I've noticed there is still a lot of online questioning of Henrik Pedersen.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion - and friendly debate is one of the reasons we all love football - but I want to give an alternative view.
Firstly, the new owners have made their decision. They have chosen to give Henrik an opportunity. Whether people agree with that decision or not, surely the best thing for Sheffield Wednesday now is for supporters to get behind him and give him the best possible chance of succeeding. If he succeeds, the football club succeeds.
From my own experience of spending more than six months at the club and being there every day, this is what I personally saw and heard:-
• A coaching team that was fully behind him.
• Players who, despite operating in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, continued to play for him every week.
• A squad that never stopped competing, even with everything that was going on behind the scenes. In fact, I'm still amazed we didn't suffer some real hammerings given the challenges the group was facing.
I also saw a manager with relentless positivity.
Straight after defeats he was already looking forward and motivating players.
Every day on the training ground he attacked the job with energy and enthusiasm. Whether you agree with his methods or not, nobody could question his commitment.
What I heard was equally interesting.
Opposition coaches, scouts and football directors would regularly tell us what a remarkable job he was doing under the circumstances. Many simply couldn't believe how competitive he had managed to keep the team given the challenges he was facing.
Perhaps most importantly, some of the biggest clubs in the country clearly rate him……
Manchester City, Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Chelsea were all proactive in wanting to place or keep young players at Sheffield Wednesday. They weren't doing that as a favour to us. They were doing it because they believed their players would develop under Henrik and that he would improve the value of their assets.
These are clubs with some of the best recruitment and player development departments in world football. They must have seen something they liked.
Does any of this guarantee success? Of course not, it doesn’t even always work out for Jose Mourinho.
Football is unpredictable and nobody knows what the future holds.
But there is a big difference between questioning whether somebody will succeed and declaring that they cannot.
The owners have seen enough to give him a chance.
The people working with him every day have seen enough to support him.
Some of the biggest clubs in England have seen enough to trust him with their young talent.
That doesn't mean they are right.
But it does mean there may be more to Henrik Pedersen than some are prepared to acknowledge.
Now that the decision has been made, I hope supporters give him a fair chance.
Because every now and then in football, the good guy does win.
Wouldn't it be brilliant if that happened here?
Up The Owls! 🦉
An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs after the Club admitted to multiple breaches of EFL Regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other Clubs’ training.
In addition, the Club has received a four-point deduction that will be applied to the 2026/27 Championship table.
The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 Play-Offs and will proceed to the Play-Off Final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.
📘 https://t.co/kGIhl4GksL
Pitch Invasion and assaulting opponent players, all before the full time whistle and the game unable to be finished.
SFA ruling says that Hearts would be awarded a 3-0 win, and the league title.
Will it happen, absolutely not💰
Since David Storch and the Arise group have purchased Sheffield Wednesday, they have:
- brought back the retro Owl.
- ensured no points deduction next season.
- allowed us to pay a fee for players.
- allowed us to pay more than £7k pw on wages.
- promised hot water.
🙌 They’ve owned the club for four days.
Wanted to take some time to reflect on a day I’ve been dreaming of for months.
Saturday was perfect. Will never be able to express how grateful I am for the warm welcome the @SWFC fans gave my family and me. The sun shone down on our wonderful club on Saturday.
It was the experience of a lifetime to enjoy the moment with you all…. To share our new crest designed by the incredible local agency Peter and Paul…. To share the news that after an incredible collaborative effort between my team, the @EFL and BTG we will start next season on zero points!…. To introduce you to our incredible new CEO, David Bruce…. And to witness over 30,000 of my newest friends singing for 99 minutes straight as our Owls closed out such a difficult season with a win.
I’d like to further highlight how grateful I am to the @EFL for their diligence and approach in working with us to ratify all issues and achieve our target of closing by 1 May.
It takes a village; but without the commitment and tenacity of Asher Simons, Clive Betts MP and James Silverwood in particular, we would not be where we are today.
It’s been an extremely emotional 48 hours for me after a long process, but now the focus is already completely on action. We are proceeding ahead immediately on all fronts and we will update you, the fans, as we go.
You are the reason Michael and I are here, the reason we have fallen in love with this city and this club. We will do everything in our power to ensure we don’t let you down.
David
#wawaw #uto #swfc
Sheffield Wednesday have won for the first time since September, after breaking the football league record for most consecutive games without a victory.
The Owls did it in front of a sold out crowd in the final day, recording the highest attendance of any club in the Championship this season, with 33,750 fans 👏🦉
BREAKING: Sheffield Wednesday under new ownership after takeover from Arise Capital Partners LLC 🚨
The club will receive no further points deduction next season in League One.