How Simon Wilson really feels about Henrik Pedersen's Sheffield Wednesday future | OneFootball

Newly-appointed Sheffield Wednesday sporting director Simon Wilson has discussed the future of Henrik Pedersen at Hillsborough

The rebuilding wheels are now firmly in motion at Sheffield Wednesday following the warmly-welcomed completion of Arise Capital Partners' takeover at the start of the previous month, as the Owls undertake wholesale changes both on and away from the pitch ahead of a return to League One.

Wednesday were left in ruinous financial straits by unpopular ex-owner Dejphon Chanisiri, with the Thai businessman's well-documented mismanagement of the club incurring a total of 18 deducted points as the Steel City outfit suffered the swiftest relegation in EFL history with a depleted makeshift squad under Henrik Pedersen last season.

Indeed, Wednesdayites had been fearful over the Owls' future and they even came close to going under completely before coming into fresh ownership, with the David Storch-led takeover now giving supporters the chance to be optimistic about a healthy and prosperous new era once again.

That will, of course, begin to take shape in English football's third-tier, but transformative plays are being made on all fronts in a signficant, and long-awaited, shake-up.

Wednesday have already made two significant off-field appointments in the form of freshly-inducted chief executive officer David Bruce and Simon Wilson, who was officially named as the club's new sporting director just yesterday after leaving League One rivals Stockport County, where he enjoyed a hugely successful stay to spearhead the Hatters' ascent up the divisions.

The Owls' new hierarchy will be tasked with a host of key decisions throughout the summer months and Wilson, having only just arrived in through the door at Hillsborough, has already made his mind up on the much-speculated future of Pedersen.

Simon Wilson reveals Henrik Pedersen stance at Sheffield Wednesday

Pedersen's future in charge of Wednesday has been the subject of debate among supporters, with some believing that a complete change is required from such a traumatising campaign in the Championship amid the backdrop of Chansiri-created chaos.

Many, however, have commended the inexperienced Dane for his commitment to the cause, showing unwavering strength to lead a group of young players through the most grueling of seasons.

That hasn't been lost on the Owls' key decision-makers, and with The Star having previously reported some weeks ago that Pedersen's position was poised to remain secure in the event of Storch's takeover, Wilson has now doubled down on the club's stance.

Wilson has ensured that the position on Pedersen has not changed, lauding the 48-year-old's ability to hold everything together in spite of intense adversity and insisting that he will receive the "tools" this summer to build a squad in his vision and direct a hopeful push for promotion straight back to the Championship.

When asked whether he believes Pedersen to be the best candidate to take Wednesday forward at a Q&A event on Monday, the Owls chief explained: "Yeah, I do. “I think the challenge last season was incredible for the coaching staff.

"I know there weren’t many wins and I know there were challenges in terms of scoring goals and attacking play. But this was largely due to the circumstances.

"I think what you look at in those situations is; how did he or they lead in that moment? They were able to create wins without winning, they weren’t able to win on the pitch but they were able to win in another way by keeping and bringing people together.

"Some of the people here will have faced these challenges in their own businesses. When times are hard, how do you keep people together in that moment? How do you keep people buying-in for the greater good and not just for themselves? Henrik and the guys did an incredible job with this.

"My first conversation when I met Henrik was firstly congratulations for that (holding things together last season), but it was then how are we going to play? How do you want to play?

"He just really excited me with the way he spoke about how he wants to build a team, what he wants to do when we’re playing at Hillsborough, how he wants to go and attack games and how he wants to score every time we have the ball. He wants us to be a very attacking team.

"My job is to give him the tools to go out and play exactly the way he wants to play.

"We’ve got there a top quality person and you can’t go too far wrong with that in life. It’s about giving him the tools to go and execute the way he wants to do it."

Henrik Pedersen will have a clean Sheffield Wednesday slate under David Storch and co

Pedersen will be relishing the opportunity to enjoy a clean slate and prove his worth under fresh ownership and without myriad mitigating circumstances lingering behind the scenes.

His managerial mettle will now be properly tested, as there's only so much that can really be gauged from the doomed situation that the club found itself in prior to Storch's takeover.

We're going to see exactly what Pedersen is really about, and the strong showing of faith from the club's top brass is something that should excite Wednesday fans and players alike.

The ability to complete transfers, resist interest in prized assets and operate throughout the campaign without the handicap of multiple points deductions affords a clean slate which Pedersen simply must seize with both hands, and it's hard to feel that he hasn't earned the opportunity to have exactly that after holding fort and keeping the squad going throughout last season's interminable trials and tribulations.