Sunday Times Interview With Danny Röhl

[BIG D]

From Bayern to Wednesday – meet ‘Danny Cool’, league’s youngest boss

 

 

At 34 Danny Röhl, who has worked with the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan, has brought Red Bull blueprint to Sheffield Wednesday and says fans beg him to stay despite being in a Championship relegation fight

 

 

On Thursday afternoon Danny Röhl was walking down Ecclesall Road in Sheffield when a Wednesday supporter wound down the window of his copper-coloured BMW. “Please don’t leave us, Danny,” he shouted. “We love you.” 

It was not the first time that Röhl had heard such a comment. When he went for a jog in the park a few minutes away from the flat he has called home since October, another fan looked at the Sheffield Wednesday manager and said: “Please stay.” 

The 34-year-old German will receive similar messages from the 7,000 Wednesdayites who are crossing the Pennines on Sunday for the Sky Bet Championship relegation “six-pointer” against Blackburn Rovers. 

If you look at the table, you are probably wondering why Röhl is so popular. Withthree matches of the season left, Wednesday are second from bottom, one point from safety. 

This does not tell the full story, however. When Röhl took over from Xisco Muñoz six months ago, Wednesday were bottom, with two points from ten games.

 

A few months earlier Röhl had been in the running to replace Darren Moore, who parted ways with the club despite achieving promotion last season, but their outspoken owner, Dejphon Chansiri, chose Xisco, who oversaw the worst start to a campaign in Wednesday’s 157-year history. 

Next time, Chansiri plumped for Röhl, who left his wife and two children on their holiday in Turkey to fly to London for a successful interview.

 

 

He rejoined his family briefly before flying back to Leipzig and then to Sheffield to start work as the youngest manager in England. 

“It was a crazy few days. My head was spinning,” Röhl says. “I started the first training session and I felt immediately that I was in the right place because the players were so open-minded and I saw their quality.” 

After his playing career in Germany’s lower leagues had been cut short by injuries, Röhl, who has a degree from Leipzig’s university of sport, joined RB Leipzig as an analyst and then became assistant manager to Ralph Hasenhüttl.

 

He followed Hasenhüttl to Southampton before becoming Hansi Flick’s assistant at Bayern Munich and then the Germany national team. 

For his first job as a manager, Röhl inherited a disjointed squad. Nine players left last summer and 12 arrived, many of whom were of dubious quality. Wednesday have averaged 1.28 points a game under Röhl, which would equate to 59 over the season — enough for a comfortable mid-table finish. 

That comes even though 19 players, including the captain, Barry Bannan, are out of contract this summer. “In the future this should not happen again, because if you have 19 players without a contract, they could ask, ‘Why should I fight for this club?’ ” Röhl says.

 

 

“It’s a difficult topic, but my players are fighting, which shows their character. I told them, ‘It would really be a wonder if we stayed up.’ We can do it. I’ve visualised those three wins.”

Röhl has given Wednesday a fighting chance partly because of his man-management skills. He met every player individually after he arrived, to start developing a strong, trusting bond with them.

 

“I needed to get some information about them as humans — do they have a family, girlfriend, kids?” he says.“This is important. You want to know which players will be tired in the morning because they have babies.” 

The employment of Sascha Lense, a sports psychologist who worked under Ralf Rangnick at Manchester United and Leipzig, has helped too. 

“Six weeks ago we showed the players a video of an 800m runner,” Röhl says. “At the start of the race, she fell, but she was fighting, and came back to win. Hopefully the players can make that kind of link.” 

Wednesday’s fitness has improved greatly. Röhl, who is big on data, said they have jumped from 19th to fourth in the Championship’s sprint distance charts. Sometimes their lack of quality is exposed, but Röhl’s style of play is typical of what they preach in the Red Bull operation: aggressive, high-pressing football. 

The second goal in Wednesday’s recent win 2-0 win away to Queens Park Rangers epitomises this mantra — a swift counter rounded off by Anthony Musaba.

 

This attempt to play attractive football — and the fight shown by the players — is why Wednesday fans are enamoured of Röhl, and his coaches, including the vibrant and charismatic Chris Powell. 

After Röhl’s first win against Rotherham United, Wednesday fans chanted “Danny, Danny Röhl” as Daddy Cool by Boney M was played over the public address system. 

Röhl now hears it wherever he goes. “Even my kids sing that song to me,” he says, smiling. 

When you look at the players Röhl has coached, you can understand why Bannan rates him as the best manager he has worked under. 

When Röhl was shown a collated best XI of the players he has worked with, such as Ilkay Gundogan and Robert Lewandowski, he nodded his head and said: “Not bad.”

 

As a 29-year-old assistant at Bayern, Röhl had to work hard to earn the players’ respect. “At the start, I could tell the players were thinking, ‘Is there quality behind him or not?’ ” Röhl recalls when Joshua Kimmich, the most professional of the group, chastised his team-mates after a 4-1 win away to Roma because he felt they should have scored more.

 

Wednesday average 1.28 points a game under Röhl, who joined the club in October

 

 

“That was his mindset,” Röhl said. “That’s Bayern. Even in training or playing in a five-a-side game, it’s ferocious, but it’s not something you can just copy and paste.” 

Röhl enjoys living in the city centre. He visits Nonnas, the Italian restaurant, so often that they know his favourite dishes, and his drink order: a still water and a mint tea. 

He misses his wife and two sons, aged four and ten, but they visit regularly from Germany. “I think for my kids, it’s been hard,” he says. “My goal is to bring them here. But in Southampton we got a house and not long after, we went to Munich. You never know what’s going to happen in football.” 

Which brings us back to the plea from the BMW driver. He, like all Wednesday fans, knows that Röhl wants to manage at the highest level and that other clubs are aware of his talent. 

With Wednesday’s large fanbase, the potential is there, but Röhl needs assurances that he will be backed, and that the infrastructure will be improved.

During the winter Röhl had to cancel some training sessions because Wednesday’s training ground does not have undersoil heating. “It [relegation] is not in my mind right now, but even if you go down, it could be a chance to bring good things together and make a good run, then, when you get promoted [to the Championship], you want to do something like Ipswich [who are targeting automatic promotion to the Premier League] has done,” he says. 

“We need to discuss, to understand the strategy [for next season].”

Hopefully Chansiri feels the same and is working on that long-term plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oh_weds_we_love_you]

Can’t help but wonder where we’d be had Danny been appointed in the summer!

[Mike Hunt]

6 minutes ago, oh_weds_we_love_you said:

Can’t help but wonder where we’d be had Danny been appointed in the summer!

Probably mid table but certainly better than where we are. Now 

[HIGHERSTATE]

last thing we need is other people realising how good he is.

[Uhu]

Where's Bannan in that DR 11?

[TrickyTrev]

Chansiri has dropped some right clangers during his time at the club but if he forces Röhl to walk in the summer it’ll be right up there with the worst of them.

 

Any owner with half a brain would see that this guy knows what he’s doing and if you give him the right tools to do his job, he’ll deliver.

 

Seriously Dejpjon, do NOT, f**k this up.

[Stan Dupowls]

Stating the bleeding obvious but I do hope he stays. We need to build as a club and if Chansiri can’t see it now he never will….fingers crossed. What a massive result today.

UTO

 

[island owl]

why on earth did Xisco get the job instead of Danny

[Almat]

35 minutes ago, Mike Hunt said:

Probably mid table but certainly better than where we are. Now 

 

Windass agrees (from his Sky Sports interview). He's pretty honest about the squad quality which is unusual these days. 

 

"Since he’s come in I think we’re a mid-table team, which with the group we’ve got is unbelievable. Hopefully we can stay up and Danny can get what he wants, and we can move forward.”

[Ponte_Owl85]

23 minutes ago, TrickyTrev said:

Chansiri has dropped some right clangers during his time at the club but if he forces Röhl to walk in the summer it’ll be right up there with the worst of them.

 

Any owner with half a brain would see that this guy knows what he’s doing and if you give him the right tools to do his job, he’ll deliver.

 

Seriously Dejpjon, do NOT, f**k this up.

If he hasn't yet realised what he's got in this club, the fanbase, I doubt he'll realise what he's got in the manager either unfortunately. He seems oblivious to any rationale 

[mogbad]

“We need to discuss, to understand the strategy [for next season].”

Hopefully Chansiri feels the same and is working on that long-term plan.

 

See you then Danny, it was great while it lasted.

[Flat Owl]

We have a fũcking idiot in charge.

 

If he drives Röhl out or does not provide him with what he needs then Chansiri needs to be driven out by hook or by crook.

[CalmJimmers]

I feel for Röhl after reading that. Moving away from your family when you have young kids can't be easy.

 

The owner/club should be doing everything possible to make him comfortable, happy and able to do his job. That extends to his family too. Do everything we can our side to make him want to stay (even though I'm dubious to whether he would want to).

[Joe Sunburn]

1 hour ago, CalmJimmers said:

I feel for Röhl after reading that. Moving away from your family when you have young kids can't be easy.

 

The owner/club should be doing everything possible to make him comfortable, happy and able to do his job. That extends to his family too. Do everything we can our side to make him want to stay (even though I'm dubious to whether he would want to).

Club ought to buy him a house and a company car to drive out any ideas of leaving. Oh, and provide for daycare. Keep your man, DC! 

 

[BOOFABI]

3 hours ago, Mike Hunt said:

Probably mid table but certainly better than where we are. Now 

Would he have the appreciation he deserves if this were the case?

[Utah Owl]

7 hours ago, TrickyTrev said:

Chansiri has dropped some right clangers during his time at the club but if he forces Röhl to walk in the summer it’ll be right up there with the worst of them.

 

Any owner with half a brain would see that this guy knows what he’s doing and if you give him the right tools to do his job, he’ll deliver.

 

Seriously Dejpjon, do NOT, f**k this up.

It's the only realistic chance DC has of getting his money back because if he gives Danny what he wants he'll takes us back to the top.

[Road Runner]

If Chansiri listens to Röhl and invests innthe correct way and backs him then he's more likely and more quickly going to start and recoup money and his ROI will begin.

 

If he doesn't it will cost him more millions and misery.

 

He's got this chance and this chance only, don't fück this one up DC.

 

 

[elyowl1]

7 hours ago, CalmJimmers said:

I feel for Röhl after reading that. Moving away from your family when you have young kids can't be easy.

 

The owner/club should be doing everything possible to make him comfortable, happy and able to do his job. That extends to his family too. Do everything we can our side to make him want to stay (even though I'm dubious to whether he would want to).

From personal experience it’s awful , cost me my first marriage and losing regular access to my daughter at a similar age 36 , now 51 and still working part time across UK and Gibraltar and it’s been tough raising  my two stepsons this way over the last 10 years , luckily my second wife has been a real rock of support and the boys have been wonderful , they just like the constant holidays. 

[UpGrahamHydesSleeve]

5 hours ago, BOOFABI said:

Would he have the appreciation he deserves if this were the case?

Brand of football he plays suggests that it’s always going to be a season or two before we realise full potential. He came here after signings like Fletcher and Delgado - I can’t imagine they would have been signed.

 

It’s a positive sounding article. Just wish Wednesday fans would be a bit more optimistic in keeping him.

[longreach]

His percentage points accumulation for this season suggests he's a winner, particularly with the current team he has at his disposal.

It's all down to the Chanser now........he's apparently been given the requirement by Rhol as to what is needed for next season, whether in this division or the one below.  So if Chanser says ”no” and Rhol leaves the club what then?  Do you think the Chanser “love buddies” will finally see their mistakes and ask Chancer (politely of course) to leave our club?

 

 

Probably not!