The Local Lowdown: Sheffield Wednesday

Wednesday won only one of their first 18 league games this season, but have since won five of the last eight. What’s changed?

The main thing is the manager... For a long period this season it felt like all was lost for Wednesday, the general mood was incredibly low and there was almost a resignation that relegation was going to happen come the end of the season. But Danny Röhl came in and the uplift was almost immediate, not just in terms of the performances but also the overall feel around the place. He brought in a fantastic technical team with him, with some really likeable characters, and has managed to get the buy-in of everyone – most importantly the players.

Danny Röhl previously worked as Ralph Hasenhüttl’s assistant at Southampton. What was the initial feeling around his appointment?

It was mainly positive, with many fans excited to see what a young manager with Danny’s CV could do. There was also the positive aspect, for him at least, that the expectation for the season had reached rock bottom so people figured it couldn’t get any worse. The fact that he’d worked for Bayern and the German national team, as well as obviously the Saints in the Premier League, just gave everyone a bit of a buzz.

At 34, Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Röhl is the youngest in the EFL

It’s clear Danny has an impressive background in the game, especially for such a young coach. What sort of impression has he made at Hillsborough, both in terms of his coaching and personality?

Remarkable, that’s the best word for it. I’ve never seen a manager get this fanbase on board with the sort of immediacy that Danny has done. It’s everything about him – the things he says and the way he acts, but most importantly the work that he’s done on the pitch was obvious almost straightaway. Wednesday looked a different beast after he arrived even when the results weren’t coming, but now they’re playing well and picking up points. He just seems to get itat Hillsborough, and the fans love him for it.

Which players have stood out in Wednesday’s recent resurgence?

Honestly it’d be a shorter list to say who hasn’t improved during what’s being called the Röhl-volution at Hillsborough, with so many players stepping up to the plate and showing week-on-week improvement. Josh Windass has been excellent aside from a short spell out with injury, Barry Bannan is looking more like himself and Marvin Johnson is taking his chance after his early season exodus. Probably most exciting, though, is Bailey Cadamarteri – he's one of the club’s most promising youngsters in years and has taken to the Championship like a duck to water.

Ché Adams celebrates his late winner at Hillsborough on the opening night of the season

How are the fans feeling about the club’s survival prospects?

It fluctuates a bit in terms of whether they think it can be achieved or not, but it’s certainly a whole lot more positive than it was a month or so ago. The general consensus is that a good January transfer window is needed, but the performances have improved so much since Danny came on board that there’s a growing feeling that they can pull it off.

Saints stand on the brink of equalling a longstanding unbeaten record. How do you rate Wednesday’s prospects of ending that run?

It’s not going to be easy for Wednesday, that’s for sure. It’s been a really impressive uptick from you guys since the squad settled down, and you’re now looking like a proper force to be reckoned with. I think if you were to ask most Wednesdayites they’d snap your hands off for a draw at St Mary’s and an extension of their own – much shorter! – unbeaten run. Danny and his players, though, will be after a bit more than that.