Pundit issues warning to Sheffield Wednesday over Danny Rohl's future | OneFootball

Former Sheffield Wednesday and England midfielder Carlton Palmer has revealed that he believes the Owls need to back manager Danny Rohl in the upcoming transfer window, or face a tough battle to keep hold of him.

Rohl was hired as the new manager at Hillsborough in October last year, following the sacking of Xisco Munoz after he failed to win any of the 10 Championship games he was in charge for.

Having previously held coaching posts at Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Southampton and the German national side, Rohl arrived in Yorkshire for his first job in the hot seat and managed to salvage a fighting chance of survival for the Owls.

The 34-year-old has now managed to produce nine league wins, an impressive total considering where Wednesday were at the beginning of this season, but more will be required if they are to secure their place in the Championship next season.

Having played over 200 times for the Owls during his career, Palmer is tuned in to what is required at the club, and he believes that Wednesday must do all they can to keep hold of Rohl, even though that may prove a difficult task.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, he said: “Danny Rohl, I’ve got to be honest with you, has done a fantastic job at Sheffield Wednesday.

“To turn around the confidence, turn around the results in the manner that he has, to give Sheffield Wednesday a chance of staying up, and, if you look at the teams at the bottom of the Championship now, Sheffield Wednesday are the team in form."

It will be a serious accolade for Rohl to add to his CV if he can keep the side up from the position they were in, something which Palmer recognises.

“Three wins out of their last five games. They’ve got Rotherham away and then Plymouth at home," he said. "They’ve given themselves a real chance to get out of the relegation battle, and should he secure their status in the Championship, Danny will become one of the hottest young managers in the league.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic. I’ve looked at players that I’ve thought are not good enough, I watched them last week against Bristol City and the way, tactically, when they went down to ten men, a lot of people just sit back in, but with nine minutes to go, and they were under pressure, he went and put two players up front and said, ‘right, it’s down to you to break us down’.

“Defended superbly, made four changes, really, really good tactically, he’s very confident in what he does."

Rohl has already shown Palmer enough for him to believe that he could be the man to take them back into the England's top flight, but to get there the club must work hard to keep hold of him.

Palmer continued: "I think Sheffield Wednesday are going to have it all on to keep Danny Rohl at the football club, should he achieve that status, because otherwise, if they keep him, they’re going to have to back him.

"If they back him, they could well be back in the Premier League the following season.”

Survival is still firmly on the cards, but the Owls may struggle to keep Rohl if relegation hits

As Palmer said, the work done by Rohl over the past few months has put Wednesday in a far better position to stay in the league than they may have expected to be in earlier this season.

Despite currently being in 23rd place in the Championship, they're just three points from safety, and in noticeably better form than many of those around them.

However, wherever the Owls find themselves at the end of this season comes as a bit of a double-edged sword; achieve survival and the job Rohl will have done will make him extremely attractive to other clubs at that level, and potentially higher. Suffer relegation, and he will surely still be viewed as too accomplished to manage in League One, and another club may find it easier to tempt him away.

Looking forward, regardless of where Wednesday finish at the end of the season, their most important transfer business this summer could be retaining the services of their current manager.