Danny Röhl’s curious answer to Sheffield Wednesday resignation question – makes Dejphon Chansiri point
The Owls boss, who took over the club in October 2023 and spearheaded a historic survival mission before stabilising in midtable this time out, watched on as his side earned a 1-1 draw at Watford to see out his first full season in management. This time last year Röhl signed a contract to last until 2027 but has battled through a turbulent period since, with Southampton having been knocked back over a compensation wrangle in a December approach he was keen on.
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Röhl told media in the last fortnight that he had already informed the club of his intentions heading into the summer and later stressed the need for quick clarity – for the club’s benefit. Southampton are understood to be return suitors for the young coach, while Leicester City and RB Leipzig have also been credited with interest.
“In general for me, the point that we should make is that we make a quick decision as soon as possible,” he told The Star in the moments after sharing extended moments with the away supporters at Vicarage Road. “My picture is clear, the club knows my picture and to continue in some ways it is important that it for everyone it becomes clear in which direction it goes. I cannot say more about this. This is the responsibility of the club, in which direction and what we announce. But my picture is very clear.
“It doesn’t matter what happens, if we got requests for players from a higher division, if we got requests for a manager from a higher division, I think we should be a little bit proud of this journey. Even if it feels not so good, even if there is disappointment, it is outcome from good work that we did in the last 18 or 19 months. In the end, everyone deserves a clear picture now. This is key, because the club is bigger than one person.”
A common Röhl theme in recent press engagements has been the encouragement to push Wednesday into action over forward decisions; over player contract talks, summer recruitment plans, pre-season and – no doubt – his own situation. The last summer managerial change at S6 saw stunted movement as Xisco replaced Darren Moore and it’s widely accepted that contributed to the worst league start in the club’s history. It’s clear the club can not afford a drawn-out affair once more.
Röhl continued: “For me it is clear, to make decisions for players, to extend contracts, to learn a pre-season in some detail, to carry on, it is very important. You do not come to the point where you stop something and we know what it means when you have late decision making.
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“I think this is the one thing and an outcome from the good preseason we had, it was organised and we had last year a quick decision when we decided together to follow our journey. It helps, it helps to convince players and make lots of details. But these are the decisions for the club.”
The Star has reason to believe Wednesday will hold out for a major compensation fee for the talented young manager. The bulk of his coaching staff are out of contract, meaning any compensation owed for their employment is not an issue for suitor clubs in the same way it was last summer. There has been a suggestion in the national media that a Championship club would be required to handover a lower payment fee than that of a Premier League club – which would leave relegated Southampton in a curious position with regard to timing.
