Apologetic Danny Röhl refuses transfer queries after 'tough week' for Sheffield Wednesday

He spoke first to thank reporters for logging onto the Zoom cool, arranged to preview their Championship clash with Coventry City on Saturday, and then smiled apologetically. News of a bid for Marvin Johnson had broken on social media an hour or so before - The Star's understanding is that Ipswich's interest extends to a free transfer bid rather than the £1m suggested - having followed stories on Josh Windass and Mika Biereth.

He cleared his throat and politely advised that he wouldn't be drawn into questions over transfers and contracts on this occasion. It's an area he's been open in previously and a refusal to talk rumour mill is a policy that managers of other clubs have followed before. The feeling was that it had been a long few days and that, frankly, he'd rather talk football.

"I know all the topics are very interesting for you and the guys on the outside," he said. "I understand it. But to be honest, today I will not speak about transfer rumours or anything like this. If we have something then we will come out of our message but I cannot speak today about all the rumours or options we have, it makes no sense at the moment. We will focus on what we can do. I can tell you we are trying everything, we are working behind the scenes in both directions at the moment. It's a tough time, it's been a tough week for me."

It comes after Röhl had drawn headlines in the previous week's pre-match presser, announcing that a deal to bring a third player through the door was imminent. It's believed that player was West Ham midfielder Conor Coventry, since signed to Charlton Athletic. A timeline of events The Star is party to suggests the Owls were notified of the breakdown of the deal even while Röhl was sat in the chair answering questions - or certainly not long afterwards. These things do happen in football. The timing was unlucky in the extreme.

His media policy on all matters has been open and engaging, appreciated no end by the local media beat and without doubt a factor in the blending of his relationship with the club's fan base at a time when other managers treat press conferences as an exercise in saying as little as they possibly can. His rationale is crystal clear and makes sense. Let's hope the Coventry episode hasn't altered that openness longer-term.

"I said in the last weeks that the transfer window is a crazy time; it goes quick in one direction, then it goes quick in another direction," he said. "It makes no sense to speak about one direction because maybe when I finish the press conference it is in another. I understand the question and that supporters want information about all the things. We will work on it, make our final decision.

"At the end of the window maybe we can make a list as to what was the outcome of the transfer window. At the moment it makes no sense about what could be, what could be not, this rumour or that rumour."

With no pun intended, if you roll it back a week or so the mood around the transfer goings-on at S6 were elevated and buoyant. Wednesday had persuaded clubs to tear-up existing loan deals in the cases of James Beadle and Ike Ugbo to bring them to the club far earlier than had been traditional in January windows gone by. Röhl himself was full of praise for how quickly they had been able to act, with two players moved out to boot.

Such is the ebb and flow of a transfer window. So rarely a club gets everything their own way in months such as this, The Star's understanding is that hopes of signing Arsenal youngster Mika Biereth have fallen away and a more likely destination - as things stand - is Austrian title-challengers Sturm Graz. The Gunners have a long-standing relationship with sending young players on loan to Austrian football, partly due to the high intensity and pace of play in the top tier there.

Röhl described a 'tough week' off the field at S6. Whether the Biereth story - broken and seemingly fizzled-out within three days - was the catalyst for that tough time is a matter within the realms of speculation. The understanding is that the deal is not yet dead in the water, for what it's worth.

This is Röhl's first experience as a manager in a January transfer window and he has spoken about the added responsibility of speaking to prospective players and playing a role in the scrap to secure deals in a constricted and competitive market. He spends a great deal of time in the office of head of recruitment Kevin Beadell, he has said, and has a process of communication with chairman Dejphon Chansiri. You can imagine it's an all-consuming time of year. He's all-in.

"Especially this week has been a tough week with a lot of challenges beside the pitch," Röhl said. "One hundred per cent, you need to improve your team. But you also need 100 per cent to prepare something (transfers) and then it’s up and down.

"But it’s important for me that things, which are sometimes not good, are not taken personally. Then it’s about: ‘OK, go again and try again for the next (day). It’s like a defeat and when you get a defeat on the pitch. It’s the same, you have to look forward, learn from this and do it better and then the next success will come.

"It’s been a tough two weeks now and I notice and feel it as well as a manager in what it means. But hopefully after the January window, we can make a good result and then we can say ‘OK, with the work on the last four weeks, we are happy and convinced."

There were smiles, lighter moments - Röhl's mood could not be described as unilaterally grumpy - but in admitting he had no time for transfer chatter revealed his mood right there and right then. The ups and downs of a transfer flurry are well documented and in any January there are often a swathe of deals done late as clubs wait for their squads to settle before sanctioning deals. The mood can, you suspect, swing as quickly back to where it was the previous Thursday as it did this. Wednesday will hope they can complete the work needed to ensure it does.