'I like to be open-minded about football': How Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl passed ITV screen test

Given he was a relative unknown beyond the Championship-watching football public, the Sheffield Wednesday manager was a surprise choice as an ITV pundit for this summer's European Championship, but quickly became a popular one with his insight into the game.

Having coached RB Leipzig, Southampton, Bayern Munich and Germany before taking his first managerial post at Hillsborough aged 34 in October, Rohl is rightly regarded as one of the bright young talents of European coaching. Sunday’s 4-0 defeat at Sunderland was embarrassing, but hopefully no more than a blip in a hefty body of good work.

Rohl’s maiden season in South Yorkshire saw him inherit a team with three points from their opening 11 Championship matches and lead them to safety with a record which, once his feet were under the table in December, was play-off form.

Attracting European Championship starters to England's second tier is a tall order, but Rohl was learning from the way the continent's top international teams played, as much as looking out for the individuals who were doing it.

"It was a different challenge," said Rohl - whose side have started the new campaign with two 4-0s – one won, one lost - of his TV work.

"At first when you speak about other games sometimes you don't know what the matchplan was, what was behind it. You can only look at what they are doing and describe more.

"You didn't know if it was a plan or coincidence. This is sometimes more difficult.

"But it was helpful for me as well to analyse some games live and give feedback, hopefully some interesting insight to supporters.

"I enjoyed this week, I will never forget it because it was in Germany and I was a little part of the tournament."

Rohl flew home before the end of the group stage to start his pre-season preparations, but did so with some food for thought about how to develop his team this season.

He tries to get his team playing passing football with the ball and pressing high up the pitch without it, as is the fashion in 2024, and with players rotating positions. But as he showed by bringing Michael Smith on at half-time at Sunderland at the weekend, and in games such as last season's 2-2 Hillsborough draw with Norwich City, he is unafraid to go more direct if he feels that is the best way to pull off a result.

Some of the things he saw have been implemented, others filed in his mental black book.

"I'm always looking," he says. "If I see something interesting I look at it and to the videos.

"For me it's always interesting to follow some teams, some managers and what they are doing. I've done this in the last year and will keep doing it.

"It's a big part for me and my analysts know it. I call it a 'worldwide philosophy' looking at what happens in different clubs. It's interesting but you cannot copy and paste.

"You can look to some interesting things, some things you are not convinced about.

"I like to watch football and be open-minded to new things.

"I take things and bring it here or put it in my mind and save it."

One area where his team need to get better is in minimising the damage on bad days, like on Sunday when his side repeatedly gave the ball up cheaply in the face of ferocious pressing.

It was the fifth time already Rohl’s Owls have lost by more than a three-goal margin, and they have never drawn a game away from home under him.

“Maybe it is my mindset,” he said. “I want to win games even if it is away, I want to try that. My team is always proactive, we want to play, we want to press. Home or away doesn't matter for me.

"We have had some good results away, but we have also had some big defeats away. We showed both faces.

"It is a process this season, to be more consistent, but I think in the last four months we were very consistent with our points.”

The German explained his team’s biggest problem was over-playing through the base of midfield, and said the issue was that by the time he was able to change things at the interval, the game was all but gone at 3-0. The fourth came minutes after the restart.

"I always try to change something but at first I analyse the situation, then I have to look at what I can do, what impact I can make from outside and you need a half-time to prepare something," said Rohl, who brought on targetman Michael Smith at the break.

The best managers, though, can make changes, even substitutions, during the first half. It is something to learn but this is a special manager not yet through his first full year in the job.