Sheffield Wednesday: New Dejphon Chansiri saga will surely seal Danny Rohl fate | OneFootball

Dejphon Chansiri's failure to pay March's wages on time could push Danny Rohl closer to the Sheffield Wednesday exit door.

It has been a season of progress for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, but off-field events are once again dominating the headlines at Hillsborough.

After narrowly avoiding relegation last term following a remarkable turnaround under Danny Rohl, Wednesday have emerged as surprise play-off contenders this season.

The Owls salvaged a point in the 1-1 draw at Cardiff City on Saturday to move to within five points of the top six, and while they may be seen as outsiders in the promotion race, their season is still very much alive with seven games remaining.

With a relatively kind fixture list between now and the end of the campaign that includes a host of games against relegation-threatened sides, including Hull City, Oxford United, Stoke City and Portsmouth, Wednesday supporters should be excited about a potential late-season push for the play-offs.

However, after the bombshell revelation on Monday night that owner Dejphon Chansiri has failed to pay the players' March wages on time, with the issue also believed to have affected non-playing staff, ownership turmoil is again casting a shadow over on-field events, and the latest saga could have big implications for the future of manager Danny Rohl.

Dejphon Chansiri drama could push Danny Rohl closer to Sheffield Wednesday exit door

Speculation about Rohl's future has been raging for a number of months after he was linked with a return to former club Southampton, where he previously served as assistant to Ralph Hasenhuttl, in December following the sacking of Russell Martin.

The Saints eventually appointed Ivan Juric as they were unwilling to meet Rohl's £4 million release clause, but as they prepare to make another managerial change in the summer, they have reportedly identified the German as their top target, and the compensation fee they would need to pay to release him from his contract at Hillsborough will reduce to just £2 million once they are relegated to the Championship.

Many Wednesday supporters have long resigned themselves to losing Rohl in the summer, and indeed, it seems the club are even bracing themselves for that eventuality, with reports emerging last month that Chansiri is keen for assistant manager Henrik Pedersen to step up to the top job next season.

Rohl's proposed move to St Mary's is not quite a done deal just yet, and Southampton are also said to be interested in former Hull City manager Liam Rosenior, who has enjoyed an outstanding debut campaign in France with Strasbourg this season, but any lingering hope the Owls had of keeping told of their talented young coach may have been extinguished by this week's developments.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's home game against Hull, Rohl expressed confidence that the wages situation will be sorted as soon as possible, and he attempted to shift the focus back to football matters.

"As far as I know, no. It’s not the perfect situation. The club made a statement on Monday and I’m convinced we’ll solve the problem as soon as possible, and then hopefully we can then carry on and focus on the sport side. That’s the main thing for me, I want to focus on the pitch, and not other topics around us," Rohl told The Star.

"It doesn’t matter if I’m paid or not paid, I think it’s a whole situation. But again, the important thing is that we solve this problem, and we will do this. I’m convinced about this, I believe, and then we can carry on."

However, Rohl later admitted that he was unsure exactly when the wages would be paid, stating that it could be "today, or tomorrow or next week", and in a revealing insight into his more honest thoughts on the situation, he conceded: "I can’t lie and say it’s easy, but I’m trying."

Dejphon Chansiri could face increased Sheffield Wednesday protest action

In truth, Rohl is far too good a manager to have to contend with the constant off-field issues he has faced during his time at Wednesday.

Whether from Southampton or elsewhere, Rohl will have plenty of interest in his services in the summer, and there is no doubt that he could easily find a much more stable club with a better structure and long-term vision that would enable him to properly showcase his managerial talent.

Just weeks after Rohl's arrival at Hillsborough in October 2023, Chansiri asked Owls supporters to raise £2 million in a matter of days to help pay an outstanding debt owed to HM Revenue and Customs and cover wages in order to avoid a potential three-window transfer ban.

A similar issue emerged as recently as November, when Wednesday were placed under a registration embargo by the EFL due to amounts owed to HMRC, but the situation was resolved in time for the January transfer window.

However, the winter window did not go smoothly for the Owls, with a public dispute between Rohl and Chansiri taking place after a breakdown in communication between the pair, and now more financial woes have emerged, with Chansiri blaming a cashflow issue for the late payment of March's wages.

It may be a legitimate reason for the delay, but Wednesday supporters will rightfully question how such problems have arisen when they were asked to pay for their 2025-26 season tickets as early as before Christmas, and even more bizarrely, next season's third shirt was made available for pre-order all the way back in September.

The current situation raises doubts about where the income from those sales has gone, and even more serious concerns about the long-term financial sustainability of the club, with many asking whether Chansiri will even be able to fund the Owls moving forward.

Four of Wednesday's final seven games of the season are at Hillsborough, so there is a strong chance that there could be further demonstrations against Chansiri's ownership over the coming weeks, but previous protests have done little to convince him to put the club up for sale.