"We had to step back and build again" - Dejphon Chansiri describes his plan for Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has given a little insight into the difficulties of running a Championship club.
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Describing football as a ‘unique business’ in which you ‘can not plan ahead of five or 10 years’ and maintaining cash is no guarantee for success in the Championship, Chansiri said: “It is difficult to look too far forward in football.

“We did our best to push for the first two to three years but then we had to step back, change some players and rebuild, then bring younger players in for the future.

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“Investment cannot guarantee anything in football but it does help give the best chance of staying up and then move towards going up.”

Reiterating the difficulty of recruitment in the Championship and the ability to move players on when things don’t work out, Chansiri told Yorkshire Live: “Of course, we all want the perfect blend of youth, height, pace, strength and experience but we do not live in the perfect world, everyone wants the same thing.

“We have always tried to recruit the best we can and some transfers work out well while others do not, this is the benefit of hindsight. Football is not like a normal business where you recruit who you think is the best option but let go if it does not work out.

“You cannot do that with players, contracts are in place so you do the best you can and the plan is to succeed. In year one and year two we came very close but did not succeed so we had to step back and build again.”

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And the plan for Wednesday? He still hopes to take the club to the Premier League.

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri.Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri.
Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri.

“The plan of every club in the Championship is to firstly at least stay in this division and secondly aim for the Premier League,” he said.

“Some clubs, particularly those with parachute payments, have a better chance than others. For the rest, they all have the same ambitions and try their best to achieve them.

“The football will always be on the front line and in the background, I will always try to improve the off-field operation in every way possible.”