I am sure you will all have seen the statement from Fernando this morning. As chairman of our club, it was essential that he apologised to everyone concerned for his actions last Friday, which by his own admission, were unacceptable.
Fernando’s team mates, all the coaching staff and Carlos accepted his apology and it is important to me as the leader of the club that I now go on record as saying that I too accept his apology and forgive his conduct. He was disrespectful and this is something I could not accept.
Fernando came to see me personally last night to apologise and asked me to forgive him, making clear that he acted in an unprofessional manner not befitting of Sheffield Wednesday. Much of what was said must remain private, of course, but I feel it is vital that I communicate to you, the fans, as much as I possibly can in an open and honest fashion.
This unsavoury situation is the last thing I would wish to unfold at our club but I accept that incidents such as this do happen in the world of football – it is not the first time and I am sure it will not be the last.
The most important thing is how we all move on together and draw a line in the sand. Therefore, as your chairman, I am asking you all to show the same forgiveness and give 100% support to Fernando the very next time he wears the colours of our club.
Whilst I completely respect your opinions, whatever they may be, to be anything other than fully supportive could be disharmonious and counter-productive, which is the last thing that anybody wants. Above all else, we are family, and we help each other through times of trouble.
In the new season, having played two teams from the Premier League last season, we have collected four points, which I am sure you will agree is an excellent return from these extremely tough fixtures. What we must do now is continue in a similar vein, take games one at a time and try our level best to build on what we so memorably achieved last season.
To do so successfully, we must all be as one. Families have differences but I believe that if a problem can be resolved, then it shall, and I sincerely hope that this situation is a case in point. We can and will emerge stronger, of that I am sure because this club is special, unique.
I will finish by hoping that the message we have issued over the last few days has been powerful and clear – under no circumstances will we be selling our best players. We are building, not taking apart. Everybody at our club, and I repeat everybody, is now pulling in the same direction and will give nothing but complete commitment for the good of Sheffield Wednesday.