Former Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl has issued some stunning revelations into what life was really like in the dugout at Hillsborough – including what happened in the final few weeks and months of his time in South Yorkshire.
The highly-rated German coach was somewhat idolised by many Wednesday fans, having saved the club from relegation to League One in 2023-24 before guiding them to mid-table in the Championship in 2024-25, despite the latter stages of the campaign indicating what was to come under owner Dejphon Chansiri.
The first instance of wages not being paid on time to players and staff occurred in late March 2025, with Chansiri citing cash flow issues as the reason for the delay, and subsequent instances occurred in May, June, and July, all of which contributed to the club’s inability to sign any new players over the summer aside from emergency loanee goalkeeper Ethan Horvath and Man United’s teenage left-back Harry Amass.
Danny Rohl reveals what he did prior to Sheffield Wednesday exit
The troubles behind the scenes on Wednesday saw then-head coach Rohl look to quit the club, with Chansiri unwilling to discuss the German’s future at the club, prompting him to seek an escape from the struggling second-tier squad.
Other clubs, however, turned down the opportunity to hire Rohl, and to many people’s astonishment, he returned to work at the training facility during pre-season with a skeleton squad.
It wouldn’t last long, though, as two weeks later, on July 29, Rohl’s departure was announced just over a week before the new season began – and it appears that this was always going to be the case.
An exclusive interview with Rohl for The Times showed that Rohl knew he was leaving the club as soon as a severance settlement was agreed upon with Wednesday owner Chansiri, which is why he returned to work unexpectedly to respect his contract.
And, despite knowing he was on his way out of Hillsborough, it was revealed that Rohl cut short his family vacation in the summer and held a mammoth 40 meetings with players and staff to prepare them for the upcoming season, which may have aided his former assistant Pedersen’s smooth transition into the dugout after he was quickly named his successor.
Danny Rohl’s Sheffield Wednesday work holds him in a good light – a Championship return feels inevitable
Given what has occurred in recent months, it is evident that Rohl did well to work as long as he could with Chansiri, who promised so much in the early phases of his ownership of Wednesday but has faltered over time.
Rohl was already a step above the club’s former head coach, Xisco Munoz, who failed to win any of the club’s 12 games in charge before being fired, but it appeared that Wednesday was on the rise until the January transfer window of 2025.
This year, however, has been nothing short of a disaster for Sheffield Wednesday, and fans will be hoping for new ownership as quickly as possible, and that Chansiri is willing to sell.
You get the impression, however, that given the Championship manager merry-go-round is always pretty volatile a few months into a new season, it may not be long before Rohl is courted by other clubs in the second tier of English football, and that a reunion with Wednesday as a rival coach could be sooner rather than later if the right job comes along.
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