Sheffield Wednesday twist involving Dejphon Chansiri and administration threat emerges | OneFootball

Dejphon Chansiri is desperately trying to cling onto control at Sheffield Wednesday as administration looms, despite advice to the contrary.

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri is fighting to prevent Sheffield Wednesday from falling into administration, despite advice to the contrary from his "allies."

Ailing Sheffield Wednesday have been in financial limbo for several months, and this could be set to continue with news that owner Dejphon Chansiri is looking to avoid putting the club into administration for the time being.

Wednesday have been reported to be at the point of receiving a winding-up petition from HMRC over unpaid tax and PAYE, and the shortcut to prevent that from happening would be to put the club into administration, which would automatically halt any ongoing proceedings against the club which are in the pipeline.

On the pitch, Wednesday remain in deep trouble near the foot of the Championship, with only one League win from their opening ten games of the season. But the battle to survive remains the most important one that the club can win this season, but the ongoing actions of Chansiri continue to cast doubt over whether he has the best interests of the club or his own best interests at heart.

Dejphon Chansiri is hoping to reach agreement with HMRC which would make administration unnecessary

Journalist Alan Nixon has reported that Chansiri is going against the best advice of his advisors and remaining allies by holding back from putting Sheffield Wednesday into administration for now.

He reports that Chansiri hopes to reach an agreement with HMRC over a payment plan to clear the club's outstanding tax debt, though whether this will be agreeable to an organisation which has historically been very hostile to football clubs not dealing with their liabilities on time is open question.

Nixon reports that Chansiri's attempts to bring outside investment into the club have failed, but that he wishes to retain control of the club. He also notes that "problems about the ground would also be a massive hurdle to deal with" in terms of negotiating a sale of the club because the Sheffield Wednesday owner "owns it and values it highly."

Chansiri's intransigence could throw a spanner into the works of any future potential sale of Sheffield Wednesday

Administration is a formal legal process which is treated as an "insolvency event." It offers the opportunity for an ailing business to restructure itself or be sold under the watchful eye of a licensed insolvency practitioner, whose main concern is to rescue said business as a going concern.

But administration comes at a price, and for the owner of a club in this predicament, the biggest loss is one of control. The insolvency practitioner is the person making the decisions, and the good of the current owner will be low on that priority list.

The situation regarding Sheffield Wednesday's future is further clouded by the separation of club and ground. Hillsborough is owned by a company owned by Chansiri to whom the club itself pays rent, and it is clear that the owner doesn't want to cede control of the stadium as well as the club.

This could throw a spanner into the works of any potential buyer stepping in and making an offer. Not owning your ground can be an impediment to a club's future commercial growth, and it leaves the club open to the whims of their landlord, who could increase rent or even evict the club, should they breach the contractual terms of their tenancy. In short, it makes the club a far less attractive option to any potential buyer.

That Chansiri could be ignoring the best advice of those still close to him will be alarming to Sheffield Wednesday supporters. Administration and a quick sale would mean the club would face an immediate hit, with a minimum twelve-point deduction, but it would also allow them a clean state and the opportunity to start rebuilding. As further details are revealed about the owner's stance, though, it feels increasingly as though he may have to be crowbarred out of a club at which he is quite clearly no longer welcome.