Exclusive: Chris Waddle on Danny Röhl, rebuilds and reality - Sheffield Wednesday legend urges swift action at S6 | OneFootball

Chris Waddle paints a sobering picture of Sheffield Wednesday’s crossroads - and says delay could cost them dearly.

In an exclusive interview with Football League World via NewBettingSites.uk, former Sheffield Wednesday and England winger Chris Waddle has offered a candid and clear-eyed assessment of the club’s present and future.

With Danny Röhl’s position uncertain, 16 first-team players out of contract or returning to parent clubs, and an ownership situation mired in ambiguity, Waddle doesn’t hold back.

He praises Röhl’s tactical nous and man-management under trying circumstances, crediting the German with transforming a limited squad into one that briefly flirted with the play-offs. But that progress, Waddle warns, is at risk of unraveling if key decisions on recruitment, retention, and leadership are not made - and fast.

Speaking with the authority of a man who knows the club intimately, Waddle lays bare the challenges facing Wednesday this summer, from squad rebuilds and transfer market realism to the need for a settled vision at the top.

As he sees it, time is ticking - and the Owls cannot afford another false dawn.

Chris Waddle full of praise for Danny Röhl’s transformation of Sheffield Wednesday

Starting with Danny Rohl, when you look at the job he’s done since October, what’s stood out to you the most about his impact on this team?

Chris Waddle: "I like his tactics, I think he is - let's be perfectly honest - not blessed with the best players in the Championship. I think everybody knows that. I think he's obviously had a struggle at the start, but he found his system, which especially away from home, even when we were going down, they could come back and win football matches.

"I like this style of his tactics he got with the players he had, I think it was very limited, he didn't really have a budget. You know, it was a lot of free transfers, there was a lot of players who played in League One with that team. I thought he got them organised, he got them together. The players obviously rolled their sleeves up and gave it 110%, and he got his reward. You know, at one stage, we were talking about getting in the playoffs, which was amazing.

"You know, and unfortunately, it fell away towards the end, and the home form cost them, but if somebody had said at the start of the season, you'd finish halfway up the league, well away from relegation, I think all the Wednesday the fans would have took that. So he has done a great job and I can see why all the fans obviously want him to stay.

"You know, at the minute there's a cloud over the club again. Is he selling, is he not selling? Is it going to run and run and run till it's too late when you can't sign players? And a lot of these players will be leaving, a lot will be leaving. And Danny Rohl might even be leaving. So the club needs to sort itself out very, very quickly because you can't wait around in football. You've got to act now. And you've got to make a decision and this is what's going to happen and at the minute, nobody knows anything.

"There's a lot of players to be released. We know there's two or three talking about extending a contract for another year. But realistically, this needs sorting out now and they need to say if Danny Rohl staying or leaving, whoever is going to be the new manager and whatever, and they needed to sign the players what are needed for next season now to get everything ready for when they would report towards the end of June."

Wednesday have got 16 players, either out of contract or returning on loan now. How do you start to rebuild the squad from that position - and in that position, what do you prioritise? Are you looking at retention, smart recruitment, are you going to bet on youth? How do you think Wednesday should navigate that over the summer?

CW: "The problem they’ve got, Wednesday, is that they don’t really have a scouting system and you know they'll be looking at the free transfer lists more than anything. Listen, there are some good players on free transfers and then it comes down to wages, if they fit into that bracket. I'm sure that'll be a priority for it - I think Wednesday will be looking at the free transfer market.

"I don't think they're going to go and say there's a million quid for this player or that player. I think they'll be looking at the players who will be released from Premier League clubs and Championship clubs and this is the way they've got to go. But, they have to do it within the next two or three weeks before these players run out of contract - they need to talk to these players now who are getting released or have had enough with a football club - of a certain club - and they want to move on. You know, there are still talented players out there who will be available.

"Windass has got a clause, so he's not on a free. I’m sure they’ll offer Barry Bannan another year. I think Michael Smith might get a contract, another year. But a lot of players want more than a year and some players think, I want more money and I mean, the club needs sorting out and it needs done now.

"But with Chansiri, we don't know if he's going to sell, does he want too much money for this guy that wants to buy it? I think he's serious about it, but he's not going to get, you know, he's not going to pay over the odds and this is where Chansiri has got to be realistic and he's got to say, for the good of the club ‘yes, you know, I'm not losing money, I'm not, I'm making a bit’, but he should have said, you know, ‘I need to move his club on’.

"If this club wants to go the right direction, he's not going to take it to the next level. And so hopefully he can sort a deal out and these new guys buy it and invest in the club. But it's like, what if they get it and you sign seven, eight players now, free transfers, but you think we want better than that? And, you know, this is why it's got to be done now.

"So whoever goes in as manager, I'm sure Danny Rohl will leave regardless of what happens, unless somebody comes in and offers a lot of money to spend and has a desire to get into the Premier League. But I think he'll leave whatever, and if somebody buys his clause out, I think he will go. And then he's looking at probably Henrik [Pedersen], his assistant who could probably step in, knows the club now, knows the players. Very talented guy, you know - it's not just about Danny - I think Henriks's got a big part to play and I think the two of them have been very good.

"So, yeah, I would like to see probably you know, if Chansiri stays, I'm sure Danny Rohl does get bought out on his clause, I’m sure Henrik will be the next one in line, which is not bad, he knows the club and I'm sure he has players lined up.

"I'm sure they went through lists already of players that they'd love to sign. It's just getting that nod from Chansiri who's probably saying, I can’t give you the nod at the minute because I may be selling in the club and I don't know what the new owners are going to do. But they do need to get it sorted quickly."

Sheffield Wednesday must move fast in the transfer market, says Waddle

Speaking about one of the few players Wednesday do have under contract - Djeidi Gassama has been amazing this season. How important is it to keep hold of players like Gassama, not just for talent, but also to show ambition?

CW: "Yeah, I think there's a lot of players who, two or three players at the club. We realised [Shea] Charles has got to go back. You know, that's a loss. He's a very good player. You know when you look at the club at the minute, Gassama, he's very important, he's had a great season, he's worked his socks off, which is good. He's really up for the challenge where I think a lot of players have fell short of that. People like Lowe, Ugbo, I don't think they've done enough, I don't think they've done enough to prove themselves to the fans, to the manager that, you know, I should be picked every week.

"You know, in football, you've got to make the most of it and I think two or three of the players this season have come off the pace and not really been up to the challenge. And, you know, yes, some of them are still under contract, but they're going to have to work hard this preseason and prove to whoever the manager is, or whatever’s happening, I am worth the shirt.

"But yeah, it's very important that you keep the good players. You know, you don't want to sell the players to rival clubs just for what would be a bit of money. Then you get a lesser player in and if you go like that, you’re only going one way, where you’re going back to League One. Wednesday’s got to kick on, they’ve had a good season for all people and see the finish mid table that was good.

"Now they need to add: they need two new fullbacks, they need another centre half, they need two new, three new midfield players. I think realistically, they need 10 players. And with the players leaving and the players to add for me, Sheffield Wednesday need 10 players, if they're going to compete. And I'm not just saying Tom, Dick and Harry, and I want to go with good players for that level. If they want to compete next year and have a serious go, top six, top 10, they need 10 players."

Dejphon Chansiri, Sheffield Wednesday sale vital for progress at Hillsborough: Waddle warns of relegation

So if you were speaking to one of the 10 players considering signing for Wednesday this summer, what would you say to convince them it’s the right club to choose as a free agent over the others?

CW: "Well, a lot of these guys who will be free agents haven't played for any club bigger than Sheffield Wednesday. The support is - it’s a magnificently supported club. The way support sells out every away game. When you get, unfortunately home forms being poor this year, but if you can get a home form going, players, obviously, teams don't like coming to Hillsborough. It's quite an intimidating place, I think, for away players and a lot of these players who Wednesday will be in the market for, they've never played at a club that size. I'm not saying, you know, they might have been playing with somebody who plays in front of 15,000 or 18,000 you know, not the size of Sheffield Wednesday, and what a challenge it is.

"And you know, it’s hard to sell at the minute, because you're going to say ‘sign for us, but I don't know who the manager's going to be and I don't know who's going to be in charge’. This is the problem, you know, I think if you get this guy to take over this football club, I think he'll have players knocking on the door, I mean, good quality players, to say, ‘please sign me’.

"I think if it stays as it is with the regime, I think you’re going to find it hard to talk players into coming because they're going to say, well, ‘you've very hit and miss, I don't think there’s ambition to get the Premier League, I don't think you're good enough to get in the Premier League’. So that might scare a few players off.

"But it's all on his takeover. If this takeover could come through quickly, I think you get the pick of that division, and probably some Premier League players that would drop out the Premier League to play for Sheffield Wednesday, definitely."

In that case, what would a successful summer look like to you at Wednesday? Is it a takeover?

CW: "Yeah, listen, Chansiri had two great years. Took them to Wembley, lost, took to the semi-final in the playoffs, lost. And after that, there was no plan B and there was no money and structure basically to take the club on again and again. And I think he failed a two year plan and ever since that two years, Sheffield Wednesday has basically been going backwards, and yes they did come up in the playoffs and they did well, as I say, this season to finish where they are.

"But when you actually look at it, unless you get these 10 players in, then they could be in a relegation fight and they’re nowhere near going to the Premier League with what they've got at the minute and that is why a takeover is the next level for Sheffield Wednesday.