'Sellotape Danny Rohl to a chair' - Sheffield Wednesday urged to take unusual step to avoid Southampton hijack
The Sheffield Wednesday boss is in high demand.
David Prutton believes Sheffield Wednesday might have to ‘Sellotape Danny Rohl to a chair’ in order to keep him at Hillsborough amid ongoing links with a move away.
Rohl has been linked with two vacant managerial positions over the past week, most notably at Southampton where he spent time working under Ralph Hasenhuttl before forging his own managerial career. The south coast club sacked Russell Martin less than 90 minutes after Sunday’s 5-0 defeat against Tottenham and Wednesday’s head coach has been among the favourites ever since.
Reports on Wednesday then linked Rohl with a return to Germany, with interest from German second-tier outfit Hamburger SV. Kicker claim the young coach is among the candidates being considered to succeed Steffen Baumgart who was fired last month. Those links are confirmation of an excellent 14-month spell at Hillsborough and former Wednesday midfielder Prutton expects club chiefs to do all they can to keep him on board.
“Sneakily, just meandering into the top-10,” Prutton told Sky Sports’ EFL predictions podcast when asked about Wednesday. “We were looking at them earlier in the season thinking what on earth we were going to get from them? They’ve been very good. They’ll be hoping to Sellotape Danny Rohl to a chair somewhere at Hillsborough so he can’t actually leave.”
As far as Wednesday are concerned, the Star understands it is business as usual in South Yorkshire and Rohl has been at Middlewood Road all week preparing for the visit of Championship strugglers Stoke City. And club media chiefs uploaded a picture of the boss leading training earlier in the week to placate supporters.
Rohl is expected to speak with the media on Friday ahead of their Saturday lunchtime return to Hillsborough, following last week’s away win. Victory over Oxford United pulled the Owls into ninth and fans are starting to look up towards the play-off battle.
Wednesday have struggled at home this season but will hope the visit of a struggling Stoke side can offer up all three points. The Potters are winless in seven and Prutton expects that run to extend another game.
“I’m very positive about this for Wednesday going into the game against Stoke,” the former Owls man added. “So much to like about the way they've shown that type of fortitude, coming from a goal down [vs Oxford United]. And they’ve got the type of players that can really hurt Stoke. I’m leaning towards something positive for the home side. Wednesday to win 3-1.”
Victory is unlikely to pull Wednesday any higher up the table, with eighth-placed West Brom three points clear and in possession of a far superior goal difference. Three points will guarantee Rohl’s side are in the top-10 by Christmas, however, laying the foundations for what fans hope will be an exciting second half of the season.