Danny Rohl shares update after Sheffield Wednesday exit - Most Owls fans all react the same way | OneFootball

The former Sheffield Wednesday manager has posted his thoughts on travelling in America, and the replies show that many Wednesday fans miss him.

The former Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl has shared his thoughts on travelling in America this summer, and many Wednesday fans were keen to point out how much they missed him.

As Sheffield Wednesday fans ponder the condition of their club at the moment, it is entirely understandable that their minds should default to happier times.

And while there haven't been too many of those for them over the last quarter of a century or so, the memory of their last head coach seems to have stuck in many of their heads.

Last season already feels like a long time ago. The first stirrings of the crises to come were already making themselves evident, but a 12th-placed finish in the 2024-25 Championship was a world away from the start of the season that they've made this time around.

The manager who oversaw this was, of course, Danny Rohl, and since leaving the club in the summer he has come to be seen as yet another wasted opportunity by the club, a highly-rated young coach who could get a tune out of his team who spared them relegation on the final day of the 2023-24 season and took them to mid-table the next time around.

Danny Rohl posts to Instagram and Sheffield Wednesday fans react

Rohl has not taken another position since leaving Hillsborough, and recently posted to Instagram about his experiences of travelling in the USA. So far, so asinine, but the response of Sheffield Wednesday fans to the post tells a story of the plight of the club since his departure.

The number of posts from Wednesday fans expressing how much they miss their former manager is both striking and touching.

One reply read: "Thank you for picking Sheffield & thank you for the belief you brought to our beloved club.

This time unfortunately it wasn’t to be, but always know, in S6 you will always have a home." Another read: "Wish you had been able to manage us at a happier time in our history, this owner is ruining everything about the club for us fans. Good luck to you in the future."

It's clear that there are a lot of Sheffield Wednesday fans who really miss his presence at Hillsborough.

Why Sheffield Wednesday fans miss Danny Rohl so much

Danny Rohl wasn't Sheffield Wednesday's most successful ever manager, but this doesn't mean that he doesn't remain popular among a substantial number of their fans. He was first appointed at Hillsborough in October 2023, and with this being his first position, his assistant Chris Powell saw fit to ask fans to give him time upon his arrival at the club.

And it did take time to get going. Rohl lost five of his first six matches in charge of the team, and for a little while it looked as though his appointment may have been a mistake. But it only took him a few months to start turning things around, and a run of four wins and two draws from their final six games of the season was enough for them to survive, with the job completed with a 2-0 win at Sunderland on the last day of the season.

The end of that season has become known as 'The Great Escape', and by the end of the year, local newspaper the Sheffield Star was lauding their "remarkable 2024 turnaround."

Last season saw the improvement continue. Wednesday barely went near the relegation places all season and even threatened a run for a play-off place a couple of times before settling in 12th. It was their highest final league position in seven years and left a potential platform for Rohl to build upon for this season.

Of course, things didn't work out that way. Rohl's relationship with owner Dejphon Chansiri was being questioned by the new year, and the first rumblings of the troubles ahead could be seen when the staff were paid late at the end of March. Rohl clearly wanted out and was linked with jobs in both Germany and England over the summer.

But when the players returned for pre-season training, Rohl didn't return as well, and when he did it was clear that there were both players and staff who were distinctly unimpressed by his failure to return along with everybody else. Clear the air talks were held, but by this time it was too late and Rohl departed by mutual consent.

To a point, what Rohl represents is a time before the matter of Sheffield Wednesday's future became an existential question. This time last year, Sheffield Wednesday were just another Championship club, under-achievers for sure, in comparison with their history and scale, but ultimately just another football club. There was no need for fans to enter matches five minutes late, for mock funerals to be held, or for the club's supporters trust to push for a boycott of a high-profile cup match against a local rival.

And a dramatic return is a possibility. It remains the case that the only viable route out of Sheffield Wednesday's current crisis is a sale of the club, and one way in which a new owner could make themselves popular could be to reinstate him into this position, were he to be interested.

It wouldn't be a universally popular decision - it can also be seen in the comments under that Instagram post that there's a number who wouldn't welcome him back on account of the way in which he left in the summer - but it might give Wednesday a chance to resume the progress they'd been making, before circumstances beyond the control of all bar the owner of the club got so drastically in the way.