Danny Rohl has reportedly been ordered to return to Hillsborough by Sheffield Wednesday’s chairman Dejphon Chansiri, despite making repeated overtures about departing the club this summer.
The German boss is currently away on holiday but, according to The Sun, Chansiri has demanded that he return to the club amid its financial crisis in which not all the players and staff members have been paid their May wages.
Rohl has been pushing for a move away from Hillsborough since the first of these late payment sagas in April, as per Rob Staton. A number of clubs in this country and in Germany have looked at the 36-year-old, but he is yet to find a way out of the club.
Dejphon Chansiri’s Danny Rohl demands branded “childish” in latest Sheffield Wednesday saga
Patrick McKenna, Football League World’s Wednesday fan pundit, believes that this latest move by the Thai chairman sums up his whole turbulent tenure at the head of the Owls. Protests against him have reignited since April and had further life breathed into it by the latest set of fiscal issues.
“It’s a ridiculous story regarding Dejphon Chansiri demanding that Danny Rohl return early from his holiday,” said McKenna. “Could you imagine in any workplace hearing a story that a boss demands an employee cut their holiday short or else they’ll be fined?
“It’s completely ludicrous and against any form of common decency, but I suppose you don’t put common decency and Dejphon Chansiri in the same sentence.
“It just sums up his time at Sheffield Wednesday. Chansiri is continuing his hiding game in Thailand. He’s barely communicated since the latest wage debacle and he is hiding away while players and some staff on lower wages have been struggling.
“It also came out that he is refusing to engage properly with bidders for the club. Does he see this as his latest, fantastic revenue-raiser?
“He’s going about with his begging cap on, and nobody will give him money. Does he think he’ll get his money now by fining an employee who he is struggling to pay?
“I do think that Rohl won’t give any attention to this latest stunt and will just ignore it.
“I think that he will return to Hillsborough but on his own terms and when he had originally planned. Of course, he won’t have had his desire to move softened, and why should he? The absolute shell of a club that he is going to return to would put off any manager.
“I think he will return, though, so there will be a manager in place during the summer. But this isn’t what I want to hear regarding Chansiri.
“Basically, the message is: if you’re not going to announce the sale, we don’t want to hear from you.
“The next time I want to hear you speak is when you’re announcing that you’re selling Sheffield Wednesday, and it has to be very, very soon.”
Sheffield Wednesday are in a very dark place right now – Danny Rohl returning could be the only beacon of light
It is very ironic for an owner to be acting in such a manner on what appears to be a very trivial, harmless matter while members of his staff have gone unpaid for more than two weeks.
And, despite the best efforts of those who may be interested in taking the club off of his hands, he’s reportedly not willing to listen to any offers for what a number of people believe to be fair market value. Chansiri has even claimed to have turned down a bid of £160 million, as per The Star.
When supporters of Wednesday hear stuff like that and what is currently going on between him and Rohl, it must make them think that the end may never be in sight, and that wouldn’t be overly reactionary given the current set of circumstances.
The only potential positives to come are Rohl potentially returning to the club and not moving on, despite him being very open about his future, and the fact that you’d hope the rest of the playing squad get paid their May wages, so that the embargo can be lifted.
Aside from that though, things still look gloomy at Hillsborough.
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