Mike Ashley, Ryan Howsam, John Textor? AI names the best fit for a Sheffield Wednesday takeover | OneFootball

Mike Ashley Ryan Howsam and John Textor have all been linked to Sheffield Wednesday, so FLW have asked AI to identify which would be the best fit.

Mike Ashley, Ryan Howsam and John Textor have all been linked with a move for Sheffield Wednesday, so Football League World have asked AI to identify which would be the best fit for the beleaguered Championship club.

Sheffield Wednesday's Chansiri years will soon be coming to an end. The administrators were called in at the end of October, and it's now looking likely that a new owner for the Championship club will be named within the next couple of weeks or so.

They'll have a lot of work to do. Wednesday are rooted to the bottom of the Championship table on -4 points, and seem almost certain to be relegated at the end of this season. On top of that, Hillsborough has been neglected for years and needs serious renovation work.

But despite all of this, there has been huge interest in buying the club, and this is no surprise. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the grand old teams of English football from the birthplace of the game. Buying them isn't just buying a football club; it's buying a piece of football heritage.

And on top of this, Wednesday have enormous potential. They are a former Premier League club, and demonstrated their pulling power in attracting almost 33,000 to Hillsborough for the recent Steel City Derby.

AI names Mike Ashley as the best fit for Sheffield Wednesday, but "with serious caveats"

With all of the above in mind, Football League World have asked AI to identify the best fit as the new owner of Sheffield Wednesday between the former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, Dubai-based entrepreneur Ryan Howsam, and former Crystal Palace minority owner John Textor.

And after much thinking, AI's reply was to say: "Mike Ashley, but with serious caveats."

The "caveats" ran to a fairly extensive list. Ashley was described as a "polarising figure", whose bid was "reportedly 'well below' competing offers", with the conclusion being that "while he offers financial security and stability, there’s reason to worry whether he’ll reinvest for performance or treat Wednesday as a business asset".

Sheffield Wednesday need delicate handling at this key point in their history

These three figures have very different backgrounds in the game. Mike Ashley has been involved with Newcastle United, Rangers and Coventry City, and at all three clubs he proved to be a controversial figure.

At Newcastle United, a brief honeymoon period ended when he sacked Kevin Keegan, and while Newcastle's finances were stabilised under him, the club was relegated from the Premier League twice on his watch - although it should be added that they were promoted back from the Championship at the first attempt both times - and by the time he sold the club to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund in 2022, there had been numerous protests against his ownership.

There were protests outside branches of Sports Direct in Glasgow regarding his involvement with Ranger, in particular a partnership with the club which was seen as Ashley - a minority shareholder at the time - profiteering off supporters at the expense of the club. A petition against him reached 8,000 signatures. There were further protests against him using the club's Ibrox stadium as security for a loan.

And there was also unhappiness with his actions at Coventry when, after purchasing the CBS Arena following the collapse of its owners, he served the Sky Blues with an eviction notice following a dispute over the terms of their lease.

A club statement at the time read: "Frasers Group have now presented to Coventry City a new agreement with new commercial terms, which have been presented to us without any dialogue or negotiations, and are less favourable to the football club.

"Frasers Group have said they would negotiate for beyond May 2023, but this leaves us without the security and certainty that our current deal provides to us and our fans."

John Textor has been involved with the game in this country, but his multi-club model of ownership has left him open to accusations that Wednesday might end up as a feeder club to bigger clubs within his operation, while there were protests against his ownership in Belgium when it was announced that his clubs, RWD Molenbeek, would change their name to the name of "Daring Brussels", the name they had when they were first formed.

He hasn't had a smooth path at a couple of his other clubs, either. In France the financial issues faced by Olympique Lyonnais resulted in them being demoted from Ligue Un, although this was overturned on appeal, and even in England it was his minority shareholding which was the ultimate cause of Crystal Palace being demoted from the Europa League to the Europa Conference League earlier this year. Textor has since sold his shareholding, but it didn't prevent Palace being demoted.

All of which leaves Ryan Howsam, who is extremely wealthy and was born in Sheffield, but has been living in Dubai for the last twenty years and has no previous experience of running a football club. Howsam has been extremely successful in other business spheres, but there have been plenty of successful businessmen who've found over the years that running a football club can be a bottomless pit for their own money, and that it's not necessarily as easy as it looks.

Whoever ends up with the winning bid - and there are others on the table - Sheffield Wednesday are a long-term project. This is a club with huge potential, who could get back into the Premier League and repay any investment made now many times over.

But they'll almost certainly have to climb two divisions to get there, and there is a lot of work to be done on the stadium. The winner of this race will be buying a piece of English football heritage, but it won't necessarily be easy for them to reach their full potential.