Danny Rohl’s jerky Sheffield Wednesday departure is part of a much bigger picture
For anyone wishing to denigrate want-away Danny Rohl it’s a free and easy hit against a manager under contract.
We’ll come to that. But it shouldn’t obscure the root cause of an immensely talented young manager leaving Sheffield Wednesday, or the great job he’s done.
For the sake of the club’s future, any point scoring against Rohl is a side issue.
First, let’s take that criticism. Linking to the above, I’d say he and his advisors were rash and naive to agree a new contract last summer, particularly as it contained a potentially prohibitive exit clause.
Then there is the team’s slump after it emerged the German was denied a move to Southampton. He also played his part in the stand-off that led to a shambolic January window.
You can throw in that he’s blown hot and cold after matches, reacting to some defeats with thinly veiled references to the state of the club and the inadequacies of his squad.
What some have praised as refreshing honesty, others have seen as hardly conducive to togetherness, not to mention its provocative effect on the strained relationship higher up.
All of this is fair game on opinion. But the bottom line is that the outfit Rohl inherited in seemingly hopeless disarray has, under his leadership, achieved an incredible relegation escape and anchored down in the Championship.
Let’s not forget he has worked in highly professional environments, particularly with Bayern Munich and the German national team.
Rohl knows what the inside of a good, well functioning, club looks like. He hoped his force of personality might help create one at Hillsborough, fuelled by huge personal popularity.
In hindsight, surely he must concede there were unmistakable signs when he signed that new deal that he would not find the like here.
We can assume, I think, that if he was outspoken on his desires publicly then he will have been even more so behind the scenes.
Of course, we don’t know what he might have been promised. We do know that his relationship with Dejphon Chansiri, which has proved difficult to say the least for so many employees in this owner’s time, became simply unworkable.
When you have such a good manager the buck for that stops in only one place. And Rohl must have viewed in disbelief the chairman’s public utterings and issues like the late paying of wages.
So, while it’s possible to be critical of both parties, Rohl’s jerky departure, as per the sudden exit of his predecessor Darren Moore, is part of a much bigger picture.
And the personal gratitude is richly deserved. All parties need to move on as swiftly as possible with Danny wished good luck in his upwardly mobile career.
