Former Saints assistant manager under Ralph Hasenhuttl, Danny Rohl was the favourite to take over the managers job at St Mary's back in the summer before Southampton eventually appointed Will Still, but events in Scotland have opened up speculation that Rohl could be arriving back on the South Coast.

Danny Rohl was the nailed on favourite to replace Simon Rusk as manager of Saints in the summer, he seemed to tick all the boxes for both the Southampton board and the supporters of the club, he had worked under Ralph Hasenhuttl as his assistant in the Premier League, he had subsequently gained considerable experience as an assistant coach at Bayern Munich and the German national team and then joined Sheffield Wednesday and saved them from relegation from the Championship after arriving and then in what would be his only full season steering them to 12th place despite issues with the owner and finance.

What was there not to like about about appointing him to the hot seat at St Mary's, the answer to that is the very large compensation fee, said to be as much s £5 million that the Owls owner had written into his contract.

That was eventually settled by mutual consent and Rohl was a free agent just before the start of the Championship season, however that was too late for Southampton who had already appointed Will Still.

In the past week Rohl seemed to be the leading contender to replace former Saints boss Russell Martin at Rangers and again that seemed nailed on, but suddenly Rohl made a U turn on his application and told the Scottish club he no longer wishes to be considered for the position.

Sky Sports announced the news by saying "Danny Röhl has told Rangers that he doesn't wish to continue in the process of becoming Head Coach."

That prompted speculation that Rohl suddenly wants to preserve his free agent status and that means that someone else has approached him.

Some media outlets including saintsmarching.com are now putting two & two together and suggesting that club may be Southampton.

The inference is that Rohl was always Saints first choice in the summer, but the compensation fee was too high, but now as a free agent that hurdle has been overcome.

The rumours are also fuelled by the below average start that Still has made to his career at St Mary's, with the squad that he has to hand both in terms of quality and quantity when compared to their Championship rivals, the feeling is that the team is massively underperforming.

Other accusations are that under Still the team has yet to establish it's identity on the pitch, that he has adopted a scattergun approach and changes players at the drop of a hat, rumours abounded when the news that a Championship club Captain had approached the board to express the squads dissatisfaction about the manager, that the man in question was Saints Captain Jack Stephens, these rumours were hardly quashed when Stephens found himself one of several senior players to be omitted from the starting line up shortly after.

So Danny Rohl turning down Rangers will make Saints fans ears prick up, whilst there has been no widespread rebellion against the manager it is fair to say that there are a sizable amout of the fan base who are not happy with the season's start and concerned that there appears to have been no progress made in the right direction since the start of the season back at the start of August.

They see a team with no pattern to their play and no confidence and that is something that is the managers responsibility.

So what is your take on the latest rumours, give your opinion in the comments below and vote in our online poll Still Will Or Let Danny Rohl In

All Photos Via Reuters

SainteSimon added 11:13 - Oct 16 I believe this is all media speculation as Rohl has a very bad relationship with the powers that be at SFC
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SainteSimon added 11:13 - Oct 16 I believe this is all media speculation as Rohl has a very bad relationship with the powers that be at SFC
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andywelsh added 11:13 - Oct 16 Since the departure of Ralph Saints’ most successful manager of the many employed was Russell Martin who many fans hated from the start. Whenever a new manager arrived they appeared to employ the same players as the previous managers after assessing them. Results did not change. To me this suggests that the constant manager turnover is a substantial part of the problem. Also it indicates the scale of the task facing any new manager. Despite Danny Rohl being very much my preferred candidate in the summer, if Sports Republic were to sack Still now it would continue to perpetuate the mistakes they have been making all along and I am far from convinced it would make much difference on the pitch. Patience is called for. Arteta had a pretty lacklustre start at Arsenal and Lawrie McMenemy relegated us. This is a time to get behind the present manager and team. I think he is a bright guy with a good record and he will eventually work it out, but it will take time.

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SaintNick added 11:25 - Oct 16 Why would Rohl have a poor relationship with the powers that be at Southampton, the issue that stopped him potentially joining in the summer was the compensation being demanded by Sheffield Wednesday and he had no control over that.
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Centurion added 12:18 - Oct 16 Too much chopping and changing. Give Will Still two seasons at the very least.
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Bowlercow added 13:23 - Oct 16 If £5 million was to much to pay in compo for Rohl then surely the huge amount they would have to pay Will Still would also be a no no Didn't Rohl say he wanted a Premier league club? November is coming up so he may get one of the 3 vacancies that will appear theng
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Colburn added 13:32 - Oct 16 I don’t see why you would give any manager 2 years despite results. I like Still the person, but I don’t see a blueprint or much logic in his decisions or set up. We keep playing 3 centre backs and 2 wing backs which is a counter attacking system, not possession and domination. We have not been good at pressing and he has dropped Archer after ge scored a couple of goals and looked sharp. I am yet to see any signs that Still has a plan. Our recruitment is half good half woeful as we continue to sign players who are not good enough and then freeze out a player who has looked the part in the game he played. So I am very confused as to the pathway forwards and I personally don’t see that changing. I hope Still proves me wrong. Also we would have to pay him a load in compensation so we may as well have paid off the Owls in the first place. Unfortunately our club is run by clowns.

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underweststand added 15:46 - Oct 16 1) Not sure Rohl would be a good fit (even if Will was to go) - I don't think he's likely to. 2) He was with Saints a fairly short time (during Ralph H's sojourn) and promptly moved back to Germany and seemingly got some mileage in his time in the Bundesliga, and as an ASSISTANT in the national side. 3) We know that his task at Wednesday wasn't easy, but everyone expects a coach to do the best with the players he has, and clearly that didn't happen for him. If you employ a manager, one hopes that he joins with a good record, which clearly he didn't. 4) Finally, there are two camps in the Saints fanbase, those who expect a new manager , with new players to be in the top six after a month or so, (note that Russell Martin didn't) and promptly start to call for his sacking ...alternatively the many who realise that we will not automatically " bounce back" and maybe need another season before that is true. The reality is that in the diabolical form we showed last season - we might well have struggled, had we been down in the Championship and not propping up the Prem. table. NO - I think Will deserves more time - even the entire season - as long as we don't finish poorly in the bottom half - and are even treading water behind the final promoted sides.

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Centurion added 16:35 - Oct 16 I would say, 'acceptable' is mid table finish and evidence of progress. We have a long way to go yet this season. If we have made progress, then we can be more ambitious and aim for a top 10 or even top 8 finish. Again, we will know if we are making progress. To go into the Premier League unprepared would be counter productive. We would be taken apart by the likes of Brentford and Palace, never mind the bigger guns like Fulham.

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SainteSimon added 19:05 - Oct 16 Saint Nick, again it is speculation that compensation was reason he was not appointed before.
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