Should Rohl be Southampton's top target for new manager?

It has been all over the forums since the German guided Sheffield Wednesday to safety last May, in his first senior job as the sole manager.

We said it to a couple of supporters who stopped us to chat in a service station after Southampton's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in December.

Then prediction became reality two weeks later after Russell Martin was sacked, when the club attempted to approach Rohl and Wednesday.

Owls owner Dejphon Chansiri rejected Southampton's advances and officially confirmed that happened during the winter transfer window.

Now, The Sun report that Rohl, 35, remains top of the club's shortlist for a potential new manager, with current boss Ivan Juric unlikely to keep his job.

Juric signed an 18-month deal but has won just one of his 10 Premier League matches and failed in his task to improve the side's defensive record.

Saints wanted the Croatian to oversee the rest of this season and the next campaign, with chairman Dragan Solak already declaring his position.

Ivan Juric looks set to be sacked by the end of the season (Image: PA)

However, they reluctantly parted ways with Martin due to the fans making their thoughts clear and it could be a similar story with Juric.

It could also be the case that, although dismissing Juric early could be costly, hiring the former AS Roma and Torino man has saved them money.

The compensation required to release Rohl from his contract at Hillsborough is reportedly lower for a Championship club than Premier League.

This is a factor, in addition to being futile, for why it would not be wise to rush into making a change now rather than waiting out the season. 

Juric, a free agent after leaving Roma and fairly keen to try his hand in English football, was probably a fairly cheap hire for the interim period.

When Rohl was appointed in October 2023, Wednesday were bottom of the league, winless and seven points adrift of safety after 10 matches.

Without making a signing, Rohl led the Owls to a 20th-place finish, three points clear of the drop, winning exactly half of their last 28 league matches.

Despite that form, with just seven points by the end of November, Wednesday still had to win each of their final three matches to secure survival.

The German was backed with a number of good signings last summer, including Southampton's Shea Charles on loan, and has delivered.

Sheffield Wednesday have improved under Danny Rohl (Image: PA)

Wednesday are comfortable in 13th, seven points off the play-offs, although they have lost four of their last five fixtures in the Championship.

On record, Rohl has - similarly to Martin - demonstrated his ability to improve a poor Championship side, and their journey is not yet complete.

However, just as Martin had not prior to his move from Swansea City, he has not yet been asked to deliver to the demands of a club like Saints.

Sport Republic would be demanding promotion of the 35 year old but Martin, with similar Championship experience, was able to deliver that.

Saints will not be spending carelessly in an attempt to guarantee promotion this summer but will have a budget available to improve.

One of the key factors behind Martin's success in the second tier was his relationships with the players, pulling together a fractured squad.

With Saints heading out of the Premier League as a national embarrassment, the man-management of the next boss is going to be as important.

Rohl seems to be well-respected at Hillsborough and former Saints defender Yan Valery opened up on his relationship earlier this season. 

“I am really happy to be working with him again because he left at a moment when as players we didn’t really want him to leave," he said. 

Danny Rohl was Saints assistant briefly under Ralph Hasenhuttl (Image: PA)

“He has to be different, he is the manager now, he can’t do everything. But as a person, he is still the same. I enjoy working with him, I am learning every week."

New Saints technical director Johannes Spors, while reporting into CEO Phil Parsons, will have his say on every major footballing decision the club makes.

Conveniently, Rohl worked as an assistant to manager Ralph Hasenhuttl at RB Leipzig, where Spors, now 42 years old, was head of recruitment.

Rohl maintains some of the Red Bull influences in his style of play, and there would likely be some overlap with Spors in their view of the game. 

This season, Wednesday have had 46.7 per cent possession, play short passes but attempted the second most crosses of any team in the Championship.

Tactically flexible Rohl has deployed 4-3-3 to start around half of Wednesday's recent matches but has also used 4-4-2, 5-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 systems.

Although the seat at Hillsborough is his first managerial job, at 35 years old and with his experience in the game, Rohl is an interesting prospect.

He has served as assistant at Saints, Bayern Munich and the German national team, under Hasenhuttl and current Barcelona boss Hansi Flick.

Rohl helped Bayern to win the Champions League in 2020 and has extremely high-potential, albeit untested as a number one at the top level.

Nobody is a promotion-winning guarantee in the Championship but Rohl looks a safe pair of hands - if he is affordable and still wants the job.