Why Danny Rohl would want to leave Sheffield Wednesday for Middlesbrough - there are 3 clear reasons | OneFootball

The Owls boss is said to be on Boro's shortlist to succeed Michael Carrick at the Riverside Stadium.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl is believed to be on Middlesbrough's shortlist to take over from Michael Carrick at the Riverside Stadium.

A report from The Northern Echo on 10 June revealed that the 36-year-old, alongside Steve Cooper and Rob Edwards, is among the leading candidates to fill Boro's managerial vacancy.

It's said that final interviews with said coaches will be taking place this week, with Middlesbrough aiming to announce who their new head coach will be at the end of the week, or by the start of next week at the latest.

Rohl would surely be a highly popular choice among Teessiders given the job he's been able to perform at Wednesday in spite of all the well-documented challenges he's faced there, but he could potentially cost Boro up to £5m to get him out of Hillsborough.

Football League World - in no particular order - takes a look at three clear reasons why Rohl would be interested in becoming Middlesbrough's new manager this summer.

One of the key reasons as to why Carrick lost his job following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season was the fact his side underperformed given the respective talent in the playing squad.

Emmanuel Latte Lath (prior to his winter sale), Tommy Conway, Ben Doak, Finn Azaz, Hayden Hackney, Aidan Morris, Rav van den Berg and January loanee Mark Travers were all among the leading players in the Championship last season at their respective positions.

Meanwhile, players such as Morgan Whittaker, Dael Fry, Jonny Howson, Anfernee Dijksteel and others are all proven second tier performers too. As such, finishing 10th and four points outside the play-offs in what was one of the weakest races for a top six place in recent second tier memory, marked a clear failure of a campaign on Teesside.

However, Rohl would surely look at what currently remains of Middlesbrough's squad and see a highly talented core of players, that with some strong signings of his own this summer, could fairly easily be transformed into genuine promotion contenders once more.

The former Bayern Munich coach will no doubt have seen some of the major profits the club has generated through player sales in recent times, and as such, Boro appear to be in one of their healthiest financial positions since dropping out of the Premier League in 2017.

Therefore, money should be there for the new manager to spend this summer, which is a luxury he's never really had during his time in charge of Sheffield Wednesday.

2 Middlesbrough's superb academy system

The North East is one of England's true footballing hotbeds, and Middlesbrough boast a long and proud history of producing quality homegrown talent.

Indeed, Boro boast a Category 1 academy, which is the highest possible rank achievable by a football club.

Hayden Hackney, Djed Spence, Marcus Tavernier, Dael Fry, Ben Gibson, Isaiah Jones, Nathan Wood and Josh Coburn are some more recent examples of players that have come off Boro's production line.

Going further back, players such as Stewart Downing, David Wheater, Robbie Stockdale, Brad Jones, Stuart Parnaby, Andrew Davies, Lee Cattermole, James Morrison and so many other top professionals have come through Rockliffe Park.

The club's youth and training ground facilities are excellent, and for a coach like Rohl who has a proven track-record of giving young players a chance and being able to get the best out of them, he could see Boro's commitment to producing quality youngsters as a very attractive commodity.

There aren't too many owners in English football more widely respected than Middlesbrough's Steve Gibson.

The 67-year-old lifelong Boro fan has rightfully built himself a reputation as one of the most loyal and supportive owners in the business, and is seldom seen not backing his manager.

Indeed, he constantly keeps the club afloat and in the EFL's good books with unwavering financial investments, enabling a real safe, calm and secure environment for the head coach to work under at the Riverside.

In that regard, the same can't be said of Rohl's time working under Sheffield Wednesday owner, Dejphon Chansiri.

Embargoes, fan protests, staff wages going unpaid, communication breakdowns between manager and owner; Rohl has found himself working under fairly turbulent conditions at Hillsborough to say the least.

As such, he would surely look at a chairman like Gibson and see a perfect opportunity to enter a polar opposite situation, having the chance to work under an owner who he knows will back him to the fullest, as well as walking into a settled environment from which he can get to work on leading Middlesbrough back to the Premier League.