Danny Rohl spoke of his pride at his Sheffield Wednesday side’s achievement after a 2-0 win over Sunderland confirmed the club’s survival in the Sky Bet Championship.
Wednesday looked to be down and out when they won just one of their opening 19 league matches, with Rohl’s appointment in mid-October a last roll of the dice.
However, the former Bayern Munich assistant has overseen a remarkable turnaround, with the Owls losing just three of their last 14 matches to haul themselves to safety.
With all of their relegation rivals winning, they needed to win at the Stadium of Light on the final day to avoid the drop, with first-half goals from Liam Palmer and Josh Windass securing their success.
Rohl said: “I do not think it is normal to stay in the league when you have just won one game in 19 matchdays from the beginning of the season. It says a lot about the mentality of our players that they have turned things around.
“I have to say ‘thank you’ to our chairman because he is the guy who gave me the opportunity for my first job as a manager. We should not forget this, and we should be proud of the whole club.
“There has been a real togetherness in the six months that I have been here, and we all have to be happy and proud about what we have achieved.
“When I arrived, the players were open-minded and we raised our intensity straight away. We had ups and downs, but we always showed a good reaction.
“We said we maybe needed eight wins with 16 games to go, but if you look now, eight wins would not have been enough.
“We took nine wins from those 16 games, and I think the form table from those games shows us in the top three or four in the league. That says a lot.”
While Rohl was able to reflect on a job well done, Sunderland’s interim head coach, Mike Dodds, admitted his side had underperformed badly over the course of the season.
The Black Cats’ season imploded after Tony Mowbray was dismissed, with Michael Beale failing to impress in his brief managerial tenure and Dodds unable to turn things around in his 13 games in temporary control.
Dodds said: “I’ve said to the group that we are where we are in the table and we deserve it, to be brutally honest I don’t think the table lies.
“We haven’t given the fans enough to cheer about, not just in my tenure across the entire season. There have been too many games this season where we haven’t lost the game, I feel like we’ve handed it to the opposition.
“I felt that today, in terms of two goals that were so avoidable and then in front of goal, it’s been a real consistent theme across the season that we’ve been really snatchy in front of goal and not looked comfortable.
“The table doesn’t lie so there’s some real learnings to be had from everyone and I think the group are clear that there are certain things next season that have to be non-negotiables.
“As players and staff, we won’t accept another season like that.”
Raith Rovers boss Ian Murray is confident his side will improve in the cinch Premiership play-off final after beating Partick Thistle on penalties.Thistle won 2-1 at Stark’s Park and came closest to winning the tie late on before the game went to penalties after a 3-3 aggregate draw.Rovers captain Scott Brown saw his side’s first penalty saved by David Mitchell, but Jack McMillan and R...
Southampton manager Russell Martin expressed hope ugly scenes involving rival fans would not tarnish a “beautiful moment” after leading his side to Wembley with a 3-1 win over West Brom.Adam Armstrong’s brace following Will Smallbone’s opener propelled Saints into the Championship play-off final against Leeds on May 26.Home fans spilled on to the pitch to celebrate moving a...
Partick Thistle suffered more play-off penalty woe as Lewis Vaughan’s spot-kick fired Raith Rovers into a promotion decider.The Jags were on course to reach their second successive cinch Premiership play-off final after David Mitchell saved Raith’s first penalty from Scott Brown at Stark’s Park after a 3-3 aggregate draw.But Jack McMillan missed the target and Ricco Diack hit the...
Adam Armstrong struck twice as Southampton booked a place in the Championship play-off final with a thumping 3-1 victory over West Brom on a raucous evening at St Mary’s.Midfielder Will Smallbone set Saints on course for a Wembley showdown with Leeds on May 26 by lashing home the opener four minutes into the second half.Top scorer Armstrong completed the job with a fine finish followed by a ...
Dumbarton earned promotion to cinch League One after a 2-2 draw with Spartans resulted in a 4-3 aggregate win for the Sons in their play-off final.The visitors held a narrow 2-1 advantage after Tuesday’s first leg and simply needed to avoid defeat to win promotion, but fell behind after just three minutes at Ainslie Park, when Cameron Russell nodded home Callum Booth’s cross.Celebrati...
Let's start our 7M Daily Laugh today. Klopp's last day at Anfield Mbappe (free)Alaba (free)Rudiger (free)Valverde (5 million)Lunin (8 million)Kross (25 million)Modric (30 million)Camavinga (30 million)Arda (30 million)Endrik (35 million)Courtois (40 million)Vinicius (45 million)Rodrigo (45 million)Militao (50 million)Tchouameni(80 million) Bellingham (100 million)Don Florentino Perez. When X...
Manchester United could be prepared to hire a German to replace Erik ten Hag.The Red Devils are said to be in talks with Bayern Munich's departing coach this week.Per Sky Germany, the Red Devils are talking with Thomas Tuchel's management team.Tuchel, who worked at Chelsea in the Premier League, is set to leave Bayern despite the club's attempts to get him to stay.The outlet adds that United's pre...
· France have named their 25-man squad for Euro 2024.· Top talents like Michael Olise, Moussa Diaby, and Jean-Clair Todibo have all been left out.· Chelsea duo Malo Gusto and Axel Disasi will also be watching the tournament from home.With the European Championships now less than a month away and firmly on the horizon, some of the continent's top nations have begun to reveal the shor...
Germany men's national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann has announced a 27-man preliminary squad to take to EURO 2024 - but with only 26 spots, that means one man will still be left out.Sport Bild has a guess as to who that might be, and the answer might surprise you. Via @iMiaSanMia:The one player that will be left out of the final 26-man squad for the Euros will most likely be either Maximilian...
The Netherlands have unveiled their 30-man preliminary squad for Euro 2024, with head coach Ronald Koeman leading the charge. UEFA has recently increased squad sizes to 26 players for this year’s tournament, requiring at least three goalkeepers. Although not the favorites, the Oranje could be the dark horses, having secured second place in their qualifying group behind France.Koeman inherite...
- 1 Danilo Orsi nets hat-trick as Crawley thrash MK Dons to reach play-off final
- 2 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 3 Marc Skinner wants to stay at Manchester United after ‘historic’ FA Cup win
- 4 Sterling considering leaving the club
- 5 Major Liverpool star still an option for Real
- 6 Mourinho to join Fenerbahce?
- 7 Football is cruel – St Johnstone boss Craig Levein left to rue missed chances
- 8 Alex Scott looks stunning in bold see-through outfit
- 9 Celtic run riot against Kilmarnock to win another Premiership title
- 10 Marcus Rashford's new £700,000 Rolls Royce Wraith revealed