Exclusive: Southampton Down to Final Two in Manager Hunt as Danny Rohl Leads Gary O’Neil

Danny Rohl is Southampton’s preferred choice for their vacant managerial position, despite being joined by Gary O’Neil on the club’s final shortlist, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.

Following an exhaustive selection process, officials at St Mary’s have whittled down their list of candidates to two with Rohl and former Wolverhampton Wanderers and AFC Bournemouth chief O’Neil also under serious consideration.

Although O’Neil’s top-flight experience has piqued the interest of many senior figures behind the scenes, Rohl’s knowledge of how the club operates means he is still in pole position to be unveiled as Ivan Juric’s permanent successor. 

Currently of Sheffield Wednesday but destined to leave following a challenging season at Hillsborough, Southampton considered a move for Rohl before contractual issues persuaded them to move for the Croat instead. 

However, Juric’s brief tenure at the helm ended in disappointment and he departed Hampshire after his team’s relegation from the Premier League was mathematically confirmed.

Rohl’s decision to pursue fresh career opportunities has increased the sense of flux behind the scenes at Wednesday with his assistant, Henrik Pedersen, also attracting admiring glances across the Championship and Europe. 

FREE AGENT

Together with the majority of Rohl’s coaching staff, the Dane is poised to become a free agent after entering the closing stages of his present deal with Wednesday and has enhanced his already impressive CV, which like Rohl includes a stint working for the Red Bull sporting organisation, by emerging as a driving force behind the South Yorkshire’s side’s upturn in performance levels across the past two seasons.

Pedersen is viewed by many as Rohl’s natural replacement at Wednesday and is a popular figure in the dressing room. 

But with owner Dejphon Chansiri yet to formally announce Rohl’s exit, some of Wednesday’s second tier rivals are preparing to exploit the situation by making an approach for the ex-Red Bull Ghana and Stromsgodset head coach.

Although appointing O’Neil would be smoother - he has been out of work since parting company with Wolverhampton Wanderers in December - the £5m buy-out with prevented Southampton from swooping for Rohl earlier this year has now been reduced to £2m after they surrendered their top-flight status.