The Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri is still hanging around Sheffield Wednesday as they strive to emerge from administration under David Storch’s ownership.

Six months have passed since Chansiri placed the Owls in administration. While other teams have been in similar circumstances for longer periods of time and have emerged from the other side and advanced in the leagues, Wednesday needs to get back on track as soon as possible.

They were destroyed both on and off the field this season, and they will finish with minus points in the Championship unless they defeat West Brom on the last day of play.

Chansiri’s ten years as Wednesday’s owner came to an end in October 2025 after he ran out of funds to support the team and was repeatedly punished for failing to pay players on time.

One of Chansiri’s first significant Sheffield Wednesday decisions was to split from manager Stuart Gray later that summer. He bought the club for £30 million in January 2015 from the late Milan Mandaric. It seems like a long time ago.

Stuart Gray criticizes Dejphon Chansiri for leaving Sheffield Wednesday in 2015.

Gray, who had previously worked as Dave Jones’ assistant at Hillsborough, had been in charge since Chansiri took over in December 2013. He had led the team through financial difficulties, prevented relegation, and solidified their position in the Championship.

Even though a 13th-place finish in 2014–15 was an improvement over 16th in the previous season, it was insufficient for Gray to retain his position. Eleven years later, the seasoned coach has admitted that he anticipated this outcome and has criticized Chansiri for the way he handled it.

According to The Star, Gray stated in the Carlos Had a Dream book, “I knew straight away.”

“The season is over, I’m in America, and Paul (Aldridge) is calling.” Then he breaks the dreadful news to me: Chansiri has chosen to amputate my legs.

“I would always take care of it myself. I wouldn’t assign my dirty work to someone else.

“I was upset. Have the guts to fire me in person at the conclusion of the season if you want to do so during the close season. Don’t let me go off and organize everything—pre-season, recruiting, everything—only to be contacted while I’m on the other side of the globe.

“Everyone at Wednesday, including the players and staff, were amazing. I lost that. There are right and wrong ways to fire someone, and it was the incorrect one. My mouth tasted nasty afterward.”

Additionally, Gray feels that his failure to make adequate use of the Chansiri recruits from the January 2015 transfer window was the primary cause of his dismissal.

Five new players had joined the team: Filipe Melo and Sergiu Buș were permanent arrivals, and Lewis Baker, Lloyd Isgrove, and Will Keane were loanees. However, the five players had only made 20 appearances between them, which seemed to annoy Chansiri.

“I thought I was getting the most out of my group.” “I really thought we were ready to kick on after we won at Nottingham Forest, and we weren’t far from the play-offs,” Gray said.I didn’t receive the help that the new manager was supposed to provide, and there were boys who were out of contract who had no idea what was going on. I would have raised my hands if I had that support and it still hadn’t worked.

“Chansiri became agitated because he believed that I was disrespecting him by not playing the guys who were entering.

“Chairman, they’re not playing because they’re not as good as the players you’ve inherited,” I said. I know what they are capable of since I work with them every day. Although I appreciate that you added these players, they are not superior. Make sure the guys you want to bring in are superior to those who are already in the facility.

Sheffield Wednesday profited from Carlos Carvalhal’s hiring, but Dejphon Chansiri’s actions are not shocking.

Although Carlos Carvalhal, his eventual successor, would lead Wednesday to the play-off final in his first season and fourth in the table in 20216–17, it is clear that Gray was unhappy with the timing and nature of his dismissal. Over the years, there have been many poor choices that outweigh the minor achievements from Chansiri’s tenure.

Although it wasn’t given much concern at the time, Chansiri’s extravagant early spending eventually caught up with him. Purchases of players including Fernando Forestieri, Almen Abdi, Jordan Rhodes, and Adam Reach—some of whom were more successful than others—were ultimately responsible for the team’s downfall.

Freshening things up from Gray to Carvalhal was never the issue in the end, but it appears that the way Wednesday’s owner chose to proceed caused a stir from the former Wednesday boss; you can imagine that many will agree with Gray when analyzing some of the things that Chansiri did.