Stoke City go to Hillsborough on Saturday as Sheffield Wednesday supporters prepare to voice their anger at owner Dejphon Chansiri
Wednesday supporters protest against Dejphon Chansiri.(Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
Mark Robins can justify talking about empathy for the staff at Sheffield Wednesday amid the crisis they have been swimming through this summer.
Wages and bills have been paid late, the pre-season schedule was ripped up, the manager and key players have left and there has been an enforced stand closure at Hillsborough as owner Dejphon Chansiri turned off the funding tap. A points deduction is inevitable.
A skeleton squad still gave Leicester City a game last Sunday and beat Steven Schumacher’s Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup in mid-week, but there will be major protests when Stoke City head to South Yorkshire on Saturday (3pm).
A mock funeral procession will work its way through Hillsborough Park pre-match, with guest speakers including local politicians. A whistle protest is expected, with the Owls’ Supporters’ Trust urging fans to keep that to just the first five minutes to limit the risk of the game being abandoned.
Robins has been in similar situations. Coventry City supporters and owners Sisu were pretty much at war for much of his time as manager, while he was Rotherham United boss when they went into administration.
“It’s difficult,” he said. “It’s not easy to be an owner of a football club, or a manager or even playing for a football club. (Things like this) take some navigating. That’s an issue for them and they will get through it. It’s a really strong football club. You’re only as strong as your supporters and their supporters are outstanding. You can see and feel it.
“It’s something they’ll be angry about and determined it doesn’t happen again.
“Ownership is really, really important in football and what you can do is look closer to home and appreciate what you’ve got.”
That appreciation is for the situation he is now in at Stoke, backed by owner John Coates and helping to oversee a squad reconstruction this summer, with nine new signings and counting.
So yes, Stoke will offer a friendly hand off the pitch at Hillsborough but they will be wary of a galvanised opponent on it.
Robins said: “There’s a lot of empathy there, I’m sure, from everybody in football because you don’t want your club to be going through situations like that for the players and the staff. It must be very difficult in this day and age when people have mortgages to pay and the price of everything is going through the roof. It’s a worrying time so there’s a lot of empathy for them.
“What it will also mean is that supporters are right behind the players and it galvanises people. There is a cause there and that can be dangerous for opponents. It can be a heady mix for those who are working for Sheffield Wednesday at this time.
“It doesn’t change for us: we’re going to a brilliant place to go and play football and we’ve got a difficult opponent. We saw that in the two games they’ve played.
“Against Leicester they were really unfortunate, Leicester came back and scored late on, and they had been good value for the lead. On Wednesday evening at Bolton they made changes and brought youngsters in, including a 16-year-old on the pitch at one point, and they acquitted themselves really well and got through as well. That’s no mean feat against a really decent Bolton team.
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
£43
£35
Sky
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
“I think you can see the work that’s gone on. Danny Rohl has gone now and Henrik Pedersen has taken over. They’re a team I think you can see has worked and has had to work at the training ground all summer. I don’t think they’ve been away. I know they’ve played a few games behind closed doors, cancelled against Burnley, but have been able to work at the training ground.
“They’ve changed formations and gone to a back five in two games but in pre-season we saw them play in a back four so he’s got different options. We’ll be prepared and it’s about us in every given situation to back up a really good performance against Derby County and try to claim an away win.
“There are a lot of things to be confident about and also understand the situation that we’re walking into.
“One thing’s for sure, Sheffield Wednesday fans are really loud and they’re partisan, as every team’s supporters are. They’ll be singing and they’ll be right behind the players and we’ll have to go out and do our jobs and if we do that I think we can have a really decent performance – then we have to take chances if and when they come along.”
While you’re here, we have launched a new WhatsApp group to deliver the latest Stoke news directly to your phone. Click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in. If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking ‘Exit Group’, simple as that.
What do you think? Click HERE to join the debate