“I’m in” “Wednesday aren’t Ipswich” The Star’s Sheffield Wednesday team offer thoughts on Danny Röhl

Danny Röhl appears to be leading the way to be the man tasked with turning Sheffeld Wednesday’s fortunes around. He’s a 34-year-old coach with vast experience in some of the biggest assistant managerial roles in Europe.

Should it come off, Röhl would be stepping into his first managerial role hoping to wake the Owls from a nightmare start to their return to the Championship.

Our Wednesday writing team have come together to offer their thoughts on the potential appointment.

Joe Crann

Röhl is a fascinating option for Sheffield Wednesday. With his age and his lack of managerial experience it’s no surprise to see many saying that he might not be up to the challenge, but you don’t work where he’s worked and hold the positions that he’s held unless you’re a very talented coach. It’s fair to say it’d be as much of a risk for him as it would be for the Owls.

If Dejphon Chansiri chooses the German for the job then, in my eyes, it has to be a long-term option. He’s not a firefighter, he won’t be coming in to just keep us up and that be that. Röhl, you’d think, would have a vision for where he’d like the club to go, and that vision won’t be based on what happens this season alone.

Is there an argument for him being the right man at the wrong time given the very likely relegation battle ahead? Certainly. Many have cited Kieran McKenna’s success as a blueprint for progress under a fresh young manager, but Wednesday aren’t Ipswich Town, and that makes life a lot more difficult.

Alex Miller

Like seemingly everybody else, my search engine kicked into gear when I first heard the name ‘Danny Röhl’ a couple of months back.

I’ll admit an eye-roll early doors. A lazy eye-roll at that. But the more you read and speak to people with experience of dealing with Röhl, confidence grows that this is a potentially spectacular appointment.

You never, ever know of course and if it comes to pass you naturally fear for a 34-year-old manager stepping into his first top job given the situation Wednesday find themselves in. But one or two reckon him to be a genuine contender when it comes to becoming the next big thing. Every conversation I’ve had has been an encouraging one.

He has a coaching CV that won’t be rivalled by many and is known to be a good, effective and savvy communicator - something that contributed to Xisco’s spiralling mini-reign. As Joe has touched upon, the question is whether his grip proves tight enough to sail the good ship Wednesday. To expand that a touch - would anyone’s?

Another note on the club, who have been rightly criticised in years gone by for lurching from one managerial profile to another in years gone by. Whether a Röhl appointment comes off and whether it proves to be anything like a success remains to be seen.

But in going from Xisco - monumental caveat herein on how much of a struggle those weeks were for everyone involved - to Röhl, there appears to be dots to be joined there in terms of how they want to go about it.

I’m in. It’s not done yet, but should it happen, good luck to him. It’s a tricky gig, but as one Bundesliga expert told me this week: “He’s got all the tools”.

Chris Holt

There's an element of Alan Partridge going on in my thinking here, I have to be entirely honest.

“Can I just shock you? I like Danny Röhl. Despite what I just said earlier.”

Admittedly, although on our recent The Star Owls Podcast, I said I felt he could be a great appointment for Wednesday, I believed he would be the best next, next manager and that an old experienced head (yes, that one) would be what they need at this point to pull them out of the mud before someone comes along, cleans them up and gets everything working better.

Perhaps, though, I have looked too much at how bad Wednesday have been in a short space of time without concentrating on the latter part of that - that it is a short space of time and there is a hell of a lot of football to be played, so why not get the 'project' started now?

Röhl is very highly-regarded as a coach, has worked with some of the best players in the world and despite his lack of experience in the top seat, he should bring innovation and a mindset in tune with the modern game. Crucially, too, he comes without baggage.

He'll not find it easy as the widespread disdain for the chairman will continue to bubble under, ready to explode when things inevitably hit a sticky patch somewhere down the line and that will be his biggest challenge - apart from actually dealing with the chairman on a regular basis.

Obviously I'll be here to say, 'I told you so' if the emergency Neil Warnock button is having to be hit in February but on the face of it, Rohl would be an exciting appointment that you would hope will pull the club together again after a turbulent few months.