Sheffield Wednesday delight made clear over Mike Ashley takeover bid failure - he was "not the answer" | OneFootball

FLW's Owls Fan Pundit has weighed in on Mike Ashley's failed bid for the club and whether his offer should have been accepted in December.

After weeks of uncertainty, Sheffield Wednesday have finally found a new preferred bidder following a consortium led by James Bord failed to complete their proposed takeover of the club, with the administration process going back to square one as a result.

David Storch now has exclusivity, and he will be hoping to complete a takeover of the Owls as soon as possible, with the club set to be deducted 15 points at the start of next season, with his bid coming under the 25p per £1 rate that was needed to avoid that deduction.

Nevertheless, supporters will be hoping that, after months of uncertainty, the Storch family can rescue the South Yorkshire outfit and take them back to their glory days, although there will be a period of rebuilding and the first year will be a huge challenge.

Yet, Mike Ashley has been in the picture throughout, and after Bord's proposed deal fell through there are questions to be asked as to why the former Newcastle United owner was not chosen as Sheffield Wednesday's preferred bidder back in December.

Sheffield Wednesday told they have made the right decision in avoiding Mike Ashley

Ashley has plenty of experience in football, having owned the Magpies previously, while also being involved at Rangers. Yet, he has never quite been the most popular of people at both of those clubs.

Now, Football League World has asked their Sheffield Wednesday Fan Pundit, Patrick McKenna, if the Owls should have turned to the 61-year-old before Bord, despite his massive offer being obviously tempting for the administrators.

Patrick told FLW: "I never understood this obsession with him some of our fans seemed to have. There's this notion that he is some sort of whiz of a football club owner and that he would stroll in and fix everything and simply flip us for a profit.

"He is a self-made billionaire but if you look at his record at Newcastle, at Rangers, at Coventry. If you asked the fans of those clubs, they despise him. At Newcastle, he got them relegated twice. He spent no money on infrastructure. They lost a lot of good players under him and there was a lot of stagnation before he eventually sold them after many years of trying.

"If you look at what he did at Rangers with that retail deal, it a burden on the club. So this white knight idea of Ashley is rubbish. Quite frankly, if he is still trying to massively lowball us, then that kind of shows his real commitment to Sheffield Wednesday."

Patrick continued: "So no, I'm not sorry at all that he has failed in his bid. I am annoyed that time was wasted by these chancers in the Bord consortium, so they’re to blame for the time wasted.

"I know Mike Ashley would get through checks quicker, but he's not the answer from a football and ownership point of view.

"I seriously doubt that the claims he is going to come in and spend £100m pounds instantly were, in my mind, that was a lot of bluff and spin to get people on side. It seemed to have worked, but ultimately, he is out of the process."

David Storch has plenty of work to do at Sheffield Wednesday including one key decision

Storch has perhaps been the quietest party throughout this whole situation at Sheffield Wednesday, and that has proven to be the best method, with his bid significantly higher than that of Ashley's and he looks likely to become the new owner of the club.

Yet, the work will only become harder once he has signed on the dotted line, with a whole new squad needed at Hillsborough as well a decision to be made as to whether Henrik Pedersen continues on as head coach or not after a difficult season.

Sheffield Wednesday have already been relegated after being deducted 18 points this season, but they have picked up just 12 points and are yet to cross the threshold into positive points. Questions have been asked about Pedersen's future in the past, and a fresh start may be needed.

It would not have been a surprise to see Ashley seek out a new head coach had his takeover gone through, with the English businessman not afraid to cut ties with a manager during his time at Newcastle. However, Storch may just want to give the Dane a chance in League One.