Mandaric is left frustrated by Owls’ standing

The Owls are 16th in the third tier and only seven points clear of the relegation zone despite £1m being pumped into transfers by Mandaric in January after he took over the club and rescued them from administration a month earlier.

The healthy transfer kitty, which dwarfs the resources at the disposal of the majority of their League One rivals, was spent by then manager Alan Irvine, who was subsequently dismissed as results took a turn for the worse in the new year.

Gary Megson has been unable to right the ship since succeeding Irvine on February 4 and although, in a lengthy statement on the club’s website yesterday, Mandaric stopped short of publicly backing or blaming his manager, Megson was his appointment and it is not thought the former Wednesday player’s job is under serious threat.

Nevertheless the club’s position is clearly unacceptable to the Serbian-born American businessman whose reaction was to ratify a new loan signing for the Owls, with 20-year-old Wolves defender Danny Batth joining until the end of the season.

He also felt compelled to respond to two successive home defeats this week – including the Owls’ meek 4-1 surrender to Peterborough on Tuesday night – with a stark assessment.

Mandaric said: “The club has been suffering for many years and reversing that process takes time.

“We are stabilising the financial issues of the past, the bills have been paid and we are going in the right direction off the field.

“My desperate and first desire is to get us back into the Championship, so the position we find ourselves in right now is disappointing, embarrassing and makes me very frustrated.”

Mandaric sanctioned the signing of five players in January, with striker Gary Madine the most expensive at £400,000 and three defenders in Michael Morrison, Mark Reynolds and Reda Johnson costing around £200,000 apiece.

Yet it is the defence that has come in for the most criticism with Wednesday having conceded 23 goals in their last 10 league outings and 11 in the last four.

They have also failed to win a home league game since December 11 – when Mandaric was in the stands as the club’s prospective owner – prompting the former Portsmouth and Leicester City chairman to concede the new arrivals have been a failure.

“This season has been very disappointing because I gave the green light for new signings but it just didn’t work out,” continued Mandaric. “But I have high expectations and I want us to get as many points as possible from the 11 games we have left.

“We have to be positive and look not only in the long term but the short term as well.

“We will make a very aggressive drive to make it happen next season and I will be a lot more educated about what this club is all about on and off the field which will help me minimise any obstacles.”

The tone of Mandaric’s statement was largely positive, with the club’s fanbase receiving much praise and the news of off-the-field security coming as a welcome respite for beleaguered Owls fans.

The 72-year-old said: “The bright side is the support of Sheffield Wednesday fans and their belief and trust that they know I will make things happen.

“Thousands of our fans have already bought season tickets for next season and I thank them very much. I am quite sure that they believe we will make the positive changes required to make us very solid on and off the field.

“I have to be honest and say there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of improvements to be made in all departments.

“I want to make it clear there is no them and us at this club – only us, together. With the loyalty we can show each other, we will make this club successful again.

“Everyone talks about Wednesday being a sleeping giant, and it is, but the giant has taken a lot of sleeping pills so we all have to work extremely hard to wake him up and bring him back to reality.”

Mandaric spent £8m on clearing the club’s debts and allaying fears of entering administration three months ago – the 10-point penalty that brings would see them in the relegation zone – and yesterday reaffirmed his commitment to the cause and promised supporters the club would make a much better fist of challenging for promotion to the Championship next season.

“I am very committed to this club,” said Mandaric. “I am not the most patient man in the world and I have the very same agenda as all of our supporters.

“Next season will be massive for this club because I will have a full season to take us forward and you have my guarantee that I will do everything possible to turn our situation around.

“I have so much to give to Wednesday and the fans and I hope very much that their reward for buying season tickets will be the success that is so long overdue.”

New signing Batth, who made one appearance while on loan at Sheffield United earlier this season, is eligible to feature in Saturday’s trip to Southampton.