot was back in Sheffield on Sunday, visiting The Park pub for the unveiling of a mural that had been created to celebrate his Wednesday career. He confirmed there is ‘a big chance’ he will return to S6 this summer before waxing lyrical about the new ownership group.
“From the outside looking in, they [Arise] seem to be amazing,” Bannan told The Star. “Everything they've done so far has been spot on.
“They've obviously got the fans behind them now, which, when you have got that community at a club, is a strong, strong thing. Obviously, they're on about developing the training ground and the stadium, which has probably needed doing for a while now.
“Even small things like that are amazing for the fans at the club to see. They have a CEO now and a sporting director, who have both been in football, done really good jobs and got really good CVs.
“I think the club had been crying out for that for the whole time that I had been here, really. There was no people put in place to do these jobs, and they are major, major jobs at clubs that make them tick.
“Everything that's happened so far under the new owner has been really, really good. As I said, as a fan, it's the best thing ever because you go into the season after the season that they had last season and you look at it now and everybody's upbeat.
“The city's got a bounce about it again. You see today, with these fans, they're all so excited for next season, and rightly so because I think the owner, David Storch, has done an amazing job so far and he's, brought the club back [to life] again.”
Unlike most ownership groups when they acquire a football club, Arise have refused to tease a timescale on Wednesday’s dream of returning to the Premier League again one day. Nevertheless, they are planning for the long-term by showing clear signs of investing in the club’s infrastructure.
With long-term planning often absent under Chansiri, Bannan believes that is another string to Arise’s bow.
The Scot continued: “Yes, you definitely need an identity as a club, first and foremost. You need stability from the top down, which always helps; when I was there we never had that.
“As I said, it was like the here and now, and ‘What if we do this?’ and, ‘What if we do that?’ But when you've got plans in place from the top, and you see all these clubs who do it, they tend to get there eventually.
“I think they know what they're doing, they're experienced, and they've been there and done it. I think the club's definitely in the right hands with these people.”