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Sheffield Wednesday must solve one prominent issue as well as provide clarity over Danny Rohl’s future.
The 2024/25 Championship season saw Sheffield Wednesday finish in a respectable 12th place, but it has been an achievement that various issues off the pitch have since eclipsed for the Owls.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has an uncertain future at the club, something which is unsurprising when considering the turbulence he has had to deal with behind the scenes, including the fact that players and a handful of staff were paid late for March.
After the conclusion of the season away at Watford, Rohl has since returned to Germany, where he has conducted interviews about his future at Sheffield Wednesday and what is next for him as a coach. Whilst the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Owls’ coach is a huge concern, it has wrongfully meant that one other issue has been potentially overlooked.
Owls must solve Barry Bannan future concerns this summer
A handful of players, notably Barry Bannan, Josh Windass, Stuart Armstrong, Michael Smith, Michael Ihiekwe, Callum Paterson, Marvin Johnson, Akin Famewo, and Pol Valentin, all reportedly look set for their contracts to expire at Sheffield Wednesday, per The Star.
This could prove to be a seismic issue for the Owls, particularly if they aren’t able to come to terms with Bannan, a player who has still shown to be at Championship level, and above all else, offers much more to the club than the 90 minutes of output on the pitch.
Bannan notched 41 appearances as captain this season, a staggering amount at this level at the age of 35. The Scotsman’s ability to keep Sheffield Wednesday ticking with his long-and-short passing has always been key in the decade he has been at the club, and his abilities would be incredibly difficult to replicate from someone else.
Sheffield Wednesday must search for Shea Charles 2.0 to help unlock Barry Bannan’s best
In the 2024/25 Championship campaign, we saw Bannan deliver several game-changing performances, much down to the freedom of the midfield he was given at times, but a lot of this is because the role that Shea Charles played perfectly this season.
Charles joined this season on loan from Southampton and soon became one of the first names on the teamsheet for Rohl’s side because of his regimented defensive ability, something which unlocked Bannan to an extent, giving the Scotsman the license to move further forward at times.
If Sheffield Wednesday are going to keep Bannan at the club, he must be accommodated with a Shea Charles 2.0 figure, one who will consistently provide that defensive trust in the centre of the park.