SUNDERLAND will discover whether Danny Rohl is a viable candidate for their vacant head-coach position in the next few days – with the Sheffield Wednesday boss due to hold post-season talks with the hierarchy at Hillsborough.
Rohl is one of the options currently being considered as Kristjaan Speakman and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus ponder how to replace Mike Dodds, whose unsuccessful spell as interim boss ended in a 2-0 defeat to Wednesday on the final day of the season.
The Owls’ victory confirmed their Championship survival, and completed a remarkable turnaround under Rohl, the 35-year-old former Bayern Munich assistant who was appointed as the club’s boss in October.
Rohl’s achievements in Sheffield have seen his profile soar, and led to speculation that he could be set to leave Hillsborough until he receives assurances about the club’s future plans. The German, who is contracted until the end of next season, has stated that he would like to see significant improvements in terms of facilities and recruitment.
He is due to meet with Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri this week, with Sunderland’s ownership group sure to be interested in the outcome of the talks.
“You know what it means to me today, so I will not speak about my future,” said Rohl, in the press room at the Stadium of Light. “I want to enjoy (staying up), and then we will see what we can do, or not. I have had one meeting with the chairman this week, and we will then have more meetings as soon as possible and then we will see.
“I had a lot of meetings with the players, but today that is not important. It is not the key point. I know you want to know more, but it is important that we enjoy this and be happy in the moment.”
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Sunderland officials are understood to have preliminary discussions with Bayern Munich youth coach Rene Maric, and have previously discussed their head coach position with Will Still, who is now out of work after leaving French Ligue 1 club Reims last week. The Black Cats have also been heavily linked with Paul Heckingbottom, who is available following his dismissal from Sheffield United earlier this season.
Mike Dodds admits he has not had any indication over what the club will do next, although he is set to meet with Speakman this week for a series of post-season debriefing sessions.
“I don’t have any indications at the moment, and that’s not because the club haven’t communicated anything,” said Dodds. “I was just so focused on trying to make sure we had a strong end to the season.
“Obviously, that hasn’t happened for multiple different reasons. But I’ve been so focused on that, I haven’t really engaged in any other conversations. I haven’t wanted to engage in any other conversations.
“Over the next few days, from a personal perspective, I’ve got some reflections that I need to have if I’m going to improve and get better. I’m going to be a little bit selfish in the next few days and focus on me.
“Then after that point, I’ll be back in next week and we’ve got a number of meetings planned, so I’m sure there’ll be an update next week in terms of where they are with the process and who the person is going to be.”
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