Sheffield Wednesday were already on the back foot before the start of the season with a 12-point deduction (that was reduced to six on appeal), and the rest of the campaign hasn't gone too well for them either.

The club have gone through three different permanent managers, with Garry Monk coming to the end of the line, Tony Pulis unable to work with owner Dejphon Chansiri and now it's Darren Moore's turn to try and keep the Owls in the Champinonship.

Despite a huge win over Barnsley last week, it's still going to be a tough task for Wednesday to climb out of the relegation zone - let's look at three things we have learnt about the club during the 2020/21 season.

Ownership issues still need addressing

Chansiri is apparently not the easiest owner to work with - just ask Pulis who was on the receiving end of a Chansiri rant following his departure in December - and every week on social media you will see calls for the Thai businessman to sell the club.

That doesn't look likely to be happening anytime soon, and as per the latest set of club accounts for the 2018-19 season, Chansiri is plugging a major hole in the club's finances that perhaps others couldn't.

Despite that, there's still zero harmony between the fanbase and the ownership and if Wednesday find themselves in League One next season, that relationship will grow even worse.

 

 

 

 

There's still a goalscorer in Jordan Rhodes

Make no mistake about it - Rhodes has been an expensive player to have on the books at Hillsborough since his signing in 2017, in terms of both his £8 million transfer fee and his wage.

But you never lose that goalscoring touch and in the last few months Rhodes has proven to everyone that he's still worthy of playing in the Championship.

There has been doubts at times over the last few years whether he still has what it takes, but after scoring five times since February, Rhodes may be trying to play himself into a new contract.

His current deal expires at the end of the season, and whilst he would have to take a considerable pay cut to remain at the Owls, it's still feasible that he'll remain a Wednesday player next season.

The under-23 squad should be utilised more

One thing we haven't seen a lot of in recent years is Wednesday using youth products in their first-team.

But with the emergence of Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide into the senior setup this season, there's a case to be made that Wednesday should be doing more with their development squads.

Urhoghide did make his debut last season but it's only the last few months where he's established himself as a first-teamer, whilst Shaw was thrown in earlier in the campaign and he's secured himself a pre-contract deal with Scottish giants Celtic.

If the worst was to happen and Wednesday were relegated this season, then League One may give the club the perfect opportunity to start blooding more youngsters through.