Concerns raised as Mike Ashley enters 'final three' for Sheffield Wednesday takeover | OneFootball

Mike Ashley has been mentioned as one of a 'final three' of bidders for Sheffield Wednesday, but FLW's Wednesday fan pundit is less than impressed.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Mike Ashley's reported place among the 'final three' in the chase to buy Sheffield Wednesday is causing some concern for FLW's resident Wednesday fan pundit.

The 21st November marks four weeks since Sheffield Wednesday were put into administration, and this is a significant date in the process that follows the club getting into this position.

EFL rules state that clubs have to be advertised for sale for 28 days before anything can proceed, meaning that Begbies Traynor, the company managing the administration can now push on with the business of selling the club.

There were reported to be 11 bidders who had shown the £50 million proof of funds threshold required to be considered for the purchase, but reports this week have claimed that the process is already down to a 'final three', and that among those three is the former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.

"A bit of a disappointing outcome" - concerns aired over possibility of Mike Ashley buying Sheffield Wednesday

Football League World have been in contact with our resident Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit Patrick McKenna for his assessment, and it's fair to say that Patrick is unimpressed by the way in which Ashley appears to be conducting himself: "I think one thing Mike Ashley has done more in this bidding process is get his name out in the papers. It's a bit coincidental that he was one of the first names known, and somehow he is down to the final three at a stage when offers can still come in, so yes, it's not exactly endearing you to Mike Ashley."

One of Patrick's biggest concerns is that Ashley almost seems to be circumventing due process by getting his name into the papers when the sale of the club is supposed to be carried out in a strictly confidential manner: "It's kind of showing that any sort of respect towards the process and he's got some sort of arrogance that he's just going to wander in and take it, and he doesn't seem to think that anyone else has a chance, so yes, that's not the correct attitude if you are going to take part in a professional process with NDAs in place."

Patrick is concerned, given Ashley's previous track record with Newcastle, and doesn't necessarily believe that his style of ownership would be the right fit for what Wednesday fans want in the post-Chansiri era: "I think at this stage now, obviously Mike Ashley would be better than Chansiri. That's not worthy of an argument. But you're kind of hoping for better than Ashley. He's the guy that wants to come in and get us cheap, and not really be the sort to put in a long-term project. He would want to come in, steady things and flip us for a profit, but we don't want that now. We want someone to come in who is going to take us on now, invest in the clubs at all levels, and look to revitalise the club. If you just look at what Ashley did at Newcastle, there were a lot of concerns that he wasn't putting money in. He was using Newcastle for Mike Ashley's gains."

And his biggest concern of all is that following the excitement that came with the news that the club was going to be sold on, Sheffield Wednesday fans' enthusiasm may not last much longer if he is revealed to be the winner of this race: "So yeah, if it was Ashley, I think after all the excitement at Chansiri leaving and the news that so many bidders have met the £50 million, he would be a bit of a disappointing outcome. Not a disastrous outcome, but he's not the sort of person who'd be keeping any sort of excitement and massive goodwill going, and I think that he wouldn't get the goodwill initially that other owners may have."

Ashley's involvement has caused protests at three different clubs before

When Mike Ashley bought Newcastle United in 2007, there was initially optimism that the club's new owner was, in spite of having been born in the West Midlands and brought up in Berkshire, 'one of their own.'

It was a stereotype that Ashley seemed happy to play up to, initially. He was regularly seen in the away end with the fans at matches. HIs popularity peaked with his decision to reappoint Kevin Keegan as their manager in January 2008, but it didn't last. The following September Keegan resigned, which led to protests among fans, and Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2009-10 season.

Although they bounced back to the Premier League at the first attempt, Ashley's reputation among Newcastle fans didn't recover. Having put the club up for sale, Ashley later stated that he "regretted" having bought it in the first place. With protests against him ongoing, Newcastle were relegated for the second time during his tenure in 2016.

Ashley sold the club to a consortium backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment fund in October 2021, but his interest in the game didn't end there. He'd already incurred the ire of Rangers fans in 2015 when, having bought an 8.92% shareholding in the club, he secured a £10 million loan against the club's Ibrox stadium. In November 2022 he bought the CBS Arena, home of Coventry City, and invoked even more fan protest when he issued the club with an eviction notice as part of a dispute over the length of their tenancy there.

Having caused protests at all three of the clubs with whom he was involved in the past, it would be hoped that Mike Ashley has learned his lessons from a fractious past. But there are plenty of good reasons for Sheffield Wednesday fans to feel a little anxious over his potential arrival at Hillsborough. Even if he does represent an upgrade on Dejphon Chansiri, that's an extremely low bar to have to jump.