Current Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric has today told BBC Sport that he was ’24 hours or less’ from rescuing cash strapped and administration bound Sheffield Wednesday.
The serial football club investor has inspired mixed feelings amongst many fans with his tactics and he is certainly likely to make things interesting at Hillsborough. If he is to make good on this statement and navigate a difficult and complex situation to buy the club, then this will be the fifth European and third English club that the Serbian has controlled in an eventful career in the football spotlight that began in the U.S.
So would Milan Mandaric be good for Sheffield Wednesday?
The first thing to consider is that managerial stability is not something that Mandaric is renowned for, at Leicester he was responsible for the hiring and firing of ten managers (including caretakers) in just four years.
At Portsmouth this record was only slightly better with nine different personnel in the managers dug out in seven years. However he can claim some success as a football chairman, under his tenure, Portsmouth went from Championship strugglers to the Premiership.
This earnt him the respect of the Portsmouth fans including the infamous John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood (pictured below), who believes the former Pompey owner is “part of the Pompey family”.
The Serbian will surely argue he has left the club in a better position than he bought it as the new Thai owners have big dreams, however only time will tell if this will lead Leicester back to the promised land of the Premier League.
Finally there are the non-football issues such as the tax evasion charge that he faces with Harry Redknapp, it could be suggested that if true this would affect his suitability to owning a football club, however like the Sheffield Wednesday fans minds the verdict has yet to be decided.
At the beginning of this piece I asked if Milan Mandaric was the right man for Sheffield Wednesday and it is clear from his time at Portsmouth and Leicester he can provide a positive outcome even if his methods and managerial decisions can sometimes astound.
Lets face it with the situation for the Owls looking bleak, if the Novi Sad native can pull off the takeover there no real alternatives. It will be better to take a risk than see the club decline further, something that is inevitable without a takeover or a miracle.
