Carlos Carvalhal drops Sheffield Wednesday claim as Hillsborough visit plotted | OneFootball

The Portuguese is still highly thought of at Hillsborough

On his 60th birthday, former Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal has paid tribute to the role in which the club has played in his life.

The Portuguese boss is still held in extremely high regard by supporters at Hillsborough, almost eight years after he was relieved of his duties by Dejphon Chansiri in December 2017.

It is fair to say, though, that the Owls couldn't find themselves in a much more different and testing current situation to the one which they were in during Carvalhal's relatively successful era in charge of the Steel City side if they tried.

At present, a fourth stint in League One since the turn of the century is effectively on the cards - if it already hadn't been - as Wednesday were hit with a further six-point deduction on December 1st for breaching EFL regulations as a result of continuous evidence of delayed wage payments and further non-payments towards the club's players, management, general staff and His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, stretching as far back as March, when the first signs of serious discontent under the aforementioned Thai businessman came to the fore.

The aforementioned deduction comes on top of an automatic 12-point penalty which was handed to the Owls by the EFL on Friday, October 24th, after they were placed into administration by Chansiri.

Wednesday are currently in the hands of the administrative group, Begbies Traynor, who are hoping to swiftly hand control over to their preferred and trusted bidder as soon as possible.

However, despite their drastic plight within the past decade, it is clear how much his time at Hillsborough had an impact on Carvalhal, who still speaks about the club with extreme fondness on his social media profiles.

And as they hope to progress forward in the coming months, Wednesday supporters may finally be seeing the Portuguese return to S6 after his latest hint via X.

Carvalhal, of course, was the first appointment made during Chansiri's era at Hillsborough, with the former chairman initially taking control of the club for £30m from Milan Mandaric in January 2015, with the former Braga boss replacing Stuart Gray in the dugout.

Several recent fan favourites would then be recruited during the former SC Braga boss' first transfer window in charge, which included Barry Bannan, who is still playing for - and captaining - the Owls this season, over 10 years after making his initial switch from Premier League side, Crystal Palace.

During Carvalhal's first season, Wednesday would reach the EFL Cup quarter-finals, a run which included a memorable 3-0 success over Arsenal in the round of 16, before losing out to Hull City in the Championship play-off final in May 2016.

However, they would remain as one of the division's strong forces in 2016/17, with the likes of Steven Fletcher, Gary Hooper and Fernando Forestieri all influential in attack, although the season would end even sooner in the play-offs, this time losing to fellow Yorkshire rivals, Huddersfield Town in a penalty-shootout at Hillsborough.

After a slow start to the 2017/18 season, Carvalhal was dismissed just prior to Christmas, but departed with a record of 56 wins in 131 games, and he still remains the manager to come closest to ending the club's lengthy exile from the Premier League.

He was planning to return in October for the home clash with Middlesbrough. However, after supporters questioned the decision amid planned boycotts against Chansiri, such plans were put on hold.

However, after being sent a birthday well wish by an Owls-themed X account, Carvalhal once again reaffirmed his love for the club and his dream of eventually meeting supporters once again.

"Thank you a lot," he began. "SWFC it’s part of me, important part of my life…

"I will visit you soon," Carvalhal stated.

Sheffield Wednesday support will hope to give Carlos Carvalhal a fine Hillsborough reception

Since his departure from South Yorkshire, Carvalhal has worked at six different clubs, including Swansea City, Olympiacos and two further stints with Braga, meaning he has been fairly preoccupied and unable to return to Hillsborough to receive a warm reception from supporters.

Although no date has clearly been pencilled in yet, whenever it may come, he will certainly be remembered for his efforts in the dugout which almost saw the Owls return to the Premier League for the first time since 2000.

In the meantime, though, the 60-year-old will be watching on and hoping that a new ownership consortium can come in and address several previous on and off-pitch issues to provide the club with a springboard to move forward.