Latest news with #MilanMandaric
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Former owner Mandaric planning Owls 'rescue' bid
Former owner Milan Mandaric says he will attempt to buy back troubled Sheffield Wednesday in order to save the club from being "destroyed" under current chairman Dejphon 86-year-old Serbian-American, who owned the Owls between November 2010 and January 2015 before selling the club to Chansiri, told a BBC Radio Sheffield Football Heaven Special he intends to put together a "rescue" will fly into the UK next week, hoping for talks with Chansiri as he seeks to launch a viable takeover bid for the financially-stricken Championship Wednesday, the EFL informed the club it would face spending restrictions over the next three transfer windows due to failures to pay wages on time."It needs a big rescue now - all of us who love football and love Sheffield [Wednesday] have no doubt about that," Mandaric ex-Owls owner said he would be consulting former Wednesday chief executive Paul Aldridge and ex-finance director John Redgate - who both worked at the club under Mandaric - about the "possibility" of a takeover."I am going to definitely try and see him [Chansiri] with my people and be very straight in telling him that he is going to destroy the club unless he lets new people like me get involved," Mandaric has had three previous spells as an owner in England, at Portsmouth for seven years from May 1999 and Leicester City between February 2007 and the summer of 2010 before taking over at Hillsborough. He did not clarify whether he wanted full control of the club again or if he intends to head up a wider ownership group but Mandaric was clear that Chansiri's high valuation of the cash-strapped club remains a likely obstacle to a deal."I would have to get involved myself and I have no problem with that but, two things: you have to find the right person but also you have to have Mr Chansiri agree on that," Mandaric added."That is a difficult part. He doesn't want to sell it because he is asking for a crazy price."Mandaric admitted to feeling some responsibility for Wednesday's current plight, 24 hours before the club were hit with EFL sanctions for unpaid debts and he insisted he believed selling to Chansiri a decade ago would have a similar outcome to when he sold the Foxes to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in 2010."He [Chansiri] gave all the commitment in the world that he has got money, that he has got desire and he had a family there who all talked the same way," said Mandaric."I was relaxed and believed that he would continue to do a good job. I did the same thing with Leicester City and Vichai. He took the club to as high a level as he could and I had a similar feeling from Mr Chansiri when I sold him the club."But we all know what happened after that. Things didn't work quite well. Loyal supporters are suffering the most."
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Is Chansiri's asking price too high?
"The silence is killing everybody. Nobody knows what's happening; the managerial position, the wages position with the players, he's managed to pay some of the staff if not all of them," Ian Bennett of the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust tells BBC Radio Sheffield."It's basically a disgrace. It should never have got to this situation."BBC Radio Sheffield's Football Heaven hosts special guests including Bennett, Clive Betts MP, former owner Milan Mandaric and Daily Telegraph journalist Mike McGrath to talk about the financial turmoil surrounding Sheffield Wednesday under current owner Dejphon episode was recorded before the club was handed restrictions over spending in the next three transfer windows after failing to pay staff wages on Chansiri seemingly unwilling to sell the club for less than £100m, many Owls fans are beginning to worry that the Thai businessman has unrealistic while some see Chansiri's valuation as an inflated price, according to football finance expert Professor Dan Plumley the devout fan base and potential of Premier League football does make the purchase price "tricky"."What we often miss in club takeovers is the sell of the upside," Plumley said."That's where you can start to stretch those valuations and we can have an argument about whether they are realistic or unrealistic in the context of the finances - but with a football club, you are buying into that other side of things as well."Watch the full radio special on BBC iPlayer.
The Sun
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
‘It needs a big rescue' – Former Premier League owner, 86, to jet in for talks to save stricken Sheffield Wednesday
FORMER Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric has jetted to England for talks to help save his old club. The Serbian chief was in charge of the Owls between 2010 and 2015 before selling them to current owner Dejphon Chansiri for £37.5million. 2 2 Mandaric, who also previously owned Portsmouth and Leicester, has since been watching things unfurl at Hillsborough, with Chansiri no longer investing his own money amid talks of a new sale. An American consortium boasting an ex-Premier League star, a major celebrity and several Major Baseball League stars are leading the takeover race after already having a £48m offer rejected. They have even promised to build a new 55,000-seater stadium in a bid to become more popular in the States than Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham. But Mandaric claims he wants to be the one to 'help' Wednesday get out of their current sticky situation. Admitting he was 'not very happy' to leave in 2015, Mandaric slammed Chansiri for making false promises when taking over the club. The veteran football guru insists he is now ready to return to Sheffield with a bold plan to get things back on track. But he feels Chansiri is asking for way too much money to sell stricken Wednesday. Mandaric told Radio Sheffield: 'He (Chansiri) gave me all the commitments in the world, that he's got the money, the desire. That he's got family there, and they all talked the same way. 'I was not very happy to leave the club, but there were circumstances - it was my time to leave. But I was kind of relaxed and relieved that he would continue to do a good job. 'He took the wrong direction, and advice, and now the club is where it is today. And who is suffering the most are those loyal supporters. 'Arrogant' Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri slammed for shoving young fan who filmed him while singing song 'It definitely needs a big rescue now, we all know that, all of us who love Sheffield Wednesday. 'I'm going to meet in London, I'm arriving there next week and I'm going to talk to some people about that, I have a plan to do so. 'I have my ex-manager who was there, Paul Aldridge, and John Redgate, who all worked for me - they know what's going on. And I want to see what could be a possibility to takeover that club. 'I would have to get involved if I'm going to bring somebody, I'd have to get involved myself - I have no problem with that. 'There are two things, you have to find the right person, but more importantly you have to have Mr. Chansiri to agree on that - and that's the difficult part. 'He doesn't want to sell it, he's asking a crazy price - he will never get over £100m as I understands… He'll be an obstacle no matter what we try to do.'
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Wednesday players and staff receive March wages
Sheffield Wednesday have confirmed that the club's players and staff have now received their wages for were supposed to be paid last week, with the club saying it was a "temporary issue" due to debts owed to owner Dejphon Chansiri, whose family control the Thai Union Group, the world's largest producer of canned bought the Championship side from Milan Mandaric in 2015 but this was the latest in a long line of off-field issues in recent Owls have been placed under a registration embargo in each of the past two seasons amid financial a two-line statement on their website,, external Wednesday said that "salaries have been satisfied for the month of March" and thanked everyone for their "patience and understanding".Danny Rohl's side are 13th in the Championship, eight points off the play-off places with six games of the season to has been linked with a move to relegated Premier League side Southampton, who parted company with their head coach Ivan Juric on Owls visit fellow mid-table side Blackburn on Tuesday looking to end a run of three games without a win.
