Monkey Business

Look I'm no football expert, never claimed to be, but I do have a passion for Sheffield Wednesday. As fans we only need to have a bad run and we are doomed, win a couple and we are world beaters. But as managers come and go the one thing that puzzles us all, is that without a doubt for several years now the club and this core squad of players have been under achieving. It very much feels to me that this season both in the boardroom and on the pitch things are coming to a head.

Mr Chansiri has made some significant investment in the club, but I've always said and I continue to believe that he is badly advised and that the checks and balances he needs to successfully run the club, are not there. The business side of the club is not overly transparent, with a web of registered companies, Elev8, D-Taxis and the sale of Hillsborough Stadium which may yet lead to a points deduction or worse. The footballing advisers appear to be more interested in their own agendas rather than the best interests of the club. It all has a rather bad feel about it.

But for what? The club needs to be successful but not at any cost. We are told if we want success the fans have to take their share of the financial burden, ticket prices increase, the debacle over the £100 membership fee, early bird season tickets. More players come in, the squad gets larger, but we just continue in the cycle of mediocrity.

The match day experience for the fans is poor, even down to the bars and food outlets. It feels that a massive disconnect has opened up between the running of the club (Mr Chansuri) and the fans (the beating heart of the club). When Mr Chansiri has made his money and moves on, the fans will still be there. He is a temporary caretaker of one of the most historic clubs in English football. We will hear soon if the EFL will press charges, whatever the outcome, let's hope lessons are learnt and that a new period of greater transparency opens up and that the club can bring the fans with them. We all, I hope, have the same goals. Mr Chansiri would do well to remember the slogan of one of the worlds most successful clubs 'Més Que Un Club'.

I'll state that I've never been convinced with the appointment of Gary Monk, but I see some positive signs in that I believe he can see and wants to address the root of some of the problems. I believe his failing at the minute is more impatience mixed with some naivety. He has inherited an ageing and expensive squad and there are some very influential players in the dressing room. We know at the end of the season there is an opportunity with 9 players contracts expiring to clear out and build his own squad.

Clearly in his desire to sort out some of the decay that he can see, he has picked some fights, but maybe his mid season timing is not ideal. His goal really should be to navigate this team through to the end of the season. If we achieve the play offs that's a bonus, but not the goal. Monk talks a lot about players lacking confidence and belief and making school boy errors, this may be true, but there is a point where this becomes a cycle of belief, tell someone long enough they have no confidence and surely they will fulfil that expectation.

Then the gamble with the introduction of messes Wickham, Windass and Da Cruz straight into the first team has backfired. To me this felt like petulance from Monk, to teach some players a lesson. But all he has done is make a tense situation worse. A gradual introduction into the team would surely have been better to help with dressing room unrest and the need to coax the team through to his golden opportunity at the end of the season.

We have seen the same issues that Monk faces, with Carlos, Jos and Bruce. I don't believe now is the right time to sack Monk, he may yet be the manager that delivers where so many others have failed. But Chansiri's hand may be forced if  Monk is unable to steady the ship. Time will tell whether he has pushed too much too soon and or if he can use his man management skills to get the team through to the end of the season.

WAWAW

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