Welcome everyone to another edition of Your EFL Championship roundup, where hoddle headquarters takes a look at what’s going on in England’s second tier.
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We have to talk about Sheffield Wednesday.
While there may not have been any matches this month, Wednesday’s future in the second tier - and perhaps even in the English system altogether - is in serious peril.
Sheffield Wednesday must pay their players’ today. The deadline comes after the English Football League had already hit Wednesday with a spending ban until January 2027 after the club had “[exceeded] 30 days of late payments”. Wednesday are appealing the decision.
Wednesday and its chairman Dejphon Chansiri were separately charged of non-payment of player wages in March and May this year.
The Guardian reported that some players still have not received their wages, and players could give notice of their intention to terminate their contracts.
This all comes as manager Danny Rohl’s future remains up in the air. The Independent (via MSN) reported that Rohl is currently in talks about leavin the club. It would be a such a shame for him to leave considering how well he did to tidy things up at Hillsborough.
But when your staff aren’t getting paid and you face a transfer window ban because of your owner, then you have every right to head for the door.
In a lengthy (and bewildering) statement this week, Chansiri rejected two offers from a US consortium buying the club.
“The second offer was £40m plus limited future Premier League promotion payments – far from a guaranteed $75m which was reported in the second media interview.”
But how seriously is he about engaging in discussions to sell?
That’s one of many questions that need to be answered. But none are more important than if the club is able to pay wages this month. What happens after that? Who knows.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Drop me off in Harlem, by Sun Ra
And now for your links:
Alasdair Gold: “Tottenham’s ‘Neymar-like’ wonderkid offered new contract amid negotiations”
The Guardian: “Harry Kane sinks Flamengo to set up Bayern Munich’s Club World Cup tie with PSG”
ESPN: “USMNT beats Costa Rica in shootout to reach Gold Cup semis