Sheffield Wednesday are close to announcing that head coach Danny Rohl will be staying at Hillsborough after successful contract talks, according to the latest reports.
When Rohl took over at the South Yorkshire outfit, the Owls were sitting rock bottom of the Championship, seven points adrift of safety, having failed to win any of their opening ten matches of the campaign under his predecessor Xisco Munoz.
Appointing the German coach was a massive risk by Wednesday’s chairman Dejphon Chansiri. Rohl was merely 34 years old when he was handed the reins in Sheffield and had never worked in a managerial post before, although he had experience on the coaching staffs of Bayern Munich, Southampton, RB Leipzig and the Germany national team.
However, Rohl’s arrival proved to be a pivotal turning point for the club. Since his appointment at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday are sitting ninth in the form table in England’s second tier. Only eight clubs have picked up more points in this timespan, all finished in the top eight of the division this term.
The Owls staved off relegation by three points, setting up the first Steel City Derby in five years as bitter rivals Sheffield United dropped out of the Premier League with the third-lowest points total in the competition’s history.
As a result of the job Rohl carried out, the 35-year-old has been linked with moves away from Wednesday. Several reports claimed that Hull City and Sunderland were eyeing up the young manager, while there was also said to be interest from clubs in Germany.
Nevertheless, journalist Joe Crann broke a story on Wednesday afternoon, stating that Rohl was in ‘positive’ talks with Chansiri about penning a new deal. Now, Mike McGrath from The Telegraph has revealed that Rohl’s long-term contract extension is set to be announced soon.
Writer’s View
This is excellent news for Sheffield Wednesday and will be welcomed by the players and fans alike. Rohl is undoubtedly the club’s most important asset right now and losing him could have proved catastrophic ahead of next season.
Tying him down to a new and improved deal will fend off any interested parties, at least for another twelve months, and will allow Chansiri to work with the young manager to bring in new faces during the summer transfer window to build on the club’s progress this term.
