Chris Waddle blasted Dejphon Chansiri in an interview with Yorkshire Live, saying the Sheffield Wednesday owner “has a lot to answer for” after years of poor player recruitment.
The 59-year-old, who made over 100 appearances for Wednesday, doesn’t believe there’s a competent recruitment team in place to identify players for the manager and says the Owls are underperforming given their resources.
He said: “This is what annoys me about Wednesday, I don’t see a scouting system there. Where are these players coming from? There are a lot of hungry players out there.
“You need to look into the character of the players. There are hungry players down the leagues who would die to put a Sheffield Wednesday shirt on and play in front of 25,000 or 30,000 every week. Who’s buying these players?
“It’s sad because it’s a club that is ready to go to the Premier League.
“I wish someone would take hold of the football club because everything is there, the club, the fans are passionate, but I don’t see Chansiri taking this club back into the promised land. Let’s hope he sells.
“Some people say that Chansiri saved the club but for me he has a lot to answer for. Wednesday should have been making the play-offs every season (since he arrived).”
Vital Wednesday have already discussed the problems Sheffield Wednesday have recruiting players after their dramatic change of policy. The Owls have been forced to target loans and free transfers to strengthen their squad as they don’t have much of a budget this summer.
They’ve mostly targeted domestic-based talent from Premier League and Championship clubs too, so the scouting team aren’t doing much apart from identifying out-of-favour players from around the country.
Vital Wednesday have also highlighted how Chansiri has struggled to make money from player sales too. The club have made only £8m from outgoing transfers in the last five seasons and allowed eight players to run down their contracts this summer.
Waddle is right to criticise Chansiri, as Wednesday don’t appear to have an obvious plan moving forward. They’ve had to poach freebies and loans from English clubs and rarely make money from sales, so it’s not a successful business model.
