Former Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal has hinted he would like to return to the club at some point in the future, calling himself an “Owl forever”.
The Portuguese spent over two years in charge at Hillsborough between 2015 and 2017, and took his side to the brink of promotion to the Premier League in his first season in charge as they lost to Hull City in the play-off final.
Carvalhal led the Owls back to the play-offs the following season, but this time fell at the semi-final stage to Huddersfield, before he left the club the following December with Wednesday sitting in the bottom half of the Championship.
The former Besiktas boss proved a popular figure with Owls fans, with supporters even going as far as travelling to Portugal to watch his Rio Ave side in action last season.
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Carvalhal is now back in charge of his hometown club Braga, but has suggested he’d like to return to Hillsborough at some point in the future.
Asked whether he thought Wednesday fans missed him in an interview with FourFourTwo, Carvalhal replied: “I think so, but that’s a reciprocal feeling.
“I’ve said that I’d like to go back in the future, but I’m currently employed. My intuition tells me it will happen one day, though.
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“I’m an Owl forever, and those are the sort of situations I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. I saw them at matches a couple of times last season and was pleased to meet them – after all, no one visits a person they don’t like.”
Reflecting on his time at Hillsborough, Carvalhal added: “Our idea was to do things differently, to avoid the typical English style and break away from the past.
“In the beginning we struggled a bit, playing more long balls than we wished that led to negative results.
“Eventually, the players absorbed what we wanted. We reached the Championship play-off final in the first season [2015-16] and then finished fourth. We had full control of the club. Not even a roll of toilet paper was purchased without my knowledge.”
In this month’s FourFourTwo there is a 10-page interview with Thierry Henry which is on sale on Wednesday, March 10. Also in this issue, Javier Mascherano answers questions from readers, former Newcastle striker Michael Chopra opens up about gambling away £2million and a look at how Rangers roared back to success after 10 years. For a special Reach subscription offer of three issues of FourFourTwo for £3: www.magazinesdirect.com/fft/81av