Something has changed at Sheffield Wednesday - Alan Biggs’ latest Owls column

For starters, Danny Rohl is a very different sort of Wednesday manager. And this is a very different sort of management team. It makes sense; led by a young visionary, backed by vast experience.

It’s hard to find any similarity with those who have gone before. Or with chairman Dejphon Chansiri’s normal methodology.

This is such a thoroughbred line up that not only will it have been costly to assemble, there must surely also be expensive severance clauses built in. How else would the Owls have been able to lure a team of this calibre?

The policy under this regime has been never to reveal contractual terms. And again, that was consistently applied to the unveiling of former Southampton and Bayern Munich coach Rohl.

The one clue came from a report in the German media and considering this is Rohl’s homeland you’d imagine it has some credence. A two-year deal is what was claimed to be agreed.

You can argue it’s a small detail. Managerial contracts are seldom what they seem anyway.

You can pluck any number of years from the air and all that really counts is the severance terms, normally up to 12 months wages.

For instance, Wednesday sacked Paul Sturrock in 2006 within weeks of engaging him on a “new four-year deal.” Presumably the parting terms had not changed.

So contract duration is a gesture of faith at best, window dressing at worst.

But I’m wondering if there was more to it with Rohl. If the terms of severance are more of a lock-in for both parties then that’s surely right for what should be a long term venture.

Although Wednesday’s financing has become constricted, the owner was still able to remove Xisco Munoz, and his four assistants, within three months of hiring them.

I can’t imagine that would be so easy with Team Rohl. Nor should it be.

A strongly pursued target like this one can drive a hard bargain. Ok, there is a risk on both sides with any appointment, but Rohl took a huge personal one in accepting this challenge.

If he knew the history of his predecessors (as the eighth “permanent” appointment of this regime) and acted accordingly, who can blame him?

Maybe two years really does mean two years in this case.

That’s an eternity in football but it does seem a fair measure of time to judge Rohl on turning the Owls’ playing fortunes around.

I hope not to be pontificating about him until midway through next season at the earliest.