Sheffield Wednesday players deserve big respect amid Dejphon Chansiri shambles: Alex Miller's Owls view

Somewhere hidden small in the centre of the hulking sadness that is Sheffield Wednesday are a group of footballers trying to prepare themselves for another gruelling season of Championship football. They’re doing so in small numbers, with a hard-working and threadbare core of staff, on a surface not designed for the legs of elite athletes.

They’re unpaid and they’re turning up. With the start of the season just a few weeks away and uncertainty still the buzzword for the summer, word from the camp is that they’re putting the work in and are doing the best they can. A group of players put in extra hours at a local running track this week while others have taken on private fitness routines away from training.

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Next week they’ll head to the plush surroundings of St George’s Park for a week resembling normality, albeit in small numbers and quite possibly without a permanent coaching staff present. The hope is that Middlewood Road will be available on their return. It’s all a bit of a mess, but staff and players are muddling through the madness together.

News that a number of Wednesday players have taken the difficult decision to effectively hand their notice in comes as no surprise given the way they have been failed by the man at the top. Alongside the fact they are owed considerable money, we’re told clear communication has been as difficult to come by as it has for fellow employees in other departments and as pointed out by the PFA, footballers should be treated as they would any other occupation in this sorry situation.

So unless told a bulk of the players involved in taking that action comes forward with a desire to be named, The Star will take the policy of not publicly revealing those understood to have handed in their notice - keeping to the same stance we took the last time the situation arose in 2021. We do so on the basis that it is a private matter that should be kept so and that each individual will have their own reasoning. If other outlets wish to take a different view, so be it.

There is conflicting information out there on the process from here, with the PFA warning that it is not just a case of players walking away from their contracts if certain criteria are not met within a 14 or 15 day timescale. What we will say is that if supporters look at the squad list at current and fear for the club’s Championship future, a mass walkout of the list we have would put the club in a whole different stratosphere of struggle. It needs to be sorted.

Conversations with some close to the players involved have revealed that some have taken the action not necessarily out of a desperate desire to leave the club, though few would blame them if they had. Some, it seems, are doing so with the intention of putting pressure on Dejphon Chansiri to get his house in order, to pay the staff working so hard to keep the lights on and to accelerate a sharp diversion of the club’s current direction. The crude truth of the matter is that they’re business assets as well as human beings.

For now, the ‘keep calm and carry on’ mentality continues best it can. Staff and players have spoken about a responsibility to the fans and themselves to roll up sleeves and get on with it. It seems some are very understandably coming towards the end of their patience, but for now the work continues.

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There has been word of a behind-closed-doors friendly that may or may not take place, but no further matches have yet been confirmed and while there will likely be run-outs at some stage, the concern is that piecing together any semblance of a proper friendly schedule will prove difficult. Amid the chaos, it’s understood some clubs had agreements for friendlies that went unconfirmed to the point that they made other arrangements.

The online response to news of players tendering a notice period has been understanding. It seems more than likely that at some point this season Sheffield Wednesday will lose a run of games. And such is the passion of football fandom, it seems likely those playing will naturally become the subject of frustration from those watching on with a desperation for the Owls to win football matches.

Unless things are to change, it could well be a long and difficult campaign and given the difficulties experienced at current, long memories might be required. This isn’t their mess.

Your next Sheffield Wednesday read: PFA 'will not tolerate' Sheffield Wednesday mess - 'other considerations' to walkout