Danny Rohl's Bold Move to Red Bull Salzburg

Danny Rohl leans back in his chair at Red Bull Salzburg’s training base in Taxham and lets out a small laugh.

“Some people were asking why but I felt this is the right one now. I can confirm, it's a good move,” he says.

Behind him, the Berchtesgaden Alps cut into the sky. A long way from Ibrox. A long way from Sheffield Wednesday. And a very long way from the cruise ship deck in Hawaii where his latest career twist truly began.

From Ibrox turmoil to Alpine reset

Rohl is only 37, but his past 12 months read like a manager’s mid-career memoir.

He walked into a crisis at Sheffield Wednesday and walked out with survival, a feat he openly calls “a miracle”. He then took over a Rangers side drifting in sixth in the Scottish Premiership, with just one win from their first eight league games, and dragged them back into the title race.

For a while, it looked like he might pull off something extraordinary in Glasgow. Rangers surged, belief returned, and the noise around him grew.

Then came the collapse. Four defeats in their final five games. From potential champions to third place. A season that had threatened to become historic ended with a familiar sting.

Rohl still thought he would stay.

He was expecting it. The club expected it. Plans for the summer were forming in his head. Then, on holiday in June, the phone rang.

“I was not prepared for this change in the summer,” he tells BBC Sport. “I was in Hawaii, the time difference was 12 hours and I was often on the main deck on the cruise around five or six in the morning. I had some calls and I thought about the situation.

“I have all these situations in my mind. I saw the beautiful sea, I saw the sun and then you think: ‘OK, what is the future?’”

On one side, Rangers. On the other, Red Bull Salzburg.

“I spoke, of course, with Rangers. I was really transparent and open on how I feel, how I see it. On the other side, there was Red Bull Salzburg, especially Marcus [Mann, sporting director] – he really gave me the feeling of what we can do here.

“I said from the first day to both, if there's no agreement then we carry on, we move on because I have big respect to Rangers. It was also clear, our story was not finished.

“I saw a lot of opportunities, what we can do in the summer, what we should do but on the other side, I saw also a good opportunity to restart, to start from zero with a group of players with high quality.”

The restart won.

Life after Rangers – and pressure that never really leaves

Rangers turned to Derek McInnes, the man who had just taken Hearts to the brink of the title before losing out to Celtic on the final day. He walked into the same pressure cooker that Rohl had just stepped out of.

After Thursday’s Europa League exit to Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok, McInnes is still waiting for his first win after four games in charge.

Rohl, speaking before that defeat, knows exactly what he has inherited.

“Consistency, this is the most important thing. The environment is really demanding,” he says.

“Everyone who goes there, it doesn't matter if it's a manager, a player, a staff member, you have to understand this club is demanding and this creates a lot of pressure on people to make the right decisions.

“Nobody can prepare [for] this step. I cannot speak for the new manager but you can't prepare. You have to be there and if you are there, then you really feel what it means.”

He says it without bitterness. If anything, there is a hint of admiration for the intensity of Glasgow. But he is also clearly content to have swapped that relentless scrutiny for the quieter edges of Salzburg.

A bold move, again

Rohl’s move back into the Red Bull network – he started his coaching career at RB Leipzig under Ralph Hasenhuttl before following him to Southampton – fits a pattern.

He jumps into difficult jobs. He chases ceilings, not comfort.

“This is the main part of my character, be brave. In the last three years I always pushed the limit,” he says.

He did it at Wednesday, where he steered them away from relegation in 2023-24. He did it at Rangers, taking on a club in turmoil mid-season. Now he is stepping into a Salzburg side that has lost its grip on domestic dominance.

This is not the Salzburg of old. After winning 10 Austrian Bundesliga titles in a row, they have gone three seasons without lifting the trophy. Last season they finished third.

Rohl is blunt about what he wants.

“I want to win titles and, after the season, I will measure myself on this result.

“When you take over, the main part is winning titles, the cup and the league and in the last few years we couldn't win this as a club, this is one big goal.

“The second is of course developing young players.”

At Salzburg, that second part carries real weight.

The production line and a changing landscape

Lucas Gourna-Douath is the latest talent set to move on, with the midfielder close to joining Hull. The recent past at Taxham reads like a who’s who of modern European football.

Karim Adeyemi left for Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and then joined Barcelona this summer. Erling Haaland’s explosive 2019-20 season here launched him to Dortmund and then Manchester City. Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano, Dominik Szoboszlai – all passed through this system.

Rohl, who has also worked with Bayern Munich and Germany, knows the model. He also knows the market has changed.

“Ten years ago we were the model for other clubs and now you see more and more on the market have this multi-club ownership and this is also now a competition for us.

“I want to win titles, develop young players, be attractive and I want to bring Salzburg back into the light in Europe.”

That light flickered again on Thursday.

Salzburg went 2-0 down away to Pafos in the Europa League but fought back to draw 3-3 and go through 4-3 on aggregate, booking a play-off round tie with Swedish side Mjallby. A reminder that, when it clicks, this team can still hurt opponents quickly.

Domestically, they have started with four points from two games – a win over Hartberg and a 1-1 draw at Wolfsberg, where they dominated but failed to finish the job. Next up is WSG Tirol on Sunday.

“Nobody spoke directly about the eight changes or the reason why we didn't win,” Rohl says with a smile. “We analysed the game, we had greater chances, and we really focused on the content and we were not looking for some headlines.

“The main focus is on the football.”

Undercover in Salzburg

That line sums up his current life. After three breathless years, he has found a place that lets him breathe.

His family are still in Leipzig, a few hours away. He has already dipped into the city’s culture, recently going to the theatre to watch Jedermann, the Hugo von Hofmannsthal play that has been a centrepiece of the Salzburg Festival for more than a century.

The contrast with Glasgow could hardly be sharper.

“You can't compare, especially in Glasgow – it's all about football,” says Rohl, who speaks warmly about both Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday. “Let's look just how many podcasts you have after every game. So many opinions.

“Here you are a part of the city. You have loyal supporters but you will have not these [fan] handshakes in the city because this is not usual here.

“It's also enjoyable after three intense years. Ask me – hopefully – after three years here what I like more then I will tell you. But at the moment it's great to go through the city, to have dinner and you are a little undercover.”

Undercover, perhaps. But not hiding.

Rohl has chosen the pressure of expectation over the comfort of consolidation once again. Now the question is simple: can the man who saved Wednesday, reignited Rangers and keeps “pushing the limit” be the one to drag Salzburg back to the summit – and into Europe’s glare once more?