How Chris Waddle feels about Henrik Pedersen situation at Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

Henrik Pedersen oversaw two wins from 46 league games last season

Sheffield Wednesday are now finally planning for life in League One following the completion of David Storch’s takeover of the club.

The Owls endured a miserable campaign in which they won just once before Saturday’s 2-1 victory against West Brom.

Goals from Nathaniel Chalobah and Liam Palmer were the first of a new era at Hillsborough, as the team earned their first victory at home and only their second of the entire season.

Henrik Pedersen took charge of the team last summer following Danny Rohl’s abrupt exit, and he oversaw relegation to League One.

However, financial difficulty put the club into administration in October, and a limited squad meant it was a struggle to compete in the second division.

The Dane will be hoping for a fresh start under new owners, with the Yorkshire outfit set to start next season with zero points and a clean slate.

Chris Waddle backs Henrik Pedersen

Waddle has backed Pedersen to bring Sheffield Wednesday forward despite their difficult campaign on the pitch under his management.

He believes that it’s impossible to judge the Dane based on last season, and that the team wasn’t as far away from being competitive as their poor results might suggest.

"He needs a checklist, and you can't judge a manager on this (season),” said Waddle, via The Star.

"When you look at all the circumstances around Sheffield Wednesday and what they've had to play with, and they've had to throw kids in at times, they've held most teams.

“Apart from the Oxford result, they've been close in every other game for months.

"They're not as far away as people think.

“They've got some good young players who've had great experience and they're dropping a division, which should help them.

"I'm sure the plans are to get about 20 new players to build the squad and you would think they are going to be a lot of seasoned professionals who know that league and know what they can get out of it."

Pedersen was appointed in the summer after previously spending time as part of Rohl’s coaching staff.

The 48-year-old has earned a lot of credit for his role in overseeing the running of the first team squad through this tumultuous period off the pitch for the club.

But he still struggled to get results, with the team ending the campaign with a total of zero points, albeit they were docked 18 by the EFL.

The arrival of new owners led to speculation over whether a change in the dugout would follow, but Pedersen remains in charge for the time being.

Sheffield Wednesday could prove to be quite active this summer in the upcoming transfer market, with the club looking to rebuild the first team squad.

The Owls will be hoping to contend for promotion back to the Championship straight away, and Pedersen could be tasked with overseeing that ambition.

Under the 48-year-old, Sheffield Wednesday have only been able to bring in loan players and free agents, including the likes of Liam Cooper and Harry Amass.

While they are still set to face transfer restrictions this summer, the pool of talent available to sign will be far greater than during their period in administration.

Henrik Pedersen deserves a fresh start at Sheffield Wednesday

It was obviously a difficult year for Sheffield Wednesday on the pitch, but Pedersen deserves no blame for the lack of results.

The squad was quite limited as a consequence of the club’s financial issues, and the Dane still managed to pull off some credible results even if they lost the majority of their fixtures.

The 2-1 win against West Brom was a fantastic note to end the campaign on, and the team were unlucky not to win any of their other close games between then and September.

While there are no guarantees that he will ultimately be capable of leading Sheffield Wednesday to a promotion push, either next year or in the future, he has earned the chance to oversee the start of this new era.