What Djeidi Gassama has said about new Rangers boss Danny Rohl - It will pain Sheffield Wednesday fans | OneFootball

Ex-Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has just taken charge of Rangers - and Djeidi Gassama's opening admission may just pain Owls supporters

Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been subjected to extensive disappointment, frustration and upset in recent months, with the club's well-documented crisis under unpopular owner Dejphon Chansiri showing few signs of reprieve.

The Owls find themselves under a number of EFL-imposed embargoes, with Chansiri having failed to pay the wages of both playing and non-playing staff on time in five of the last seven months.

Wednesday, who are positioned at the foot of the Championship table after eleven matches with a threadbare squad that was taken apart throughout the summer while the club were restricted to signing just two loan players in Harry Amass and Ethan Horvath, are preparing to be imminently struck with a winding-up order from HMRC as they owe up to £1 million.

One of the most difficult pills to swallow, of course, was the exodus of the playing squad and the complete dismantling of the competitive, and much-likeable, side which had been steadily progressed by former boss Danny Rohl. Once a hugely popular figure at Hillsborough, Rohl pulled off the great escape to keep Wednesday in the Championship during the 2023/24 campaign before guiding a 12th-placed finish last time out.

However, Rohl chose to move on in the summer amid Wednesday's ever-worsening crisis with Chansiri at the helm, with previous assistant Henrik Pedersen succeeding him in the dugout.

A host of players departed S6 across the summer months including talented winger Djeidi Gassama, who scored on seven occasions in the Championship last term before joining Scottish giants Rangers in a reported £2.2 million deal.

The fee, rather unsurprisingly, ignited further fury among Wednesdayites, who will hardly be feeling much better following the recent development of Rohl returning to the dugout to reunite with Gassama at Ibrox.

Djeidi Gassama's Rangers, Danny Rohl admission will pain Sheffield wednesday fanbase

Rangers will now be looking to kick on under Rohl after parting ways with Russell Martin following a dismal start to the campaign, and Gassama in particular is excited for what could come in the German's reign. Gassama was a favourite of Rohl's throughout their time in the Steel City, and referenced the 36-year-old as a father figure in a glowing admission.

The Mauritanian-born former French youth international believes that Rohl will be an excellent appointment for Rangers, but it's only going to further dampen the spirits of Wednesday supporters as they continue to rue what could've, and should've, been back in South Yorkshire.

Speaking to Rangers' official website, Gassama said of his time with Rohl at Wednesday: "It was good. He is like a father to me. He helped me a lot.

"When I was at Sheffield Wednesday, I worked with him for 18 months and he gave me a lot of advice, and especially last season I had a good year because of him.

"He taught me how to play my position on the pitch. He loves players to fight for the team and there were a lot of other things - even off the park he helped me a lot to settle in.

"He was good for me. He is a good manager with a lot of good ideas and I think he will help us to win games. It is good for us to have him here.

"How was training? It was hard, but that is normal with him. He likes his teams to work hard and you have to do it every day.

"It isn’t just on the park; he wants you working hard off the park. Even the warm-up was hard.

"I am very excited to work with him again. I think at Rangers we have a lot of talented players and I think the gaffer will help us win games. I think everyone is excited and looking forward to it."

It should've all been so different for Sheffield Wednesday amid Djeidi Gassama, Danny Rohl verdict at Rangers

The overarching frustration among supporters of a Wednesday persuasion comes from the belief that the club's current situation was as preventable as it is now unacceptable, with words perhaps incapable of doing due justice to the severity of the crisis taking place in the blue-and-white quarters of the Steel City.

The issues are myriad and incessant, and it's a stark contrast from the hushed confidence and optimism which was creeping in at stages last season.

Long gone are the days when Chansiri was popular with supporters, but less than 12 months ago, Wednesday had stability with Rohl - whose tactical acumen and ability to get the Owls overperforming papered over the cracks in the Thai businessman's ownership - and had a squad capable of competing and upwardly progressing in the second-tier.

With stable ownership, the retention of Rohl and other prised assets and a touch of investment in the playing squad, one must wonder how much Wednesday could have kicked on this season. Instead, however, we will never know, and Wednesdayites will simply have to watch on as Rohl begins his new era at Rangers with a one-time Hillsborough star surely set to play a leading role