Danny Röhl gives extraordinary press conference - warns of Sheffield Wednesday relegation scrap
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Röhl gave an extraordinary post-match press conference in the minutes after defeat at Stoke City extended their winless run to six matches. Our man Alex Miller was there.
The post-match demeanour of Danny Röhl has varied wildly across the course of a miserable second half of this Sheffield Wednesday season; from beaten to angry and all in-between.
The German boss has seen his Owls side slide from a promising position just outside the play-off places to the unenviable reality of being the worst form team in the division from mid-January - with the hapless first half of a defeat at Stoke City perhaps proving its lowest point as they laboured to a sixth consecutive game without a win.
Ironically, it was the matchday that confirmed the achievement of Wednesday’s safety in Championship football next time out, when the occupier of the Hillsborough hotseat seems increasingly unlikely to be Röhl himself.
Speaking to The Star post-match at the bet365 Stadium, the 35-year-old wore a look of dejected sadness in a conversation in which he took aim at the ability of a ‘big group’ of his players to play his style of football - and suggested the Owls are on a road to a major relegation struggle in the second tier next season.
“It is a big disappointment,” Röhl said when asked his feelings from the afternoon. “How can I describe it? There are two things; at first we have to separate the last four or five results from the other 18 months. At the moment we are damaging our good work and I must say this. On the other side, the last couple of weeks, some players showed they are not able to play my style of football.
“You speak about quality, decision-making; if you want to improve as a club, you have to do a lot of things right in the summer, otherwise - and this is what I will tell you - next season will be a big, big fight to stay in this league because we have a big group of players that are not able to play at this level with my football. I must say this directly. I have protected my players again and again, I take responsibility and I give chances. But the result is not what it should be. I demand not special things, these are basics.
The Star has a dedicated Sheffield Wednesday WhatsApp Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click here to join
“You see that maybe we overachieved in the last 18 months. Until matchday 40 we played for a play-off position, but maybe now we see just what we did to bring this group so far. I have some fantastic players, but all in all it will be hard work for the summer.”
The headlines surrounding Wednesday have been many throughout the season. These range from - and are not limited to; public spats between manager and chairman, an ultimately unsuccessful approach from Premier League Southampton for Röhl’s services, a January transfer window that left a little to be desired, late payments for the month of March that left the club within hours of a three-window transfer embargo, public utterances from owner Dejphon Chansiri and fan protests against that ownership.
Performances since the struggle of players left being unpaid for March have been poor and asked whether that had been a driving factor in their downturn, Röhl said the issues were far wider.
“Yes. But I am also part of this story. Look since January, everything that happens, all the things around. We tried to push this away but maybe if everything is positive energy on and off the pitch, maybe the big moments go in our direction. The second half of the season has gone more in the other direction. We will find reasons off and on the pitch, I could make the last part easy that since this problem we had (paying players late), we couldn’t win.
“But the bigger picture is that we had a good first half of the season, we had some good performances in the second half, but now you see what Championship football means.”
Pressed on whether the known direction of travel on his own future was a contributing factor in a possible lack of focus or hunger from his players, Röhl once again didn’t open up on where things were at on that front. He said he felt his own future didn’t matter and that there should be a higher intensity than that shown in the last weeks. With the achievement of survival all-but achieved some weeks ago, he feels the standards have dropped.
“It is everything,” he said when asked for more detail on the reasons for the a dire second half to the season. “It is a summary. I am not looking for excuses, but I saw some things in December when we won games. I saw things in the first half of the season. For me it was clear, to have a good opportunity then you have to do something.
“I am a part of it, I will take this because I am the manager in front, I have to speak every week to you, I have to try to explain. At the moment it feels very sad about what we are doing. We did a lot of things right, but now we drop, drop, drop. It is not a good time, it is the first time since I came here that we didn’t win in six games. But this is the process of the group. Take these notes of what I said today about how tough it will be next year.”