Mandaric plots Premier return after pledging future with Owls

But Mandaric, who has spent over £20m since arriving at Hillsborough last season, accepts that it may take three years to get the club back into the top flight.

Goals from Michail Antonio and Nile Ranger secured a 2-0 home win over Wycombe Wanderers and second spot in the League One table.

The Owls finished the season three points clear of neighbours Sheffield United who were held to a 2-2 draw at Exeter City in their final game.

While the Blades are now preparing for a play-off semi-final against Stevenage, the Owls are bathing in the glory of automatic promotion at their expense.

On Wednesday, they will also be honoured at a civic reception when thousands of supporters are likely to descend on the city’s town hall.

According to Mandaric, the next step of the challenge is securing promotion to the top-flight but the Owls chairman is willing to be patient if necessary.

Although Southampton and Norwich City have won back-to-back promotions to the Premier League in the last few years, the Owls are not going to be under pressure to do so next season.

“It would be wrong to say we are going to be promoted to the Premier League next season but we do have a plan to get there,” he said. “Of course it can be done. This club was in the Premier League before and deserves to be there again.

“It might take more than one year. Two years or three years?” he said. “But that has got to be the direction of this club. We can’t go back now.

“No disrespect to any division – but this club belongs in the top 10 clubs in this country.

“There will need to be a lot of hard work in every department. We are just scratching the surface,” he added. “But I am going to be the guy who will take it all the way up there.”

Mandaric, 73, revealed that he had come close to quitting the Owls this season – after the pressure of a high profile court case and criticism over the sacking of manager Gary Megson.

But the former Portsmouth and Leicester City chairman says his involvement with the Owls is now likely to be his last in the game.

“It’s been a very difficult year for me and what I went through was unnecessary,” he reflected. “I didn’t know what I had done wrong but, as they say, what goes around, comes around and you eventually get your rewards. I think today I am getting my rewards.

“It hurt me more because I had never experienced it before as a chairman or a president. Maybe next time I might shrug it off easier, but this time I was very sensitive and I thought maybe this is not for me?

“I would do my best, finish the season, clear the deck financially, and put them in a strong position on and off the field – but maybe it is time to move on? I was very close to that a couple of times.

“But the more I stay with this club, the more I think it will be my last club,” he added. “This feels incredible especially when I see the smiles on the faces of those supporters. I love the supporters and I thank them for their trust. Now we have to keep it going and see how far we can go together.”

Assessing the chances of a back-to-back promotion, Mandaric added: “Any successful and progressive person would have to say ‘If they (Southampton and Norwich) can do it, why can’t I do it?’

“They are great clubs and have done good jobs but this club is not smaller than those clubs. This is a massive club.

“People talk about a ‘sleeping giant’ but it is not sleeping. It is a giant. We also have a bursting desire to be there. So why not?”

Revealing the extent of his investment, Mandaric pledged to support manager Dave Jones in the transfer market this summer.

“I have invested roughly £20m up to this point,” he said. “But that’s not losses, that is investment. You can see what we have done. The next step going forward is the same.

“We are going to need more money. I love these players and what they have done but we are going to need to enhance the quality to be more competitive and to push forward.

“That’s going to cost money – to buy players and for bigger salaries – and to build a training ground, support the Academy, and push towards the Premier League.

“No disrespect to people before me but the club was a little bit neglected in a lot of areas and we need to catch up.

“I will do everything I can for Dave Jones but there is no blank cheque.”

The Owls finished the season with an unbeaten run of 14 games with Jones replacing Megson after the Sheffield derby.

Asked whether the promotion vindicated the switch, Mandaric said: “I thought I made a bigger decision when I bought the club! I took the club out of the dark days and did not let it go into administration. I kept everything floating and corrected things.

“There will be decisions to change managers in future as well – but this was a major decision” he added. “If it had been my daughter, or my son, I would also have made the decision – but I would have made it earlier.”

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