Lee Hendrie has given his verdict on whether Danny Rohl's potential appointment at Southampton will make them favourites for automatic promotion next season.
Rohl has emerged as one of the frontrunners to replace Ivan Juric at St Mary's amid a fine spell in charge of Sheffield Wednesday. The German previously worked alongside Ralph Hasenhuttl as an assistant before heading into first-team management at Hillsborough.
Southampton do face competition for the 36-year-old with Leicester City and RB Leipzig also interested. There is also talk of a potential move to Saudi Arabia, where he'd leave European football, and he is believed to have a £5m release clause in his contract.
Southampton promotion candidates with or without Danny Rohl
Should Southampton miss out on Rohl, there are alternatives such as RC Lens' Will Still and Strasbourg's Liam Rosenior. The Saints pulled off their biggest feat of the campaign last weekend by holding Pep Guardiola's Manchester City to a 0-0 draw at St Mary's.
Hendrie analysed how next season may pan out for the club amid speculation over Rohl returning to the South Coast. The former Aston Villa midfielder told The Football League World:
"If Southampton bring in Danny Rohl, do I think they'll be automatic promotion contenders? I think they will be anyway, I really do."
The Saints' only season back in the EFL Championship came in 2023-24 when Russel Martin oversaw promotion through the play-offs. His side finished fourth on 87 points.
It's been a dissapointing return to the Premier League which will end with a rock-bottom finish. But Hendrie feels the team is strong enough to bounce back:
"I think this is a team, and we've seen it quite frequently in teams that are coming back out of the Premier League, are usually the ones that are there or thereabouts to go back up."
All eyes will be on how the Southampton squad looks heading into next season with the summer transfer window around the corner. Several players' futures are uncertain, including 19-year-old wonderkid Tyler Dibling, whom the club are reportedly demanding £100m for.
Danny Rohl gave a hint over his future
Rohl has been in charge of Sheffield Wednesday since October 2023, taking on the first first-team managerial job of his career. There were already glimpses of how promising a coach he was during his time as a member of Hasenhuttl's backroom staff at St Mary's.
The German has guided the Owls to a 12th-placed finish this season in the Championship, with 15 wins in 46 games. He's achieved this despite the club's financial limitations and it may be as far as he can take them given their situation.
Rohl has ambitions to manage at the top level and alluded to this when pressed about his future (via Yorkshire Post): "I've made no secret of the fact that I'd like to work at the highest possible level with the best players in the near future. And the Bundesliga is, of course, a consideration. My situation in Sheffield is unofficially relatively clear. There's a clear agreement with the owner about how I envision my future."
While those comments hint at interest in the Leipzig job he could be enticed to return to St Mary's to take on a high-profile role in English football. He already knows the club well, is the fans' favourite to replace Juric and could finish next season with Premier League promotion on his resume.
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