AI predicts what would happen if Pep Guardiola was appointed right now at Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

Would the Manchester City boss be able to work wonders at the cash-strapped Owls?

Sheffield Wednesday's fall from grace has reached extremely new lows in recent weeks and months, with an extremely dark cloud hanging over Hillsborough for many reasons.

The club with eight major honours - including four top-flight titles - is currently seeing its sole short and long-term existence severely under threat due to the continued controversial ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, which has seen the Owls plummet from a relatively strong force at Championship level to being on the brink.

Therefore, it was no surprise when even the most optimistic of Wednesdayites, as well as those on the outside, predicted that there is next-to-no way in which the club will preserve its second tier status for a fourth successive campaign.

Following initial rumblings of discontent which came back in March due to the delayed payment of wages for both players and staff, such developments continued into the summer, which ended in a mass exodus of experienced and talented individuals such as Djeidi Gassama, Josh Windass, Michael Smith, Anthony Musaba, Pol Valentin, Ryo Hatsuse and Stuart Armstrong among others, as well as Danny Rohl's anticipated departure which came nine days before the opening game of the season against Leicester City.

As a result, Henrik Pedersen has been left with a seemingly impossible task, with the Owls operating under a registration embargo, a transfer fee restriction and the looming threat of administration and a possible points deduction, with Chansiri given until September 30th to repay a £7.3m loan.

The Dane and his players have emerged with real credit so far, taking four points from six games whilst remaining as competitive as possible in other displays, with their first victory coming at Portsmouth with a 2-0 scoreline on Saturday.

However, FLW has asked AI what would happen if six-time Premier League winner and Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, took the club on from now, with all the aforementioned circumstances taken into account.

Despite the Spaniard's well-known influence on modern football as a whole, most notably through the 'tiki-taka' style developed with an all-conquering Barcelona side in the late 2000s to early 2010s, AI believes that even he couldn't potentially stop the rot at Hillsborough.

Given the threadbare squad which was only added to through loan deals for Ethan Horvath and Harry Amass, AI believes that possession-based football wouldn't necessarily work due to the physical nature of the Championship and the way in which the Owls will be fighting for every point possible.

Unsurprisingly though, it has been noted that Guardiola would improve the individual standard of specific players, as well as lifting morale in the dressing room throughout such a challenging period in their own careers, never mind the club's history.

However, with the off-field limitations in place for the time being, AI believes that preserving Wednesday's second-tier status could be a stretch too far for the 54-year-old, who would target nothing but initial survival in the first place.

AI predicts that if Guardiola was to stay around in the long run, he could help the Steel City side punch above their weight if a new owner still wasn't to be found and the restrictions remained intact, focusing on a youth policy that sees plenty of the Under-21's, who defeated Leeds United in the EFL Cup second round, become established first-team regulars with high ceilings.

However, that would be in spite of his relationship with Chansiri, according to AI, with it being predicted that the Thai businessman and 'Pep' would clash due to several conflicts in standards and how the club should be run on a day-to-day basis.

A similar feat may be the best route to survival for Henrik Pedersen

Pedersen and his players have drawn immense praise for the way they have conducted themselves on and off the pitch, with supporters even opting to boycott specific matches at Hillsborough to deny Chansiri any extra funding, as well as spending no money inside the stadium whilst he is still inside the boardroom.

Much like how AI has stated if Guardiola was to, in a fantasy world, take over and keep Wednesday in the division, Pedersen would become the latest cult figure at Hillsborough when taking the well-documented backdrop into account.

For the time being, the one crumb of comfort for supporters is that, no matter how bad the situation has got in S6, they currently remain above their bitter rivals, Sheffield United, who have lost all six Championship encounters thus far and remain rooted to the bottom of the table.