With the transfer window now closed Sheffield Wednesday skipper Richard Wood has remained at the club despite his recent transfer request.
Brian Laws insisted that the Owls best young players were not available for transfer and he has been proved to be true to his word with definite interest from Coventry City being rebuffed.
One theory doing the rounds however is that Wednesday are reluctant to sell in their current predicament as most if not all of the money gained would have to go towards paying off the clubs huge debts. This would have left the Owls struggling to replace a first choice centre-back and even if some funds were made available it would have been difficult to get the right player in with such a short amount of time available to consider any options.
Should the Owls position change financially over the coming months then maybe there would be a different approach should any move be made for the player in the January transfer window.
So what sort of reaction can Wood expect from the fans when Wednesday return to action against Watford in a little under two weeks time. Recently, Chris Brunt and to a lesser extent Glenn Whelan were criticised for leaving the club for fellow Championship sides. In Brunt's defence, he left for the best side in the Championship who were always going to be in promotion contention. Whelan was slightly different as he had refused to sign a new contract and the Owls were almost forced into a selling position by letting his contract run down as the only alternative was to lose him on a free a few months later. As it proved he also joined a promotion winning outfit.
The case of Wood differs somewhat as he is the Owls longest serving player, a Wednesday fan and so for him being given the Captaincy of the club over the summer should have been regarded as honour and something to take forward with pride and lead the club into the future.
Furthermore the only club believed to be making serious enquiries were Coventry City, not a team that stand out as certain promotion contenders this term and ended up closer to relegation than the Owls last season, unlike Whelan and Brunt this could not be regarded as a definite step forward for his career.
Manager Brian Laws has stated that he has no doubts regarding the commitment of Wood in future matches but the fact is our new Captain asked to leave our club without major interest from a club in a much better position and unless he chooses to explain his reasons then some fans will doubtless hold resentment for this, does he know something serious that we don't in relation to the imminent future of the club?