Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl is the right man to guide the Owls back to the Premier League, according to pundit and former defender Carlton Palmer.
The Yorkshire side have occupied a spot in the bottom three all season. However, that fails to tell half the tale, with Rohl having performed wonders since his appointment in October.
After securing a spot in the Championship via the League One play-offs last season, Darren Moore departed the club and was replaced by Xisco Munoz. The Spaniard’s tenure was a disaster, and he found himself cast aside after picking up just two points in 10 league games.
Despite the campaign’s infancy, relegation already looked a formality, and the little-known German was brought in to steady the ship. He has been widely praised for his impact at Hillsborough and heads into this afternoon’s South Yorkshire derby with Rotherham United just three points from safety.
The job he has performed in such a short period of time has earned plaudits from club legend Carlton Palmer, who believes that Rohl could lead Wednesday to the great escape. Speaking to Football League World, the ex-England international said:
“Danny Rohl, I’ve got to be honest with you, has done a fantastic job at Sheffield Wednesday.
“To turn around the confidence, turn around the results in the manner that he has, to give Sheffield Wednesday a chance of staying up, and, if you look at the teams at the bottom of the Championship now, Sheffield Wednesday are the team in form.
“Three wins out of their last five games. They’ve got Rotherham away and then Plymouth at home. They’ve given themselves a real chance to get out of the relegation battle, and should he secure their status in the Championship, Danny will become one of the hottest young managers in the league.
“He’s been absolutely fantastic. I’ve looked at players that I’ve thought are not good enough, I watched them last week against Bristol City and the way, tactically, when they went down to ten men, a lot of people just sit back in, but with nine minutes to go, and they were under pressure, he went and put two players up front and said, ‘right, it’s down to you to break us down’.
“Defended superbly, made four changes, really, really good tactically, he’s very confident in what he does.”
Palmer continued, claiming that Rohl could be the man to guide the Owls back to the Premier League for the first time since the 1999/2000 campaign should he guide them to safety this season:
“I think Sheffield Wednesday are going to have it all on to keep Danny Rohl at the football club, should he achieve that status, because otherwise, if they keep him, they’re going to have to back him.
“If they back him, they could well be back in the Premier League the following season.”
Writer’s View
Few can deny what a wonderful job Danny Rohl has done since undertaking a seemingly impossible task in October. The fact that Sheffield Wednesday are even in contention to stay up at this stage of the season is a miracle in itself, especially when they were rock bottom until December.
This afternoon’s clash against rivals Rotherham is crucial to their survival hopes, although the Millers will be hoping to inflict some hurt on their neighbours. Three points for the Owls, and you’d have to say that they are in a really good position to retain their Championship status. Whether they can keep hold of Rohl during the summer though is an entirely different question.