In this piece we’ll be listing the potential candidates for Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager if Danny Röhl is to leave.
Groundhog day, once again for Wednesday fans: It’s likely they are about to lose yet another good manager, due to the diligence of current owner – Dejphon Chansiri. It’s unclear what’s going to happen, but it just feels like it’s a matter of time right-now until we see Danny Röhl exiting the club and the same can be said for another club to swoop in for him too. Röhl is a fantastic manager and has proved it too. It’s that familiar feeling of this just being too good to be true, like many ex-managers or even players are, for The Owls. In this piece we’ll be listing the potential candidates for Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager if Danny Röhl is to leave.
At the start of the month, it looked like the newly relegated side from the Premiership – Southampton, would be the destination for Röhl. However, Will Still will take on the Saints job now. RB Leipzig are also on the look out for a new manager right now and Danny Röhl is the leading favourite to take up that role. It’s a club he’s previously worked at before as a Coach and makes a lot of sense for this to be his next destination.
The facts don’t lie. The Wednesday job is a complicated one and, if anything, an unattractive offer for any manager…. In March this year, we saw the team’s own players not getting paid due to an almighty cash flow problem. Dejphon struggles to make this venture of his, an extremely optimistic one. Surely, it has to be hard for him to make Sheffield Wednesday look appealing for any managerial candidate.
Yet, this club being an EFL Championship side, is a good stepping-stone for any young manager. Perhaps that’s what caught Danny Röhl’s eye in the first place to come to Hillsborough.
It’s likely though, that The Owls are going to be needing a new manager, sooner or later… Who exactly could that be?
Rubén Sellés:
After keeping Hull City up in the Championship, from what’s been an incredibly underperforming season from The Tigers, owner of the football club Acun Ilıcalı has decided to sack Ruben Selles. This created mixed opinions in the fan base. The general outcome from them was it was harsh on the owner to sack the Spanish Coach. If The Owls were to get him, then I can really see the club having the chance to thrive. Sellés just gets the best out of his players.
Yes, it felt unfair that he did get the sack from Hull. Then again, Reading fans feel unfair that he left for a better job, as he was really elevating The Royals nicely up the table, before he departed. Of course, it seems it’s a big ask for Dejphon Chansiri to be spending a high-amount of cash. The same could literally be said about the owner Sellés worked under previously, being Dai Yongge as he didn’t spend a single penny going into this season. But we then got to witness Reading being a people’s club, the underdog of League One (given the nature of that lack of spending) and just playing very entertaining football.
For sure though, this is the Championship. His experience in this league has shown to be challenging so far, but only that difficulty has existed because it hasn’t been his own squad. Hull really could’ve furthered things greater than what they’ve been like this season, if they perhaps had stuck with Sellés. Getting some signings on board that suit this 4-2-3-1 system, would be key if he went across to Sheffield Wednesday. A player who I think took time to gel in this Hull side, but really showed his worth in the end, was Joe Gelhardt. Leeds are now promoted and Gelhardt’s contract ends next month. If Sellés was to go to Wednesday, he would be a signing that I think suits his system and just makes a lot of sense.
A young and bright manager, who has a lot more to offer in English football through management. He was once the assistant coach to Ralph Hassenhüttl and now has that taste of Championship football, with successfully keeping Hull up. It feels like it’s a matter of time until he joins another club.
Can Wednesday be that club who appoints him and really capitalise on this and appoint the now free agent? It would be with very little spending to complete this action. That’s something that I would say appeals to Dejphon Chansiri!
Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager? Ole Werner
Another manager who’s now been shown the exit door, despite his efforts in keeping Werder Bremen up in Germany’s top division since putting them there in the first place, is Ole Werner. This is a German coach that’s been at the club since 2021. He achieved promotion with them in his first season and has kept them up since. In-fact, the club has shown consistent improvement, as Bremen keep topping their previous league position, each season in the Bundesliga. That is thanks to Ole Werner.
If what happens becomes true, then perhaps it’s the case of one German coach out for another. If Wednesday aim to get Ole, then I think it would turn out to be a really huge impactful appointment, and if anything these players may suit Werner’s style and shape of play, more than Sellés’s.
The instructions that come from Ole Werner for Werder Bremen to do so well in the Bundesliga, is them quite simply having common sense. It’s the case of these wing-backs being the ones that change at the most-accurate times. Werner’s style of play is to put pressure on the opposition, and the wing-backs show how important they are, as they come as high up into the attack and play as midfielders/wingers. The 5-3-2 that we have when they face an attack from the opposition, off-the ball of course, soon then becomes a 3-5-2 once Bremen can see the opportunity of play – to try and win that ball back in a vital area on the pitch, which then moves-on to be a frightening attack.
Just like Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, Sheffield Wednesday seemingly aren’t going to be winning the EFL Championship anytime soon. It’s quite evident that Ole can create a lot with a second favourite side in a game of football and make them the winners by the time the final whistle goes. It’s the case of just how brutal the whole midfield can be. They sit high up in the field for a reason, and that’s to demand the ball back. We’ve seen moments like their 2-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen, where four Bremen players swarmed a single Leverkusen player. This as expected, leads to them gaining the possession, resulting in Bremen scoring the first goal against Xabi Alonso’s former side.
When you see the type of players in this Wednesday side, the likes of: Barry Bannan, Nathaniel Chalobah, Josh Windass, all players who are brutes in the 90 minutes they play; they would really flourish in a typical Ole Werner shape.
Wednesday have a tough season ahead of them. With just how much Birmingham and Wrexham will likely spend and the newly relegated sides copying the repeated fashion of ‘going straight back up’, it’s likely they won’t be the favourites perhaps in the majority of games they play next season. If this German coach comes in then he can win his way out of these difficult games, with just how much his tactics shine through and more times than not – gets him the three points. Bremen aren’t high spenders either. This season they were the 16th highest spenders out of the 18 teams that are in the league, which played no impact whatsoever in where they finished, being 8th place. That’s two places off from European football.
We know Sheffield Wednesday share this same likeness to Werder Bremen (not spending much) so appointing Werner on a free, would do great wonders for the club. It would have the same impact, if not better, than what Danny Röhl has brought to Hillsbrough.
One personal achievement from Ole Werner this season? That 2-0 win over Xabi Alonso’s former side, was the win that ended Leverkusen’s 22-game unbeaten league run. What other wonders could he create, if he was given the chance as Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager?
Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager? Liam Fox
Is there anyone that has more time for Hearts of Midlothian that isn’t the former player and now former coach – Liam Fox. The 41-year old was given the caretaking manager role for the second time at Tynecastle Park, when he came in to succeed ex-Blackpool manager: Neil Critchely. And, since the day he came in, he’s completely built up this side to tower the other five sides in the 2nd phase relegation group. There was an injection of confidence and form from Fox. Before he came in on the 26th April, Hearts had failed to get a win in their last five games. Once the former player took hold of Hearts, he won all of their last four remaining games. Safety and survival in the SPL (Scottish Premier League) confirmed.
Now, no one knows what lies ahead with The Owls when they go into each summer window. Departures are more common, rather than arrivals. We already know players that have contributed a lot this season for Wednesday such as James Beadle and Shea Charles, are both returning to their parent clubs after their loan deals have now expired. Other than the main Glasgow clubs, every other club in the Scottish League spends very little, due to the lack of tournament prize money up for grabs. Say Wednesday do give Liam Fox the job and they spend their normal amount or even less? It clearly would not matter as working with tight budgets in the SPL is common for managers. The budget at Sheffield Wednesday isn’t much better. This has been an issue for many managers who step-in as the manager of Wednesday. I don’t think this would even bother Liam Fox though. The obvious feeling is that you want your manager to be backed financially. At Sheffield Wednesday, that doesn’t happen a lot…
The average attendance at Hillsborough this season was 26,636. The Wednesday fans have their separate dislike with this club when it comes to their views with the owner. However, when it comes to the main point of this all which is football – they have a lot of time to back the team and also the manager. Liam Fox would feel welcomed here.
Something that we have to pick up on again, is that short-term but also crucial injection of form that Hearts found at the end of this SPL season. The man with the needle was Liam Fox. For instance – Hearts striker Lawrence Shackland picked up 4 goals in 4 of them final relegation group games. Prior to this, he’d only picked up another 4 goals in the SPL, in 28 games. Fox put him as that leading target man and it reassured all the fans, once we saw how many goals he scored in the final four games of the season. He also spent time as a first-team coach under Barry Robson at Aberdeen and even then, he seemed to provide that same vital injection of form as he did with Hearts – with Liam Fox playing an influential role in helping the team secure European football for the 2023–24 season.
A job as an EFL Championship manager, is very much a whole different stronger tide, compared to the SPL, in some respect. Any appointment made is always a gamble. With how strong of an influential role Liam Fox plays in the teams he coaches and the fact that he can obviously shift his players to the right direction, leaves me wondering if he would have that same effect as Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager? It could be a blessing in disguise, with just how well Fox is as a Coach right now!
Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager? Jess Thorup
We look to go out of England once again now, viewing the Danish coach who has kept FC Augsburg up in the Bundesliga since he arrived at the club in October 2023. He made a great impression in his first season at the club, leading them to an 11th-place finish in Germany’s top division—their highest in eight years. They’re not the biggest spenders in the world either. Like a lot of managers in this article, Jess Thorup has worked with what he’s had and made wonders from it. It seemed a little harsh the sacking, but the club believed he wasn’t the right man to take them forward to develop and lead this club to more.
The Danish coach has been linked with the Wednesday job previously, so it feels it’s a very realistic candidate. He was a candidate linked with the job in 2023, however, the club went for the Spaniard Xisco Muñoz to lead the newly promoted side into the Championship. Given the fact that Muñoz only survived 12-games with the club, did Wednesday miss out here?
After all, Thorup doesn’t just have that experience of keeping clubs up and making them a stabled side in a highly competitive division, he has silverware to his name with two different Danish Superliga titles with two different clubs. Winning silverware is something Danny Röhl lacks. His first and only club he’s managed is Sheffield Wednesday and it’s been an insight and a compliment to the club with how good of an appointment this has turned out to be, as he’s been nothing but great. If we throw some ambition for Wednesday to be the club that history states them to be – a first division club, then surely Thorup could be a good manager to appoint given the nature of him having a locked and keen eye on a trophy. The vision this time would be England’s highest money prized object out there in football – the Championship Play-Off Trophy.
For Augsburg to be so vital going forward and for them to score goals at crucial times this season – Jess Thorup implemented his team to use either a 3-4-2-1 or a 4-3-2-1 shape, with sometimes even as little as two players left back in the defence, for the Dane to have his team advance with things up the field. With a Thorup Augsburg side – we do get a crazy overload of bodies being in or around the opposition box. As mentioned, there are only two players holding back in the defence and ahead of them are just another two to be there as deep-lying playmakers. That then leaves six players to be either inside the opposition box, or certainly around it. We’ve seen it work this season: A month ago Ausgburg played TSG Hoffenheim and as soon as Augsburg got the second half underway; we saw them initiate an attack deep into the Hoffenheim half and score from it. What made this possible was Augsburg having a good amount of players to create the attacking space and this then led to the opportunity for Samuel Essende to put it in the back of the net and to take the 1-0 lead.
As much as this is seen as a risky way of playing football; it can also get you an unexpected win in a game against one of the better sides. That was exactly how Augsburg were able to win by just the one goal and take all three points off Borussia Dortmund. The goal was through a set piece. But it was the Thorup method that made it possible by having all the bodies in the box to sniff the ball out from the free kick taker, leaving it possible for them to actually take a 1-0 lead early on against one of the best sides in the Bundesliga. As expected, it was then about keeping Dortmund quiet, which Augsburg were successfully able to do.
When they look to get an early lead, they will throw players up there, we all know that now. Risky, dangerous, stupid? Or just tactically brilliant! The reality is this: Leeds did just the same this season in the Championship which won them the league title. Of course, you need the quality to do this, but say Wednesday had the players to play just like that, I wonder if this impeccable formula that Thorup has on a team, could leave Wednesday chasing away with the Championship title? It seems like the ideal dream for Owls fans. One man could get this done for you Owl’s fans – let Jess Thorup succeed Danny Röhl as Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager when the time comes…
Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager? Tom Cleverley
Could Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager be a rookie? Having the former Watford manager as a contender to take over, just for me, seems a realistic choice. A recent Championship-manager and not the top of most people’s lists, but let’s give this some realism here, as I’m sure Tom Cleverley wants to bounce back and prove himself as a football manager with a Championship club. He was attempting to do that with the Hornets and had a good 15 months at it. Why didn’t he get longer? Well, it’s stupid to think that as we all know by now how Watford operate! What we didn’t expect was for Watford to steal the show at times under Cleverley.
The former player got his team playing nice possession-based football. Ground passes (a lot of the time) only, exceptional diagonal runs from full-backs with a strong forward line of the attack which stay together for that moment the ball comes into the box, makes a dangerous view-point when it comes to Watford’s opposition.
I think if Cleverley is talked about as a Sheffield Wednesday manager, the main discussion point is: Does he deserve the job? I think more than none would say that he does. He’s got the Hornets finishing with the same number of points — 57 — as Norwich City, which is underwhelming from The Canaries, but still rather impressive from Tom to do that with The Hornets, in his first season. What has to be said – it was just one point away from Sheffield Wednesday, in 12th place. The club have more to do when it comes to the Championship table next season, and given the fact that a point separates the two clubs, this would make a great platform for Cleverley to create more movement up the table in the 25/26 season. It’s about trying to get into the higher end of the table and it’s obvious that Tom would have his mind and sight on that and will be knowing what to do differently to make that happen as he’s experienced the same exact thing with Watford.
With many younger coaches you see a close bondship with them and their players. Tom clearly had that at Watford. It helps when some of the players that you coach and manage, are former teammates of yours too. But, those who aren’t like Tom Dele-Bashiru, claiming that Cleverley was the best manager he’s ever had, gives us an insight into how good he was at Watford. The beautiful thing is, everything is still so fresh and recent to the former-England player. If Tom moved to an EFL club in the next month, then the iron is still hot and I’m sure he’d still have that same powerful input to the team.
More to learn and more for him to explore as a Coach. It may be a doubtful appointment, but when you think that this was his first senior manager job, the same as Danny Röhl, what really separates the two? The two are different managers though. For Danny, it’s just how well he shapes his team and how influential his style of play is. It basically delivers you wins.
For Tom, there’s that close bond he shares with the players and that just conveys with how well his team at times have performed this season. The two can get the same output, with two different approaches. The next step for Tom, would be developing on his team to have that more known and fearsome style of play. Time is key in football, and it could result in himself and Sheffield Wednesday forming a fantastic partnership. Would The Owls be more patient than The Hornets? Appointing Cleverley could be an eye-opening move that just simply works and Wednesday could give him that well-deserved time he should’ve had more at Watford. It could make an exciting appointment as Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager, perhaps…
