Rohl’s became a hot commodity months after leaving Southampton as his coaching nous was talked up
Solemn Southampton fans found themselves asking a series of major questions in the wake of their worst ever Premier League pasting at the hands of Leicester City in 2019.
It was omnishambles on a dreich Friday night in October at St Mary’s as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were thrashed 9-0 by Brendan Rodgers’ red-hot Leicester City.
Saints fans staring at the very real possibility of relegation as they question everything about the team they loved. But in the coming days many were left asking ‘Who the F is Danny Rohl?’
The club’s former coach was spectacularly catapulted into the examination as observers sifted through the wreckage on the south coast.
His dramatic exit for Bayern Munich in August of 2019 was cited in multiple reports as a major reason why the Saints had become sinners in Hasenhuttl’s second season at the helm.
Sources revealed then 31-year-old Rohl was integral at training with his likeable personality viewed as a key miss when he said yes to Bayern.
Niceties about a coach are nothing out of the blue, of course, especially in the hunt for answers, however, the same claims about Rohl were raised again and this time a former Saint star was happy to put his name on it.
Yan Valery – signed by Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday – waxed lyrical about the telling impact of the German and how much he was missed after leaving Southampton years earlier.
And his views on Rohl would likely appeal to Rangers supporters as Andrew Cavenagh and Co go full the through processes with him.
Speaking in December 2024, Valery said: “I am really happy to be working with him again because, at Southampton, he left at a moment when as players we didn’t really want him to leave.
“Even though he was the assistant he was the one who was taking (training) sessions and doing video work with us so he was really important as the assistant. He worked for big clubs and a big manager. Now, being back with him and him having all this knowledge, for me and for my progression it can only be good.
“He has to be different, he is the manager now. As an assistant, he would do all the work that the manager did not want to do for example. Now as a manager, he can’t do everything, so some things aren’t part of his role that he used to do with me as an assistant at Southampton.
“But as a person, he is still the same. I enjoy working with him, I am learning every week. Every game is different, every approach, and all the tactics are different.”
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