David Storch is changing structural thing that's been 'totally absent' at Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

FLW's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit is delighted at the news that Simon Wilson may be becoming the new Sporting Director at Hillsborough

Before Sheffield Wednesday begin to work on retooling their playing squad, David Storch and his Arise consortium are making big moves to improve the off-field structure at Hillsborough.

David Bruce is already through the door as Wednesday's new chief executive, and it may not be long until the Owls have a sporting director in place, too, with Stockport County CEO Simon Wilson expected to be making the move to South Yorkshire this summer.

It had been decided in late April that Wilson was to step away from his duties at Edgeley Park after a wholly successful six-year stint, in which the Hatters had risen from the National League to the League One play-off final, meaning they are 90 minutes away from completing the seven-year plan set by chairman Mark Stott when he arrived.

This spell at Stockport has been where Wilson's stock has risen the most, but the 43-year-old has an extensive record with the likes of Southampton, Manchester City and Sunderland over a career which has spanned 24 years and has seen him work as an analyst, strategy manager, director of football, sporting director and a chief executive, of which he is now.

Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit is excited for Simon Wilson to start working with the club

Wilson's move to Wednesday would signal a return to being a sporting director, after spending just over a year as chief executive at Stockport.

His strategy at Edgeley Park has received much-deserved plaudits, as his foundations have helped the Hatters move within touching distance of a first Championship season since the 2001/02 campaign.

FLW's Wednesday fan pundit, Patrick McKenna, is very encouraged by his work at Stockport and believes it to be a real coup for the Owls to be in line to secure him after he leaves Edgeley Park at the end of the season.

"To have Simon Wilson as the new sporting director would be fantastic," he said. "He's got a brilliant CV, shown through working at huge clubs like Manchester City, and what he's done at Stockport is fantastic, too.

"They were in non-league when he came in, they stuck to his strategy, and now look at them; they're in a position where they're challenging for Championship football.

"He has dragged them up from a low spot, and, through his hard work and strategy, the club has progressed year-on-year. They haven't been rising through the divisions on weak foundations; the foundations have been strong, and if he can bring that sort of experience to Hillsborough, it'd be great."

Former owner Dejphon Chansiri never had a sporting director during his decade-long spell as Wednesday chairman, which led numerous managers to juggle roles and change policies as they were replaced.

The fact that one of Arise's first decisions is to appoint one just emphasises the goodwill that Storch and co already have amongst the Wednesday fanbase, and an already excited set of fans are even more intrigued to see where the club can go with this new group in charge.

"It's been something totally absent from Hillsborough in my time supporting Wednesday — a proper, modern structure," McKenna continued.

"It was only a few months ago that we were under the terror of Chansiri, who said you can't plan in football and that Brentford had no ambition, two absolutely rubbish statements.

"If we can get Simon Wilson in, we'd have a lot more confidence for the future, and he is the sort of man who helps clubs with different levels reach their potential."

Sheffield Wednesday can be encouraged by David Storch's front-footed approach

Wednesday can't sign players until the transfer window opens on June 15, but instead of sitting and waiting for that day to come, Arise are clearly putting down the groundwork so they can attack the window at the earliest possible opportunity.

Not only does the hiring of a sporting director allow for less stress to be placed on managers when it comes to transfers, but it also means that the whole club, from the off-field staff to the fans, know that there's a plan in place and a direction for it.

Wednesday have been in the wilderness for years now, and the plans have changed numerous times depending on who has been in the dugout. Now, no matter who that manager is, there's a plan that they'll stick to.

And, if they were to pick anyone to run that plan, it would be Simon Wilson, who knows how to get a team to the top of League One, as seen in the past two years at Stockport, but as McKenna mentioned, also knows how to get a club to reach its potential.

The potential of Sheffield Wednesday is massive. They're one of the biggest sleeping giants in English football, having not been in the top flight since the year 2000.

So, while dreams of the Premier League aren't exactly at the forefront of Wednesday's minds just yet, there's plenty of encouragement that, if Wilson can work his magic as he has at Edgeley Park, they'll be thinking about a top-flight return in the future.