Owls fans wise not to get caught up in Ashley reports

As we wait to see who will be named the new preferred bidder at Sheffield Wednesday, it might be worth just taking a breath.

We know there was interest from a couple of bids led by David Storch and Mike Ashley. We also understand there was at least one other interested party.

Reports this week have suggested that former Newcastle United owner Ashley would be prepared to invest £100m in the Owls if he were chosen.

I have no idea whether that is true. It's not something that has ever been communicated to me but it's also possible that in this instance, I don't have the necessary sources to confirm or deny this.

With that acknowledged, I just want to pose this question. How realistic is this?

One thing we do know for certain about Ashley is he is a very savvy businessman. But investing such a significant sum in the Owls doesn't feel like his style.

For example, presumably down the line Ashley would want to see a return on that investment. How do you make £100m back, plus a profit? The only ways are surely reaching the Premier League or selling the club.

Sheffield United were recently sold for a deal worth an approximate value of £115m. That was for a club with a lot more infrastructure than their city rivals, who had recently been in the Premier League, and at the time of purchase were serious contenders for automatic promotion back to the top flight.

Wednesday are a million miles from such an environment. They'll be in League One next year. The investment needed in infrastructure and basic work around the club is expected to be astronomical.

So, if investing to sell was a plan, making Sheffield Wednesday an asset worth more than £100m is an eye-watering challenge.

Not that Ashley, who sold Newcastle to a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium in 2021 for £305m, wouldn't be up for it, but is he likely to chuck a nine-figure sum at the project with no guarantees of success?

Therefore, the only way I can imagine this would work would be to put the majority of that investment in the squad and hope to build a team that can rapidly climb through the leagues.

That would be a massive gamble, though. It also doesn't feel like Ashley's style, to roll that particular dice knowing what the consequences are if it doesn't work. He doesn't strike me as a reckless chancer trying to buy success on the pitch.

Yet most of the discourse online right now is fixated on Ashley - partly due to his experience in football and business, which is understandable, but also, in part, due to this £100m figure being thrown around.

I think this is potentially hard on fans, who will now have expectations raised in a mighty way. They're expecting Ashley and a major money investment, potentially leaving another preferred bidder having to contend with a 'look what you could've had' scenario which may never have been entirely accurate.

It's why I think it's best for this process to play out and then the next preferred bidder, whoever it is, should have the opportunity to explain their plans for the club for supporters to digest, free of any expectations created before a decision has been made.