'Paid them silly money' - Former Sheffield Wednesday man explains why relegation offers reset opportunity
Sheffield Wednesday will be playing League One football next season following a disastrous 2025/26 Championship campaign.
Former Sheffield Wednesday defender Guy Branston believes relegation to League One is the best thing that could have happened to the Owls, insisting they must take the opportunity to conduct a much-needed reset.
Following a shambolic summer last year and going into administration, triggering an automatic 12-point deduction, in October, Wednesday, who also had a further six points deducted in December, were officially relegated to the third tier just over a week ago.
The Owls remain in crisis after Dejphon Chansiri put the club into administration, and they are still waiting for a takeover to go through. They are currently experiencing no shortage of uncertainty after a consortium, being led by Jed Bord, pulled out of a deal to secure the keys to Hillsborough last week.
Everyone associated with the club is desperate for a new owner to be installed as soon as possible so that plans can be put in place for next season. The squad needs rebuilding, the infrastructure is in desperate need of investment and the supporters need something they can cling onto after a season unlike any other.
Although Branston, who spent just over six months at Hillsborough during the 2004/05 campaign, accepts Chansiri is fully responsible for the current situation Wednesday find themselves in, he believes their current predicament has been a long time coming, suggesting the Owls have been “living beyond their means” for several years dating back to when he was at Hillsborough.
Branston calls out lack of long-term planning
Penning a column for The Football League Paper, Branston, who is now an agent, said: “I’ve seen a lot of people saying how sad it is that Sheffield Wednesday have been relegated from the Championship. How tragic it is that they’ve gone down in February, with a single win to their name and a minus number in the points column.
“Personally, though, I don’t think it is sad. I think it’s exactly the reset the club needs after so many years of living beyond their means.
“Don’t get me wrong, Dejphon Chansiri was a reckless owner. He, more than anyone, is responsible for this mess. But as I’ve said before, the club’s decline predates his arrival in 2015.
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“I played there 20 years ago and they operated like a League Two club then. No strategy or long-term planning. An academy run on a shoestring. No investment in infrastructure.
“Season after season, they’ve signed big-name players and paid them silly money - not because they can afford it but they’re they Sheffield Wednesday and they’ve got to act the part. How many of those players have pulled up trees? Very very, because too many were just there for the money.
“How much have they spent on coaching staff and people behind the scenes? How many of them have actually been successful?”