Norwich City are the example for Sheffield Wednesday to follow.
It’s hard to deny that Sheffield Wednesday’s season has been severely disrupted by injuries, but how many Owls fans can honestly say that having kept their best players fit they would have made it to the play-offs – let alone won the things? The problems at Hillsborough seem far more deep-rooted than that – a product of careless recruitment and poor preparation, to put it lightly.
But being out of promotion contention for the first time in three seasons at least gives Wednesday a chance to, at long last, showcase some proactivity [assuming, of course, that there are still three worse teams than them come May] – and taking a leaf out of Norwich City’s book may not be the worst idea the Owls could ever have.
Having fallen short of the play-offs themselves last season, Norwich wasted little time in clearing the decks for a new era at Carrow Road. Five days before the campaign had even ended, the Canaries – who had already sacked Alex Neil as manager shortly after their 5-1 defeat at Hillsborough in March – released seven high-earning players and later sold Jacob Murphy, Jonny Howson and Graham Dorrans for fees which totalled £18 million [Transfermarkt].
Though Wednesday fans might not like it, the reality is they will probably have to shake off a few old favourites of their own to avoid falling foul of the Football League’s Financial Fair Play rules. That could mean giving tearful goodbyes to long servants Atdhe Nuhiu, Glenn Loovens, Ross Wallace and Daniel Pudil, all of whom are out of contract at the end of this season, and taking financial hits on others, for example Steven Fletcher, Almen Abdi, David Jones, George Boyd and Jordan Rhodes, who have failed to warrant their large transfer fees and/or salaries.
The latter scenario is easier said than done, however, and still might not be enough to fund a promotion-worthy recruitment drive, in which case Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri may have to break his stance on selling key players – with Adam Reach, Barry Bannan, Gary Hooper and Keiren Westwood, as well as Fernando Forestieri and Sam Winnall [both fitness providing], likely to attract interest.
Younger, better and – in some cases – hungrier players do exist at lower prices, as Norwich, as well as Huddersfield Town and [dare I say it] Sheffield United have proven in recent seasons, and it’s hard to imagine Jos Luhukay was not appointed with that in mind given his knowledge of the German and Dutch markets.
So why Norwich? They are, after all, only two spots better off than Wednesday. But they are also in a better state than they may have been otherwise – both on and off the field – and a stark reminder to Owls fans that there are no shortcuts once you’ve missed the early boat to promotion.
Can Sheffield Wednesday compete for promotion next season?
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