How Sheffield Wednesday players actually feel about Owls takeover saga | OneFootball

Liam Palmer has outlined how Sheffield Wednesday players feel about the ongoing takeover saga at Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday's ongoing takeover saga is continuing to toil on behind the scenes following the failed purchase of the Championship strugglers by ex-poker star James Bord, whose consortium fell short of completing a proposed deal to succeed Dejphon Chansiri at Hillsborough.

The unpopular Thai businessman saw his wretched reign at the helm come to an end in October when the club entered administration after a litany of off-pitch issues in recent times, which have resulted in Henrik Pedersen's side suffering the earliest relegation in English Football League history and staring at a future that looks anything but certain right now.

There has, however, been no shortage of interest in taking over the Owls, with that race intensifying once more after Bord's consortium dramatically pulled out of the deal. The likes of Mike Ashley, Charlie Methven, Ryan Howsam and David Storch have all emerged as potential contenders to purchase Wednesday, with the latter now believed to be most likely to receive preferred bidder status from the club's current administrators, Begbies Traynor.

Everybody connected with Wednesday and beyond would've loved a takeover to have already been completed by this stage, though, and while supporters may now hope the end is near and there is some light at the end of the tunnel, it's been a heart-wrenching era at Hillsborough as the League One-destined outfit bid to move on from Chansiri and begin a new era.

Liam Palmer explains how Sheffield Wednesday players feel about Owls takeover saga

Wednesdayites have been sympathetic towards Pedersen's players throughout the campaign, with the emotional toll of the Owls' on and off-field issues clear for all to see. The playing squad was decimated back in the summer and then when January rolled around, too, leaving the inexperienced Pedersen with an equally-untested group of young academy products thrown into the deep end to make up the numbers.

Club captain Liam Palmer, who has donned the armband since January following Barry Bannan's emotional departure to Championship rivals Millwall, opened up on the current state of affairs ahead of this evening's clash against Watford, which will mark the Owls stalwart's 500th appearance in blue-and-white.

A boyhood Wednesdayite, the 34-year-old has spent the entirety of his club career with the Owls and held little back when discussing the club's situation.

Palmer admitted that Wednesday are in a "difficult period" and described how the players are simply "craving" clarity surrounding the ownership saga in what has been an unprecedented campaign for all affiliated with the crisis club.

Palmer stated, via the Yorkshire Post: "We're in a difficult period. A bit of clarity around the ownership is what everyone's craving - players, fans and staff alike.

"The fans have shown over the last two games especially, they've been amazing. Results have not been good enough at all but the way they stayed behind at Norwich and the home game that followed against Southampton, and again at Derby, I think they can appreciate the effort the players are still trying to put in, especially the young players.

"I was in teams full of experience (as a youngster), seeing Hillsborough full and feeling the good side to being a professional footballer.

"It's up to players like myself and the older ones to help steer and guide them.

"I don't think anybody envisaged at the start of pre-season what was to come with the ownership, managers coming and going and losing the captain.

"Relegation, points deduction and not getting paid before, we have had that but as a whole, this season has been so unprecedented that you just kind of fall into a mode of trying to control what you can as a player."

Sheffield Wednesday players deserve credit amid ownership saga and Owls crises

There's simply nothing more that Sheffield Wednesday players can do at this moment in time, though they're deserving of credit for continuing to give their all in spite of such adversity and uncertainty.

The Owls are on course to finish as the worst side in EFL history as they currently remain on -7 points amid a number of points deductions and a current 14-match losing streak across all competitions, but that's not the fault of the players and they haven't given up quite just yet.

After such turmoil, the least that players, supporters and staff alike deserve is, as Palmer says, some clarity. With Storch now progressing his efforts to purchase the club, having been strongly linked before Bord and co received preferential bidder status, they will hope to obtain exactly that in the coming weeks and months and finally begin looking forward to a promising and secure future.