Improper Chansiri blackmails Sheff Weds fans with £2m demand – F365’s Championship Spotlight
Dejphon Chansiri blackmailing Sheffield Wednesday fans into raising £2m to save them is a sickening new low for the Championship club’s improper owner…
A NEW LOW FOR CHANSIRI
“If 20,000 people gave £100 then it’s £2m, and it’d be clear – so we can finish it…”
If you missed the latest nonsensical outburst from Sheffield Wednesday‘s morally inept owner, you must have your head in the sand like an ostrich.
Chansiri took social media by storm (for all the wrong reasons) in the early hours of Tuesday morning when he asked fans to raise £2m to pay off huge debts owed to HM Revenue and Customs and to cover wages.
It is understood that if this bill is not paid in time, Sheff Weds are at risk of being banned from registering players for three transfer windows. So a lot is on the line for a club already in disarray and cut adrift at the bottom of the Championship.
They have been nothing short of abysmal since last season’s League One play-off final win. From Darren Moore’s abrupt departure to the baffling appointment of Xisco Munoz and the poor summer recruitment, it’s been a sh*t-show and Chansiri has been at the centre of all of this wrongdoing.
With his ego taking a hit as a result of justified mass backlash from fans, last month Chansiri threatened to stop putting “additional funding” into the club and they are now at risk of severe sanctioning which could see them start the process of slipping down the divisions.
And it tells you all you need to know about Chansiri’s character that his go-to answer to Sheff Weds’ ongoing financial issues is to blackmail supporters into putting their hands into their pockets to save the club themselves just because the actual money man at the top has spat his dummy out.
It is careless acts like these that make it as clear as day that an independent regulator of English football is required as soon as possible to prevent owners like Chansiri from running amok over clubs that deserve much better.
Chansiri has the money to solve this issue himself but he’s not going to right away because it would not fit his current anti-Sheffield Wednesday fan agenda (he also doesn’t have the necessary awareness to do the right thing).
He’ll no doubt hit out at supporters (during another of those long statements he’s become known for in recent months) when the £2m he’s asked for is not raised in time because it would obviously be their fault and not his. Chansiri has Sheff Weds on a dangerous slope and the sooner he’s f***ed off, the better.
QPR MAKE AN… INTERESTING MANAGER CALL
In the previous edition of Championship Spotlight, I called for QPR to part company with Gareth Ainsworth and it seems their decision-makers are big fans of F365 as the ex-Wycombe boss was dismissed following Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Leicester City.
Their narrow defeat to the Championship table-toppers (with 10 men) was one of QPR’s better days this season and this really says it all about how their campaign was going with Ainsworth at the helm.
QPR were top of the Championship at the start of last season so their dramatic decline over the past year suggests their squad is massively underdelivering and Ainsworth’s workmanlike style of play did not remedy their downward trajectory.
While many suspected them to go for the Neil Warnock cheat code option to save them from relegation, they have instead opted to snatch Marti Cifuentes from Swedish side Hammarby.
The 41-year-old did not achieve anything of note during his playing career but he already has over 250 games in management.
Cifuentes – who has previously been targeted by Scottish giants Rangers – is renowned for his attacking approach, so his QPR should contrast hugely to the one supporters got used to while Ainsworth was in charge.
Wigan Athletic, Reading and Blackpool have recently shown that changing your manager is not always the right route to go down when you’re battling the drop and Cifuentes will have to do a brilliant job to buck this trend.
His first game in charge is the small matter of an away trip to relegation rivals Rotherham United, which (speaking as this site’s resident Millers supporter) should be *sigh* a pretty easy introduction to life in the Championship.
READ MORE: Sheff Utd, QPR… Saudi? Six potential destinations for Neil Warnock *when* he returns to management
STOKE CITY BACK ON TRACK
It is not all doom and gloom for sides in the Championship, as Stoke City appear to be on an upward curve under Alex Neil.
The Potters were considered to be one of the major winners coming out of the recent summer transfer window as they made some steady additions after (more importantly) getting rid of the deadwood.
But after a bright start, Stoke found themselves just above the relegation zone after 11 games and the pressure was mounting on the former Sunderland, Preston and Norwich City head coach.
But Neil looks to have come out of this rough patch looking squeaky clean as Stoke have won their last three Championship games. This is impressive enough on its own but this feat is heightened when you consider their wins were over Sunderland, Leeds United and Middlesbrough. Up to 11th in the table and four points adrift of the play-off spots, the Potters may be dark horses for promotion after all.
EROL BULUT’S CARDIFF CITY REVOLUTION
Recently relegated teams from the Premier League often lead the Championship promotion race. This year it was Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton coming down but there will be at least one surprise package that emerges from the chasing pack and Cardiff (along with Ipswich Town, obviously) appear to be a prime candidate this time around.
The Welsh side were close to being relegated last season but Sabri Lamouchi did a great job to guide them to safety. The ex-Nottm Forest boss should consider himself unlucky that he was not kept on but he was replaced by up-and-coming Turkish coach Erol Bulut in the summer.
The former Fenerbahce boss arrived in the Championship with a good reputation but – so far – he has surpassed all expectations as the Bluebirds sit sixth in the table after 14 matches. Perry Ng, Joe Ralls, Mark McGuinness and the returning Aaron Ramsey have been among Cardiff’s shining lights as they are firing under Bulut.
Promotion could come too soon for them this season, but Bulut’s revolution is far ahead of schedule and they seem to finally be heading in the right direction after battling relegation for a couple of years.
READ MORE: Leicester, Leeds United gatecrash promotion places… Championship teams ranked by record signing