Sheffield Wednesday comment: After shy James Bord and his emperor's new clothes, have Owls found someone who 'gets' them in David Storch?

So said prospective Sheffield Wednesday owner David Storch in an interview with Radio Sheffield.

He was right, of course, but right now all we have are words, and they at least sounded encouraging.

Throughout their season from hell, Owls supporters have been "craving clarity". Even the players have – that was captain Liam Palmer's phrase on Monday.

Right from pre-season it was clear Dejphon Chansiri was losing grip of a club he had owned for a decade, just not what happened next.

When Chansiri finally let go in late October, putting Wednesday into administration, optimism was high.

Eighty would-be buyers expressed interest, 38 signed non-disclosure agreements, 13 demonstrated £50m funds, five made bids. It looked like the club would be spoilt for choice.

Twenty weeks into administration we are still waiting, but American Storch's emergence as preferred bidder raises cautious optimism. Cautious, because he is the second after James Bord, apparently got cold feet after nine weeks pumping over £4m in to keep the club afloat.

So why has so much interest yielded so little? To be frank, there is not much of value left at Sheffield Wednesday.

The squad has been stripped to the bone, relegation to League One is now official, £1.6m is hemorrhaging a month, the training ground is not fit for purpose, and the once-grand Hillsborough is a decaying relic. £80m is owed to unsecured creditors. Around £10.5m is non-negotiable, but failure to immediately pay at least £17.4m of the rest will set the team back 15 points next season, although Storch plans to contest that.

So why have serious businessmen invested time and money into trying to buy them?

Wednesday have 158 years of history and, as demonstrated at Derby County on Saturday, a proper fanbase. Tapping into both is the only way forward for Storch, who is already more talkative then Bord.

"We understand and we're learning every day from the fans what it is the fans are looking for," he told the BBC. "The fans own this club."

When Chansiri tried to interact with supporters, it usually meant dragging them to Hillsborough for "fan engagement" meetings which turned into little more than diatribes running long into the night, highlighting his loose grip on reality and strong sense of entitlement.

But Storch's view on how Wednesday should be run appear to lean heavily on a manifesto written by its supporters trust in 2024.

"When we first met people from the supporters trust they shared with us a document they had produced called A Better Wednesday," he said. "We read through the document and felt this was exactly how we wanted to behave and operate as owners. The fans are critical and they will have a voice."

Just reinstating the iconic Owl badge, designed in 1973 but ditched by Chansiri in 2016 (although it reappeared on this season's third kit) is an easy win, and sends out a signal.

"We love the old badge," said. Storch. "We love the Owl, we see that as an asset."

But cosmetic changes alone will not cut it. Nor will sentiment.

The ground is a problem. Built in 1899, it is really showing its age – of the £800,000 administrators have had to spend on it, nearly £300,000 was just to keep the North Stand's safety certificate. Some bidders will surely have given serious thought to moving, but Storch values what it stands for, even with its name inextricably linked to the 1989 tragedy.

"There's a lot of class to Hillsborough, a lot of panache, and we'd like to go step by step rebuild Hillsborough to make it more fan-friendly and take advantage of the history and the beauty," he said.

But awards for the best stadium or even fan engagement are not the prizes supporters want most.

There will be a sporting director, chief executive, board and commercial officer – serious jobs largely overlooked in the vacuum between those at the coal face and the Thailand-based chairman, and investment in a much more competitive first team.

A proper transformation will require all the money Storch saves by not paying the creditors their 25ps in the pound and plenty more on top.

"Across there board there's opportunity for improvement which in this case requires investment," he said. "A first step is putting a competitive team on the pitch so we'll make sure we spend the right amount on the capital to support the players.

"We want to be able to put a great team on the pitch and then deliver a more fan-friendly environment."

Having already had one (shy) preferred bidder who appeared to be wearing the emperor's new clothes, wise Owls will hold off popping corks until this one is signed off by the Football League or, if the deal drags into May, football regulator.

The path to football ownership is littered with good intentions.

But for the first time in a long time, Sheffield Wednesday not only have a plan, but judging by the early details we have heard, a good one.