The first thing that Sheffield Wednesday administrators did after Dejphon Chansiri exit will surprise you | OneFootball

The administrators at Hillsborough made an unlikely purchase after control was passed over to them

Sheffield Wednesday have been in administration for a little over five months now, after Dejphon Chansiri finally gave up ownership in late October.

A £1 million winding-up petition placed upon Wednesday and Chansiri by the HMRC was ultimately the straw which broke the camel's back, after numerous late wage payments and fan boycotts in the months preceding piled the pressure on him.

Unfortunately, Chansiri's actions led the club to be stripped of as many of its on-field assets as possible, with players walking away from their contracts this summer and leaving the club without bringing in a fee.

But, it's also a common conception that Wednesday never had much investment under Dejphon Chansiri outside the playing squad in his decade-long reign at Hillsborough, too. Former Owl Marvin Johnson spoke just weeks ago about how "the only thing we got was a new set of goalposts" in the four years he spent there.

So, when Chansiri finally left, there was a clear need for investment in non-playing aspects, something which fell on the administrators to provide.

Sheffield Wednesday administrators bought 40 laptops in first act at Hillsborough

According to a piece written by the Daily Mail's Mike Keegan, the administrators at Begbies Traynor ordered 40 laptops in their first act at Hillsborough when they came in late October.

It could be seen as a rather strange action, as the main aim of an administration process is to save money, meaning that less has to be paid back to those administrators when the club is finally sold. However, that doesn't mean that the club doesn't need financial contributions to run in the meantime.

Paul Stanley, one of the joint administrators at the club, explained that there was "a complete lack of investment in anything other than the first team," and that some of the computer equipment "was older than some of the staff," which is rather ludicrous.

The club was reportedly at risk of breaching off-field requirements, so money was put towards improving the laptops at the club. That's not all, though, as Stanley goes on to mention that "a lack of traceability in all departments" also puts Wednesday way behind other clubs in terms of financial contribution off-field.

Paul Stanley's investment admission puts added stress on David Storch if a takeover is completed soon

"If you were to take over a factory that was pumping waste into a river, you'd be legally responsible if you allowed that to continue," Stanley added.

Ultimately, that's a good metaphor for Sheffield Wednesday under Chansiri. There are plenty of aspects that need improvement off the field, and while that's fallen on the laps of the administrators, it hopefully won't be long until new ownership is in place.

It's now expected that Arise's takeover at Hillsborough will go through, with talks between the group and the EFL reaching an "advanced stage" earlier this week.

Ideally, talks about removing the proposed £7k per week wage cap and transfer fee restrictions will be successful, too, and the Owls can work on building a squad capable of at least avoiding a second successive relegation.

However, that's not all the work that needs to be done at Hillsborough. Chansiri's neglect of investment into other aspects of the football club has left Sheffield Wednesday miles behind their rivals in terms of facilities, and the new ownership group will have an almighty task to bring that back up to scratch.

The laptops are seemingly covered, but there'll be plenty of other off-field aspects that need addressing in the early months of their tenure at Hillsborough.

It will be a long, tiresome process, and hopefully, David Storch and co will have the patience and willingness to help restore Wednesday to its former glory.