Milan Mandaric claims that he is just 24 hours away from concluding a deal to acquire his latest football club, Sheffield Wednesday. He is certainly the preferred bidder as far as the major creditor, the Co-operative Bank, is concerned as although they would get less than a third of their money back, they would get it straight away and no one else seems to be able to offer that.
Milan Mandaric claims that he is just 24 hours away from concluding a deal to acquire his latest football club, Sheffield Wednesday. He is certainly the preferred bidder as far as the major creditor, the Co-operative Bank, is concerned as although they would get less than a third of their money back, they would get it straight away and no one else seems to be able to offer that.
The main alternative is the interesting One Wednesday bid put together by Gary Scotting who owns a local car dealership chain. He proposes a three-tier scheme that would pay off the £6m tax bill and provide enough money to fund the club for the next 18 months. There would be a top tier of wealthy investors who would put in £500,000 each. A second tier would contribute £100,000 per person. Then the wider fan base would put in what they could afford.
Fans seems to like the basic concept, but they are suspicious of Scotting’s links with the discredited old regime at Hillsborough. The deal would do little for the Co-op Bank and it is questionable whether it would really provide enough to give the club financial stability. It has also appeared on the scene rather late in the day.
Wednesday fans have had to put up with a rant in The League Paper by the Rochdale manager who thinks that his team has been disadvantaged by having to compete against teams in debt like the Owls who have been able to continue to hire relatively expensive players and he thinks this should be stopped. Due credit to Rochdale for what they achieved, but given their support base, it is unlikely that they can compete on the same level as the Owls in the longer run.
Wednesday maintained promotion challenge with a 3-0 win against Walsall last night, following on from their excellent away win at MK Dons at the weekend. Clearly the players have not been affected by events off the pitch – as has happened at other clubs such as Liverpool.
There is always a risk that the Co-op Bank could pull the plug and put the club into administration leading to a 10 point penalty. However, I think that is unlikely and that Mandaric will emerge as the owner.
What would I think if I was a Wednesday fan? I would be glad that all the turmoil was over. Mandaric is no fool and will give the club financial stability in the medium term, even if he doesn’t stick around for good. However, I do think he is too inclined to interfere in team matters. It’s best if owners let the professionals get on with it and don’t interfere in the management team in particular, as recent events at Chelsea show.