Sheffield Wednesday takeover: Henrik Pedersen drops 13-word update all Owls fans will agree with | OneFootball

The Sheffield Wednesday manager spoke after his team's relegation was confirmed by a 2-1 defeat in the Steel City Derby condemned them to League One.

Sheffield Wednesday manager, Henrik Pedersen, has spoken out following his team's 2-1 defeat in the second Steel City Derby of the season against local rivals United.

The writing had been on the wall for months, but there was a degree of irony of the fact that Sheffield Wednesday's mathematical relegation should have come at Bramall Lane, where a crowd of over 30,000 people saw a bad-tempered game which Sheffield United edged by two goals to one amid two red cards.

Wednesday went into the game already knowing that a win could keep them in the division in a mathematical sense for one more match. Early goals from Patrick Bamford and Harrison Burrows threatened an avalanche of a defeat to send them down, but Charlie McNeill did pull a second half goal back for them, and the team could at least leave the field of play at the end of the game with their heads held high. A threadbare first-team had given it everything they could.

The bigger immediate challenge that Sheffield Wednesday now face is getting the club under new ownership. A preferred bidder was named by the club's administrators on Christmas Eve, but the process of approving the bid, made by a consortium fronted by James Bord, has turned out to be a protracted affair.

Posting to the social media platform X, journalist Dominic Howson reported that Pedersen had spoken out on the takeover of the club, saying:

Pedersen's comments will have struck a chord with Sheffield Wednesday fans, who are increasingly desperate for a return to normality following a nightmare 2025-26 season, although whether Pedersen will remain in charge following the ownership of the club is very much open to question.

The club's relegation from the Championship this season is believed to have been the earliest in a calendar year in the entire 138-year history of the EFL, beating the previous record of the 16th March, which was set by Stockport County in the 2001-02 First Division, although it should be added that County 'achieved' this without receiving the sort of swingeing points deduction that Wednesday have been subjected to this season.

Henrik Pedersen has faced an uphill battle this season, but Sheffield Wednesday still haven't been up to scratch

The extent to which Sheffield Wednesday have faced an uphill battle this season has been common knowledge since the full extent of the club's financial woes became clear last summer.

The club have had to deal with a double-whammy of punishment this season. Not only did an 18-point deduction leave the club well adrift at the foot of the Championship table, but transfer embargoes imposed by the EFL have severely restricted their ability to bring in the calibre of players required to give them even a fighting chance of staying up this season.

But so abject has been the team's performance over the course of this season that, as can be seen from the replies to Dominic Howson's tweet, there are Wednesday fans who clearly feel that the team's performances have not been up to scratch even taking into account the restrictions under which the club has had to operate.

And the numbers are stark. Sheffield Wednesday have only won one League match all season, a 2-0 win at Portsmouth on the 20th September. Charlie McNeill's goal at Bramall Lane was only their second in any competition since Boxing Day. Even removing the 18-point deduction that has been applied this season, they would still only be on 11 points, still 23 short of fourth-bottom West Bromwich Albion and safety.

Henrik Pedersen will remain in charge of Sheffield Wednesday until the takeover of the club is complete, and there remains no indication of when that will happen. It's entirely possible that the EFL will not reach a final decision over the fitness of the £32.5 million bid that has been lodged by the consortium fronted by the professional gambler James Bord until the end of this season.

Pedersen has faced an insurmountable challenge this season, but plenty of clubs have received big points deductions before and have been able to build something approaching a competitive team nevertheless, even if they have ended up getting relegated.

But while the Wednesday manager has received considerable forbearance because of the severity of the punishments that his club have faced this season, the unfortunate truth is that there have been few indications as to why any new owners would want to keep him at the club's manager following any takeover, and football can be a ruthless business at the best of times.

Sheffield Wednesday's fresh start under new ownership, regardless of when that finally comes into play.