Reaction given to Mike Ashley, Sheffield Wednesday takeover twist - 'I really hope he doesn't win a bidding war' | OneFootball

The ex-Newcastle owner has tabled an official bid in order to buy the Owls

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…

Sheffield Wednesday's takeover saga has taken plenty of twists within the past 72 hours or so, with the latest set of developments concerning ex-Newcastle United chairman, Mike Ashley.

The Walsall-born business person has been heavily linked with the prospect of taking over the Owls for some time now, a predicament which stretches into the final weeks and months of Dejphon Chansiri's controversial reign inside the Hillsborough boardroom - one which was brought to an end on October 24th as the former Thai owner placed the club into administration, with Begbies Traynor overseeing matters in S6 on an interim basis for the moment.

Several parties have since come forward and expressed an interest in adding the Championship side to their respective business portfolios, with Ashley one of the most high-profile names keen on making a move alongside the likes of ex-Crystal Palace stakeholder John Textor - who has since set his sights firmly on divisional rivals, Derby County - US-based billionaire John McEvoy and most recently, Sheffield-born Ryan Howsam, who is currently based in the United Arab Emirates' corporate city of Dubai.

The 61-year-old has never been far away from the headlines since taking control of Newcastle back in 2007 for £134m from Freddy Shepherd and Sir John Hall, with those at St James' Park often staging protests against the way in which the North East club was run during a chaotic 14-year tenure before selling up to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund in October 2021.

Unsurprisingly, the potential for the man who made his money through Sports Direct - now known as Frasers Group - to oversee matters in the Steel City has certainly divided opinion, and that remains the case as fresh developments emerged in midweek.

It was reported last week that Ashley had made it into the 'final three' candidates to take over at Hillsborough, with as many as 11 bidders who were able to demonstrate at least £50m worth of funding to the administrative trio of Paul Stanley, Julian Pitts and Kris Wigfield, with the latter a lifelong Owls supporter and the most vocal throughout current proceedings.

It was claimed at the start of November that Ashley was preparing a deal worth just £10m in order to speed up takeover developments, with those in South Yorkshire and in power at the EFL already aware of the reliability of how his funding would be sourced.

John Percy of the Telegraph then revealed on Wednesday, some five days after the initial soft deadline for initial bids for the Owls had passed, that Ashley had made an official bid towards the administrators, said to be in the region of £20m.

Just hours later, though, Rob Dorsett of Sky Sports stated that the aforementioned bid has been rejected down to the fact that three other bidders have tabled bids of £30m, although Ashley could come back with a larger bid as exclusivity could be offered at the end of next week, with Begbies Traynor hopeful that the identity of Wednesday's latest custodian would be revealed by Friday, December 5th.

As previously mentioned, Ashley continues to be a divisive figure, and Football League World's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit, Patrick McKenna, believes he isn't the right man to take the club forward.

"It's no surprise that Mike Ashley is looking to make his bid for the club public," he told FLW.

"Throughout this process, he's the one who wants to shout loudest and ignore any sort of privacy. In his mind, if he gets his name out, it will make him the most attractive owner.

"It's almost as if he thinks he can bully other bidders into thinking 'we can't match this guy. But, Mike Ashley is not the right man for Sheffield Wednesday," McKenna claimed.

"I really hope he doesn't win a bidding war. If you look at what happened at Newcastle, one of his main faults was a lack of investment in infrastructure. Whoever takes over at Sheffield Wednesday, they have to invest a lot in infrastructure.

"A Mike Ashley business plan isn't compatible with what we need. There is no point in him coming in, not investing and treading along.

"People say he sold them to rich owners, but we don't need a few years of Mike Ashley before getting good owners. We want good owners now," he added.

"Mike Ashley might be a successful businessman. But, his time at Newcastle shows he's not a good owner. One thing we all crave is good communication and respect for the fans, I don't see him having that.

"After the excitement of Chansiri going and the news that lots of bidders had come in, I think Mike Ashley would be a disappointing option and he wouldn't get the fans back.

"There would be no excitement with Mike Ashley coming to the club," our fan pundit stated.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will hope the club turns a quick corner under new ownership

Given the club's extremely chaotic recent past, it is no surprise that some Wednesdayites are extremely against the prospect of Ashley taking control of the club.

As well as being an unpopular figure in Newcastle, the ex-Magpies owner's presence is also unwelcome in the eyes of Coventry City supporters, having attempted to evict the Sky Blues from the CBS Arena in 2022, before recently selling the stadium to owner, Doug King in August.

Therefore, it is no surprise to see him looking for a quick route back into English football. Yet, whilst he is a well-known figure, such status is clearly giving him no guarantees in the current Owls bidding war.