Ex-Sheffield Wednesday striker Michael Smith praised for “standing up” to Dejphon Chansiri as Preston move confirmed | OneFootball

Michael Smith has left Sheffield Wednesday and agreed terms with Preston, and FLW's fan pundit has no complaints about the player's decision to leave.

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...

The summer of 2025 has so far been a waking nightmare for Sheffield Wednesday fans.

Just about everything that could go wrong for their club, including a transfer embargo, the apparent collapse of takeover talks, and even one of the stands at Hillsborough being refused a safety certificate because following the discovery of corrosion in its roof.

One of the questions that will be most vexing to Wednesday fans as the new season starts to come into view on the horizon is that of what their team might look like, and whether it has any chance whatsoever of being competitive in the Championship next season.

July has already brought the departure of two players due to the issue of unpaid wages.

One of them, Josh Windass, is expected to sign for Wrexham in the next few days, and it has now been confirmed that the other player involved - Michael Smith - has signed for Preston North End.

Ex-Sheffield Wednesday striker Michael Smith hailed for standing up to Dejphon Chansiri

With there being no apparent sign of the cloud that's been hanging over Hillsborough all summer lifting, Football League World Owls fan pundit Patrick McKenna to establish whether he harbours any ill-will towards Smith over exiting the club for nothing, and whether or not the target man could come back to haunt the club.

"Regardless of how good Wednesday are in any given season, we do always seem to have ex-players score against us", Patrick told FLW,

"It's almost freaky, and add in how weak and uncompetitive we're going to be next season, we'll make the job very, very easy.

"So certainly it would be a wise bet to have a pound or two on Smith scoring against us next season."

"I have absolutely no resentment at all towards Michael Smith. Fair play to him. He stood up to the nonsense of Chansiri. He's a family man. He's got bills to pay.

"He needs to be at a club where he gets paid every month. Any player that would do the same, hand their notice in and move on, would have my full support. I have admiration for anyone who's brave enough to say enough is enough."

"Smith will leave some very fond memories. He did a very good job for us. I was particularly impressed by him stepping up last season, and, of course, that goal versus Portsmouth was an absolute screamer.

"He's done the right thing for himself and his career, and ultimately it's a good thing that he has stood up to Chansiri, so good luck at Preston, Michael Smith."

The unnecessary loss of Windass and Smith is a powerful symbol of Sheffield Wednesday's decline

Football supporters can be a tribal and defensive lot at times, so a player being lauded for leaving the club by a Wednesday speaks volumes for the state of Sheffield Wednesday this summer.

Josh Windass and Michael Smith were Wednesday's top goalscorers in the Championship last season, with 21 goals and nine assists delivered between them, and they will be a big loss to the club ahead of the new season.

But Wednesday's problems run far deeper than the loss of any two specific players this summer. With issues over unpaid wages, debts to other clubs, and the closure of the North Stand, this summer has become one of genuine existential crisis for the club. As things stand, there is a very real possibility that they might not complete the 2025-26 season.

Further delays in paying wages could lead to points deductions, and the end of July is just a week away.

The sale of Caelen-Kole Cadamarteri to Manchester City - memorably described in the Yorkshire Post as "another example of them selling off the family silver in an attempt to survive" - may ease the financial burden at the end of July, but the end of August falls just a month later and there are few signs that anything is going to improve much by then.

As ever, the best route out of this is for a takeover to happen, but there's no indication of this happening any time soon.

If anything, the sale of Cadamarteri might even persuade the maligned Chansiri to stay on a while longer. Sheffield Wednesday's problems are continuing to mount, and there still doesn't seem to be any end in sight.