EFL expert says Sheffield Wednesday are destined to break miserable Championship record in 2025/26

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It seems everybody is writing Sheffield Wednesday off as relegation fodder ahead of the new season, and one EFL expert has even tipped them to become the worst team in Championship history.

In the last two seasons, Sheffield Wednesday have achieved a remarkable great escape to stay in the Championship before securing a comfortable midtable finish in 2024/25.

However, in the months following the end of last season, the Owls have seen a slew of players leave the club amid the ongoing financial crisis, while Danny Rohl has left the club with Henrik Pedersen taking over.

All in all, it’s not looking good for Sheffield Wednesday ahead of the 2025/26 Championship campaign, and some folk seem to think the Owls could enter the history books for all the wrong reasons now.

• READ MORE: Henrik Pedersen must snap up these three free agents for Sheffield Wednesday including former Owls icon

Sheffield Wednesday backed to finish bottom of the league

Looking ahead to the new season on the latest episode of the Second Tier podcast, hosts Justin Peach and Ryan Dilks both agreed that Wednesday will finish rock bottom of the Championship table in the upcoming season.

Peach said: “No guesses needed, it’s Sheffield Wednesday [at the bottom]. This was the easiest team to plot ever. The raft of problems that are unfolding there are the main motivator for this.”

Dilks added: “It’s the worst summer any Championship club has ever had and it’s led to Sheffield Wednesday fans writing their team off already, and that’s totally understandable.

“It’s not going to be saved now, it’s too far gone. Unless a takeover happens soon, which doesn’t look likely, and that’s all that Wednesday fans care about.”

Peach later described Sheffield Wednesday as a “walking red flag” and lamented the impact Dejphon Chansiri has had on this great institution.

He said: “It’s a desperate, frustrating, ultimately very sad situation. We don’t want to do these previews and talk about problems off the pitch… but it’s impossible with Sheffield Wednesday and that’s a crying shame. That’s down to one man… and he’s driving a 157-year-old club into the ground.”

Dilks agreed, and offered a grim prediction for what’s to come, adding, “It is a complete and utter disgrace… if you told us at the end of last season that Wednesday would be nailed on to go down before the season’s even started, that would have been surprising. It just shows how disastrous a couple of months it’s been.

“The fewest points tally in Championship history is 23. We don’t want to see that beaten this year, but considering the current squad situation… you’d say there’s a good possibility.

“It’s going to be a very miserable few months for Sheffield Wednesday with this guy in charge… we’re in uncharted territory here. Henrik Pedersen is in a no-lose situation, though. No one is expecting anything really, but good luck to him.”

• READ MORE: How Henrik Pedersen played key role in persuading Barry Bannan to stay at Sheffield Wednesday

Going backwards may be the only way to move forward for Sheffield Wednesday

Chansiri took full responsibility for relegation in 2021. It’s highly unlikely he will be coming out and bearing the brunt of the responsibility this time around, if and when the Owls do go down, given the way he has been so absent throughout the chaos this summer.

The thing is, Sheffield Wednesday’s value is plummeting all the time. When exactly Chansiri will decide enough is enough and move on is anyone’s guess, but he surely can’t expect to remain in his position long-term.

Be it through fan protests or through the EFL forcing Chansiri out, he will be gone eventually. As soon as that happens, regardless of what division Sheffield Wednesday are in, they’ll be able to move forward.

Obviously relegation is not desirable, but it may be a case of the club needing to be totally dismantled before any real progress can truly be made.