Sunderland monitor Danny Rohl future with Stadium of Light audition

Believed to be one of those in the running for the Sunderland manager’s job, Sheffield Wednesday’s Danny Rohl’s future could be decided in the coming week.

The 35-year-old is reported to be set for talks with Wednesday after the conclusion of their Championship season as they battle to stay in the division. Whether he commits his future to the Yorkshire club will obviously have a bearing on where he will be next season and Sunderland will be keeping a close eye on how that develops.

There is added intrigue in that Rohl will bring his Owls to the Stadium of Light on Saturday (12.30pm) for the final game in the campaign. His side need a point at Sunderland to guarantee safety and escape relegation – a situation that looked unlikely when Rohl took charge in October.

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Who knows whether the atmosphere around the Stadium of Light might sway him towards wanting a move there, should he be on that Sunderland shortlist. The German is believed to be admired by Sunderland’s hierarchy, who have whittled down their options as decision time on a permanent head coach appointment fast approaches.

Most Sunderland fans hope they get on with it as soon as possible after a slump since Michael Beale left the club and Mike Dodds took over as interim head coach. It may be that compensation would be required if Sunderland want Rohl as he is understood to be in contract until the end of next season.

While wanting assurances at Wednesday about his role, his first priority is to keep the club in the Championship.

Asked what he wants to hear to convince him to commit his future to Wednesday, Rohl told the Sheffield Star: “I need a clear strategy of what we can do and what we want to do.

“I am very hungry for more and when you feel the atmosphere in the stadium you can feel that everybody is hungry for more at this club. The experience of the Championship shows us we must be prepared for a tough season and I think the biggest mistake you can make is to think it is good enough what we are doing now.

“Now we must make the next step and for this we must bring all the things together on the table and we must speak about this. We have a clear direction on what we have to improve and if we can do this I think we can go into a good pre-season, this is important. And then we go into the next season.”

That doesn’t sound too much like he wants to leave Hillsborough and Sunderland have plenty of other irons in the fire.