Sheffield Wednesday will be fearing the worst as Danny Rohl comments offer Southampton hope

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Southampton have courted Danny Rohl previously and the Sheffield Wednesday boss could be in line to replace Ivan Juric at St. Mary’s.

Over the recent Championship weekend, Wednesday’s faint play-off hopes took a major hit during their loss to Hull City and Rohl’s full-time reaction said a lot to Wednesday supporters. That came amid reports Rohl is increasingly likely to leave.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
8	West BromWest Brom	40	13	18	9	48	36	12	57
9	MillwallMillwall	40	14	12	14	39	41	-2	54
10	WatfordWatford	40	15	8	17	48	53	-5	53
11	NorwichNorwich	40	13	13	14	62	56	6	52
12	BlackburnBlackburn	40	15	7	18	42	43	-1	52
13	Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Wednesday	40	14	10	16	54	61	-7	52
14	PrestonPreston	40	10	18	12	40	47	-7	48
15	SwanseaSwansea	40	13	9	18	41	51	-10	48
16	QPRQPR	40	11	13	16	45	53	-8	46
17	PortsmouthPortsmouth	40	12	9	19	48	63	-15	45

The German has been linked with a move to Southampton. Fans would no doubt hate to lose Danny Rohl, but with Sheffield Wednesday unable to pay wages until today and a potential sale of the Owls discussed, it would not be surprising to see him look for a new role in the summer.

As an EFL exclusive revealed recently, Rohl has a release clause in his Sheffield Wednesday contract said to be worth near £5 million. For a club like Southampton who have now parted ways with Juric, they could easily afford that sort of fee with parachute payments in the Championship next season.

• READ MORE: Sheffield Wednesday managers ranked by win percentage, as Danny Rohl lags behind Owls legends

Danny Rohl’s comments on Dejphon Chansiri and Sheffield Wednesday recruitment highlight tensions

With an exit looking likely, Sheffield Wednesday are already looking at Rohl replacements ahead of the summer, while the fans have also agreed on who is a perfect replacement for Rohl. However, should his demands not be met again, he will almost certainly be headed elsewhere.

With news emerging this weekend should their players not receive their March wages on Monday latest, the potential of a three-window transfer embargo awaits and was becoming more of a reality until today when it was announced they had been paid, but fans are insisting ‘the issue’ remains.

It still makes his previous demands incredibly unlikely to be met given the state of the club financially. Per a report from The Star in May 2024, Rohl outlined his desires ahead of that summer; it’s fair to say they weren’t all met and safe to assume that he won’t be sticking around for another campaign if they do continue.

Unless other highly unlikely assurances are made given the delicacy of the situation behind the scenes, Rohl could well be headed to the south coast. He said: “We will speak, like always, and then go forward. I think it is not about motivation, you know this. When I see the supporters and the togetherness, this is not the crucial thing.

“I need a clear strategy of what we can do and what we want to do. I am very hungry for more and when you feel the atmosphere in the stadium you can feel that everybody is hungry for more at this club. The experience of the Championship shows us we must be prepared for a tough season and I think the biggest mistake you can make is to think it is good enough what we are doing now.

“Now we must make the next step and for this we must bring all the things together on the table and we must speak about this. We have a clear direction on what we have to improve. We will have some meetings in the following days,” Röhl said on when he plans to submit a proposal to Dejphon Chansiri.

The tension that summer was palpable, with Chansiri claiming it was never submitted – via Rob Staton.

“You see how quickly it goes in one direction or the other and we have to do the right things. For this we have to use the summer, to not do everything in the last weeks. It is important we go straight into the next season and we are prepared immediately.”

• READ MORE: EFL Championship’s all-time top scorers as journeyman sneaks into top ten and Sheffield United legend tops the charts

Danny Rohl’s Southampton comments amid Sheffield Wednesday concerns

Danny Rohl’s post-match press conference on Saturday saw him look defeated and despondent, and his interviews felt like a goodbye, stating to the Yorkshire Post that he would ‘never forget these players in my future.’

Via The Star, he added: “At the moment it is not the time to speak about my future. The club knows my thoughts, they know where we are, what I want to do in the future. And this is the most important thing.”

In March of this year, he also spoke about his future with the club amid links to Southampton at the time. He spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield to outline that he is ‘not influenced’ by ongoing speculation linking him with Premier League strugglers Southampton.

It is understood Southampton were interested in the 35-year-old, who previously spent time as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s assistant at St. Mary’s, when they appointed Ivan Juric in December.

“I must say all the rumours and topics around don’t influence me. My main part is here and the next game with my group. We didn’t win in the last games and our responsibility is to get us back on track.

“There’s no problem for me because I’m not listening to left and right, my focus is here. I know my responsibility for my group and the club, that’s what is important at the moment, not some headlines.”

His recent body language, demeanour, comments, the background issues surrounding recent unpaid wages but also working with Chansiri paint the picture of someone who is likely to have a fresh start this summer. Southampton’s stability and parachute payments are almost certain to be the main selling point.

Alex Crook has outlined interest remains, and Wednesday fans could not begrudge him the move, especially while he continues to speak and act professionally to the media in the meantime. He’d have no such issues off the pitch at Southampton, making it the obvious next step in his managerial career.