Danny Rohl's Transition from Rangers to Red Bull Salzburg
Danny Rohl leans back in his chair, the glass of his office window framing the Berchtesgaden Alps like a postcard, and shrugs.
"Some people were asking why but I felt this is the right one now. I can confirm, it's a good move."
He has made a habit of walking into storms. This time, he chose the calm.
From Ibrox chaos to Alpine clarity
Twelve months ago, Rohl was firefighting at Sheffield Wednesday. By autumn, he was in Glasgow, inheriting Rangers in a state of disarray: sixth in the Scottish Premiership, one win from eight, the title race already written off by many.
In eight frantic months at Ibrox, he almost tore that script up. Rangers surged back into contention, only to stumble when it mattered most. Four defeats in their final five league games dragged them down to third. The transformation was impressive; the ending, brutal.
Rohl expected to stay. The club expected him to stay. The project, as he saw it, was unfinished.
Then came June. And a phone call.
He was in Hawaii, halfway around the world and 12 hours out of sync, standing on the main deck of a cruise ship at dawn, staring out at the Pacific.
"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 and an unfinished story. On the other, Red Bull Salzburg and the chance to start from zero with a young, high-quality squad. Salzburg’s sporting director Marcus Mann made his pitch, and it landed.
"I spoke, of course, with Rangers. I was really transparent and open on how I feel, how I see it," Rohl says. "On the other side, there was Red Bull Salzburg, especially Marcus – 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."
He chose the restart.
Life after Rangers – and the weight of the job
Back in Glasgow, Derek McInnes has stepped into the role Rohl vacated, arriving on the back of taking Hearts agonisingly close to the title before losing out to Celtic on the final day.
The start has been unforgiving. After Thursday’s Europa League exit to Jagiellonia Bialystok, McInnes is still searching for his first win in four matches.
Rohl spoke before that defeat, but his words ring true for anyone who takes the Rangers job.
"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 knows exactly what it means. The scrutiny. The noise. The relentless need to win.
Now, in Salzburg, the volume is turned down, but the expectations are not.
Salzburg’s fallen giant and a coach who likes risk
Rohl has been here before, in a way. His coaching career began in the Red Bull network at RB Leipzig under Ralph Hasenhuttl, a partnership that later took him to Southampton. He has also worked with Bayern Munich and Germany. Salzburg, then, is familiar ground and a new challenge all at once.
This is not the Salzburg that steamrolled the Austrian Bundesliga for a decade. After 10 straight titles, they have gone three seasons without lifting the trophy. Last year, they finished third.
Rohl walks straight into that reality.
"This is the main part of my character, be brave. In the last three years I always pushed the limit," he says, recalling how he described saving Sheffield Wednesday from relegation in 2023-24 as a miracle.
"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."
Few clubs in Europe can match Salzburg’s track record in that regard. Lucas Gourna-Douath is the latest to move on, closing in on a switch to Hull City. Before him, the conveyor belt was relentless.
Karim Adeyemi left for Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and has since made the jump to Barcelona. Erling Haaland’s explosive 2019-20 season here propelled him to Dortmund and then to global superstardom. Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano, Dominik Szoboszlai – all came through this system.
"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," Rohl says.
"I want to win titles, develop young players, be attractive and I want to bring Salzburg back into the light in Europe."
The ambition is clear. The margin for error is not.
Early steps, early signals
On Thursday, Salzburg showed a glimpse of the resilience Rohl demands. Two goals down away to Pafos in the Europa League, they dragged themselves back to 3-3 on the night, going through 4-3 on aggregate to reach the play-off round against Swedish side Mjallby.
Domestically, the start has been steady rather than spectacular. Four points from two league games: a win over Hartberg, then a 1-1 draw at Wolfsberg in a match Salzburg controlled but failed to finish off. They travel to WSG Tirol on Sunday with a platform, not yet a statement.
"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."
That line could double as his manifesto. Strip away the noise. Obsess over the details. Let the rest follow.
Undercover in a football city
Away from the training ground at Taxham, life is quieter. His family remain in Leipzig, only a few hours away. He can slip into the city without being stopped every few steps.
He has already been to the theatre, taking in Jedermann, Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s classic play that has been a centrepiece of the Salzburg Festival for more than a century. It is a different kind of performance, a different kind of pressure.
"You can't compare, especially in Glasgow – it's all about football," says Rohl, who speaks warmly of 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."
For now, the 37-year-old who thrives on pressure has chosen a place where he can breathe. The Alps tower in the distance, the training pitches lie in front of him, and the task is simple to state and hard to deliver: restore a fallen domestic force, reignite a European presence, and keep the production line of stars moving.
He has walked away from one unfinished story. The next chapter, in Salzburg, will be judged the way he wants it to be – by titles, by talent, and by whether he can drag this club back into the spotlight it once owned.
