Sheffield Wednesday exit decision changed after James Bord takeover collapse | OneFootball

Kevin Beadell is now expected to stay at Sheffield Wednesday after an extraordinary u-turn.

Sheffield Wednesday remain in crisis as they head down to League One, but their longer-term future off the pitch is still yet to be decided or have any concrete plan in place.

Having started the season in disarray off the pitch, with then-owner and chairman Dejphon Chansiri ratcheting up his neglect of the club, the Owls have endured a miserable time of it.

There was a short period of celebration at the departure of Chansiri when he placed the club into administration, but failure to come out of that process is beginning to take its toll further on an already beleaguered fan base.

That has not been helped by the long-term prospective buyer James Bord, who has previously worked as a consultant for city rivals Sheffield United, seeing his takeover of the club collapse.

On the pitch, Wednesday succumbed to their inevitable relegation last week in the ignominious circumstances of a Steel City Derby defeat to United at Bramall Lane.

Henrik Pedersen has tried to find something on the pitch but off-field matters have simply dominated the campaign and now the impact of the Bord collapse has had knock-on effects.

Kevin Beadell set to stay at Sheffield Wednesday in big U-turn following James Bord news

According to a report in The Star, the administrators of Sheffield Wednesday have taken the decision to make a U-turn on the future of current Head of Recruitment, Kevin Beadell.

Beadell moved to Hillsborough back in December 2023 from Cardiff City but appeared set to depart imminently, with administrators having made him aware that his monthly rolling contract would not be extended beyond February.

As well as that, it was told to Beadell that the preferred bidder, the group led by Bord, would not be seeking to retain his services but now, in the aftermath of that takeover collapse, things have changed.

Instead, Beadell will now continue his role with the club and oversee the clubs’ business this summer, which is, as pointed out in the report, expected to be ‘manic’.

It was presumed that Bord's AI-led recruitment model, which he brought to Wednesday's bitter rivals Sheffield United, of which the results have proved rather disastrous, was going to replace Beadell's role, but that will not happen due to Bord stepping away from his takeover bid.

Sheffield Wednesday are still in a desperate situation after James Bord's withdrawal

Should a takeover eventually be completed, Beadell and the club will be involved in an extremely busy summer transfer window as the South Yorkshire giants attempt to rediscover their pride.

The squad will need major wholesale changes just to be able to put an eleven out on the pitch next season, but there are positive signs with regards to the business that Beadell can conduct even in the most extreme of trying circumstances.

For example, last summer saw the Owls bring in Harry Amass on loan from Manchester United, and he went on to be a key man for the club before moving on to Norwich City in January.

Gems like that, as well as the impressive Jaden Heskey from Manchester City, will give supporters confidence that, if and when a rebuild commences, Wednesday will be able to make sure they are competitive and upwardly mobile once again in the third-tier next season.