5 issues Adam Shaw or John Textor must fix if they complete Sheffield Wednesday takeover | OneFootball

We looked at some of the issues Adam Shaw or John Textor must solve if they buy Sheffield Wednesday from Dejphon Chansiri.

It has been a nightmare summer so far for Sheffield Wednesday, but with a number of parties believed to be showing interest in buying the club, there could be some light at the end of the tunnel for supporters.

Wednesday finished 12th in the Championship last season, which represented strong progress after they only narrowly avoided relegation the previous year, but their promising campaign on the pitch has been overshadowed by off-field events.

After failing to pay the wages of players and staff on time for the second time in three months in May, both the Owls and owner Dejphon Chansiri were charged by the EFL, and with the issue still unresolved, the club remain under a transfer embargo, while they have also been hit with a three-window ban on paying transfer fees.

Concerns over Wednesday's financial situation are increasing, but there seems to be strong interest in a potential takeover of the club, with businessman Adam Shaw's US-based consortium recently having two bids worth €65 and €75 million rejected.

Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor, who has agreed to sell his 43% share in the Eagles to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson for £190 million, is also believed to be weighing up a move for the Owls, but they are not the only club on the American billionaire's radar.

Former owner Milan Mandaric had stated that he was keen to explore the possibility of buying Wednesday back from Chansiri during his visit to the UK this week, but the 86-year-old has now confirmed that he will not be pursuing a deal for the club, claiming that he does not want his involvement to "slow down or hinder" takeover discussions with other parties.

As speculation about a potential takeover at Hillsborough gathers pace, we looked at five issues any new Wednesday owner would immediately need to fix.

Implementing a proper boardroom structure

One of the biggest criticisms of Chansiri in recent years by Wednesday supporters has been over his refusal to bring anyone with proper football expertise onto the board.

The Owls do not have a chief executive, director of football or sporting director in place, which has left Chansiri increasingly isolated at the top of the club with no other leading figures present to give him advice on key decisions.

Such a slimmed-down structure is highly unusual for a Championship club, and there are so few staff involved at board level at Hillsborough that manager Danny Rohl revealed last February that he even has to approve hotel bookings.

If Wednesday are to start being run in a more professional manner with a genuine long-term plan for future success, introducing an improved football structure will be one of the first ports of call for any incoming owner.

Improving the recruitment process

While many of Wednesday's recent managers have been good operators in the transfer market, recruitment has largely been led by the man in the dugout, rather than as part of a wider club strategy.

The Owls' recruitment failings were laid bare in January during the public stand-off between Chansiri and Rohl when neither of them were willing to initiate the first contact to discuss transfer plans, which left the club scrabbling around towards the end of the window for signings, and that was arguably costly in their pursuit of a play-off place.

For many Championship clubs, a manager is merely a cog in the wheel of the recruitment process, and data and in-depth analytical methods are often used to help inform decisions in the transfer market.

On the other side of the city, Sheffield United's new owners are currently implementing a new data-driven recruitment model that includes the use of AI, and while relying too heavily on statistics can be a risky move, Wednesday may need to follow their Steel City neighbours in taking a more progressive, forward-thinking approach to transfers.

Modernisation of Hillsborough

Hillsborough is one of the most traditional stadiums in English football, but it is beginning to look increasingly outdated and run down amid Chansiri's ongoing reluctance to upgrade the ground.

Speculation has been rife on social media in recent weeks that the North Stand has been condemned, but while that is wide of the mark, work is believed to be needed on the stand ahead of the new season.

Any work done over the coming weeks would simply be to ensure that the stand is safe for use next season, but the entire stadium is in desperate need of modernisation, and that would come at significant cost to any new owner.

Shaw has even stated that, if he was to take over Wednesday, he would be keen to build a new 55,000-seater stadium, but deciding to leave Hillsborough would certainly split opinion among the fan base.

Completing the training ground rebuild

During a spell of cold weather in January, Rohl revealed that he and his players were unable to use the pitches at Wednesday's Middlewood Road training ground for 16 days, which highlighted the need for improvements to the facilities.

The Owls began renovation work on their training ground earlier in the summer, with the project believed to have cost a seven-figure sum, but it will not be completed before the first-team squad return for pre-season on Thursday.

With Wednesday facing much bigger problems, a delay to the completion of the work on the training ground may seem relatively insignificant, but it is unclear exactly when the upgrades will be finished, and it could soon have a big impact on preparations for the new season.

The current hold-up is not believed to be related to financial issues and is instead due to the work simply taking longer than expected, but just as with the stadium, ensuring the training ground is fit for purpose would be a priority for an incoming owner.

Sorting out the managerial situation

With just over a month to go until the start of the new season, we are still no closer to knowing whether Rohl will still be in charge of Wednesday when the campaign gets underway.

Rohl is believed to have informed the Owls of his desire to leave the club back in April, and he has been linked with a number of clubs over the summer, including Southampton, Leicester City, Middlesbrough, RB Leipzig, Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen, but he is yet to find a new job.

The 36-year-old is still under contract at Hillsborough, but as things stand, he is not expected to return to the club for the start of pre-season, and that would be the clearest indication yet that he remains determined to find an escape route.

Should a takeover be completed in the coming weeks, one of the first tasks for any new Wednesday owner could be to find a new manager, while they could also attempt to convince Rohl to stay at the club, but given that he has openly discussed his possible next move on more than one occasion, he may have burned his bridges with the fan base.