Owls approach final act of Röhl's remarkable rescue - Oppo profile Thursday, 4th Apr 2024 19:19 by Clive Whittingham The Championship’s youngest manager has worked miracles on the division’s biggest basket case, but with one point from four games and only six to play is the disastrous start to the season going to be a millstone too heavy for even Danny Röhl? Jon Hore is our Wednesdayite. An absolute shuttle disaster at one stage, but how would you assess Sheff Wed season overall? If you want me to run with your shuttle disaster analogy, it was an absolute Columbia of a start and we’re currently in the middle of an Apollo 13 style rescue mission that may or may not have the same happy ending. The appointment of Xisco Munoz and the ten games of his tenure were a complete disaster - we only picked up two points in that time leaving us a mountain climb. Even after Danny Röhl joined, results didn’t turn immediately despite an obvious improvement in performances, and we still only had seven points after 18 games, basically wasting the best part of half a season. So, to even have a chance of staying up now is testament to the work that Röhl has done to get us picking up points at a mid-table rate with a squad that ability-wise isn’t that good. Sheff Wed in the league so far… Danny Rohl starting to get talked about for other jobs, what's he changed and how's he done? Inherited a terrible situation obviously... He inherited a horrendous situation with a team very low on confidence, quality, and points. I really don’t think he could have done much more with this group of players. He’s got a poor squad accumulating points at a mid-table rate, and has squeezed everything he can out of this group. There are times when he could maybe have been a bit more pragmatic, especially away from home. Trying to go toe-to-toe with Ipswich was in hindsight a bit daft for example, but he’s hampered by a lack of any depth in centre midfield so packing the midfield to try and keep things tight isn’t really an option for us, and it’s hard to be too critical. He speaks with charisma and passion for the job and has formed an instant connection with the fans. I’m desperate for him to succeed here because he’s clearly an incredibly talented coach, but he also seems to have the drive and enthusiasm to rectify a lot of the off -field problems which are holding us back. He’s basically doing the job of about four people at the moment and admitted recently that he even has to sign off on the hotels for away trips. We have no CEO, no sporting director, no director of football. This is a guy who has only coached at RB Leipzig, Bayern and the German National team. He’s only ever seen world class facilities and off field structures but is now being asked to work without any staff above him, and with a training ground that we can’t use if it’s cold because the giant balloon over the indoor pitches has deflated and no-one can be bothered/afford to fix it. He knows the structure of the club is not set up to succeed in modern football.
Has that recovery stalled a little - one point from the last four - or is it just tough fixtures? What's the current situation? I wasn’t expecting a lot from Leeds or Ipswich but the manner of the Ipswich defeat was hard to stomach, and I think Röhl was a bit naive in that game by setting up to go toe-to-toe with them. The Boro game last weekend was a shambles. Röhl has always protected the players after defeats but he openly questioned the attitude and lack of effort which feels a bit like a last throw of the dice to get a reaction out of a group which looks like it might have run out of gas. Whether that works when two thirds of the squad are out of contract in a couple of months, and aren’t likely to be here next season whatever division we’re in is up for debate. But football is weird - we lost 4-0 at Huddersfield a couple of months ago after another shambolic performance, ended the day eight points adrift of safety and it felt done. Then suddenly out of nowhere we win five from six and it’s back on again. We’re essentially a bottom six team who is in the bottom six but still playing catch up from only getting two points from the first ten games. Some weeks we’ll be pretty decent, some weeks we’ll be OK, and some weeks we’ll be abysmal. When we play well or when the opposition aren’t at it, we have to pick up points. You can’t really afford to miss a hatful of chances and then concede a soft set piece equaliser at home to a very average Swansea. We just need to be more ruthless at both ends of the pitch. What was done in January to help rescue the situation? What was left undone? There was no permanent business on account of us not having a pot to piss in, but four loan signings came in and in the main they’ve improved us. Ike Ugbo has brought energy and more importantly goals to the frontline and looks tailor-made for the Röhl system, and Ian Poveda is levels above everyone else in the squad technically. This is the sort of player who gets you off your seat and you’d pay money to watch, the likes of who we haven’t had at Hillsborough for a while. James Beadle, an England U19 international, was brought in on loan from Brighton to replace Cam Dawson in net. He has been steady without being spectacular but having a child in net during a relegation battle doesn’t inspire loads of confidence. The only real duff signing was Krystian Pedersen who had an absolute shocker on debut at Huddersfield and has never been seen again. The glaring gap in the January business was the failure to strengthen in centre midfield. We looked like we were signing Conor Coventry from West Ham but he ended up going to Charlton at the last minute, so last minute that Röhl had already told journos that we’d be announcing a signing imminently only for it not to happen. There were still three weeks of the window left, but after that nothing happened. Röhl spoke about wanting a six but we were never even really linked to anyone else, and we even let George Byers leave on loan on deadline day which looks ridiculous given the state of the options we have now. Summer Ins >>> Djeidi Gassama, 19, LW, PSG, £900k >>> Pol Valentin, 26, RB, Sporting Gijon, £250k >>> Di’Shon Bernard, 21, CB, Man Utd, Free >>> Juan Delgado, 30, RB, Football Manager Regen, Undisclosed >>> Reece James’ Non Union Mexican Equivalent, 29, LB, Blackpool, Undisclosed >>> Bambo Diaby, 24, CB, Preston, Undisclosed >>> Anthony Musaba, 22, RW, Monaco, Free >>> Ashley Fletcher, 27, Fuck Me, Watford, Loan >>> John Buckley, 23, CM, Blackburn, Loan >>> Jeff Hendrick, A Million, Newcastle, Loan >>> Momo Diaby, 26, DM, Portimonese, Loan >>> Devis Vasquez, 25, GK, Milan, Loan Summer Outs >>> Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, 22, CM, Hatayspor, Free >>> Jaden Brown, 24, LB, Lincoln, Free >>> David Stockdale, 37, Big Fat Goalie, York, Free >>> Dennis Adeniran, 24, CM, Released >>> Ben Heneghan, 29, CB, Released >>> Jack Hunt, 32, RB, Bristol Rovers, Free >>> Ciaran Brennan, 22, CB, Hartlepool, Loan Winter Ins >>> James Beadle, 19, GK, Brighton, Loan >>> Ike Ugbo, 25, CF, Troyes, Loan >>> Krystian Pedersen, 29, LB, Swansea, Loan >>> Ian Poveda, 23, RW, Leeds, Loan Winter Outs >>> Tyreeq Bakinson, 25, CM, Charlton, Loan >>> George Byers, 27, CM, Blackpool, Loan >>> Ciaran Brennan, 23, CB, Hartlepool, Loan Player of the year candidates? Probably Di’Shon Bernard. Solid and rarely puts a foot wrong. Looks like he’ll miss the game Saturday through injury. He wins it by just being good rather than spectacular, because outside of him I'm genuinely struggling to come up with the name of one player who might even be in the conversation. Maybe Ugbo, but he’s only been here half a season, which sums things up. Weak links in the side? A chronic lack of goals all over the pitch. We’re the lowest scorers in the division, and have only scored ten away from home all season. Away form generally is terrible. Another massive issue at the moment is the lack of numbers/quality in centre midfield. The first choice pairing of Barry Bannan and Will Vaulks is passable for the level, but the drop off after that to Momo Diaby and Jeff Hendrick is massive. Hendrick only got registered for the second half of the season at last week’s deadline because we had absolutely no other choice - the absolute definition of making up the numbers. It not only means that the first Bannan and Vaulks are being flogged to death, but also restricts the shape that Röhl sets up in because he clearly doesn’t want to go with three in the middle, even though it might shore us up a bit. Do you think you'll survive? Games are running out but we’re lucky to still be in touch after this run of one point in four games. I’ve got no confidence in us getting much away from home so if we’re going to do it home form will be key. After yourselves we’ve got Stoke and Norwich at home - I think we need six points from these games to give us any chance. And if we are going to have any chance we need to keep Ike Ugbo and Ian Poveda fit for every minute as these are the only two sparks of real attacking quality we have. Sunderland away last game of the season is looking like quite a nice ending at the moment, so if we can take it that far then who knows. That little wave of momentum and confidence we had has faded but I wouldn’t be massively surprised if we managed to go on a little run again from nowhere.
Consequences if you don't? I don’t really subscribe to the idea that sometimes gets thrown around that going down to League 1 can be a benefit. We only have seven players contracted for next season, and a massive rebuild is needed, but it’s better to do that rebuild with a bigger budget in a league where you can attract better players. However, if we do go down and by some miracle manage to keep Röhl, and from what he’s said publicly I think there’s at least a chance of that, then there are some positives that can be taken from it. We’ll always have a top end budget in League 1 because of our crowds. He’ll look to recruit young, athletic types that fit his system and style, have sell on value, and will be better suited to the Championship if we get back up. There will be some semblance of a long-term plan, with a good coaching structure, and a clear playing identity. He heaped praise on Ipswich after they battered us the other week because he knows that the way they’ve gone about it is exactly the way to do it. But keeping him it’s a massive if, and we shouldn’t be in a situation where the whole trajectory of the club could rest on keeping a manager. Because of the amateurish structure of the club there is nothing to give fans confidence that the next appointment will make sense or follow Röhl in terms of coaching style, playing identity or recruitment ideas. The short-termism of the chairman means that the whole thing lives and dies on his next decision and there’s enough evidence from the last nine years to show that decision making isn’t one of his strong points. The start of this season is a classic example of what happens if he gets that appointment wrong, and there’s been more bad ones (Luhukay, Pulis, Monk, Xisco) than good ones. Patience with Chansiri has worn out for a lot of people, with protests inside and outside the ground at recent home games. Season tickets sales are 5,000 down on the same time last year, and fans are starting to vote with their wallets against the ridiculous ticket prices foisted upon them. If we do go down there will be people paying north of £700 to watch League 1 football. Ultimately we’ll be back to where we were when we went down in the Covid season three years ago with the bare bones of a squad, and absolutely no progress made on or off the pitch since then. Should the worst happen and Röhl leaves for better things, it’s very easy to see us getting stuck circling the drain in League 1 in front of dwindling crowds until there's a change of ownership. Links >>> Sheff Wed Official Website >>> Sheffield Star — Local Paper >>> London Owls — Blog >>> Owls Talk — Message Board The Twitter @loftforwords, @j_ho9 Pictures — Action Images Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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