Sheffield Wednesday takeover news blasted - Mike Ashley 'wants us on the cheap' | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday's FLW fan pundit has had his say on Mike Ashley reigniting interest in the club amid James Bord exiting the takeover deal.

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 have interest from former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley remaining, amid James Bord's bid to acquire the club collapsing.

Ahead of the defeat at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United, a timeline was revealed pertaining to Bord's potential takeover of Wednesday, with a possibility emerging that it could take six weeks for the EFL to complete the various tests and checks.

However, talkSPORT's Alex Crook has revealed that Ashley is 'waiting in the wings' to make a renewed offer for Sheffield Wednesday. That interest from Ashley was said to remain if Bord's Wednesday bid failed at some stage during the required checks and tests process.

That has since come to fruition, with The Star reporting Bord's consortium have withdrawn. Bord, alongside his financial partners Felix Roemer and Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil, had not yet been approved by the EFL. However, the latest could see Ashley re-enter the frame.

Sheffield Wednesday verdict emerges on Mike Ashley's reignited interest

Football League World spoke to our resident Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit Patrick McKenna for his immediate reaction to the latest information regarding Ashley's position.

He said: "In regards to Mike Ashley being in the wings, that does seem to be his preferred position. He does seem to pick up clubs when they are in a bad way and it gets to the takeover stage.

"If he is really that eager, he would have outbid the Bord consortium. It would have meant he could have got in and, despite the points deduction, set out a plan for the good of Sheffield Wednesday.

"I think it's quite telling that he hasn't done that. He isn't willing to pay the price to satisfy the creditors and would happily start next season on minus 15 in League One.

"It's infuriating because, after all the fans and the club have been through — including minus 18 this season, the fact that someone would so casually see minus 15 and see creditors not paid? To me, that is not the sort of person I want taking over the club.

"Ashley could be fooled into thinking he is there for Wednesday. He just wants to get us on the cheap. And people have this notion that he's this great club owner that will instantly turn us round, but look what he did at Newcastle.

"People often seem to ignore that, so, yeah, I don't doubt Ashley is there monitoring the situation. But, to be honest, if an opportunity to take over another club came up in the morning, I'm sure he would consider that as well."

It appeared clear that Bord's takeover of Sheffield Wednesday could be completed within six weeks, meaning that the deal would be ratified by the EFL rather than the Independent Football Regulator. However, there were also evidently some obstacles.

For example, according to The Guardian, the EFL were working to establish if the American's Wednesday purchase would be largely funded by gambling and crypto-gambling proceeds, as they assess whether Bord met the criteria to pass their Owners' and Directors' Test.

There were other potential obstacles in the way of the American's takeover deal, even though the finances had been agreed. Another potential issue was that Bord is being sued by his former business partner Jonathan Cohen.

For some time, there appeared to be no rush to push through a takeover deal until the relevant authorities were satisfied whoever came in is fit and proper to run the side ahead of their return to League One. But the latest information may require a bit more speed from any prospective buyers between now and the season's end.

We may not know the full ins and outs for a few weeks or months yet. However, in total, there were a lot of moving parts and problems which still needed to be fixed or ironed out. It's no great surprise and Ashley could now be the man to swoop in.