Danny Röhl's Bold Move to Red Bull Salzburg
Danny Röhl made the biggest call of his career staring out at the Pacific.
On holiday in Hawaii, halfway around the world and 12 hours out of sync, the then-Rangers manager found himself on the main deck of a cruise ship at dawn, phone pressed to his ear, Salzburg on the line.
"I was not prepared for this change in the summer," he says. "I saw the beautiful sea, I saw the sun and then you think: 'OK, what is the future?'"
The answer now sits in the shadow of the Berchtesgaden Alps, in an immaculate office at Red Bull Salzburg’s Taxham training base. Röhl, 37, has swapped the noise of Glasgow for the quieter, sharper air of Austria – and another bold step in a career built on risk.
"I can confirm, it's a good move," he says. "Some people were asking why but I felt this is the right one now."
From Ibrox chaos to Alpine calm
Röhl’s past 12 months have been a blur. He walked into a crisis at Sheffield Wednesday and walked out a hero, calling their escape from relegation in 2023-24 "a miracle". He then landed in Glasgow with Rangers stuck in sixth in the SPL, one win from eight, the season already listing badly.
He almost turned it on its head.
In eight months at Ibrox, he dragged Rangers back into the title fight, only for the campaign to unravel at the worst possible moment: four defeats in their final five league games. They finished third. The title slipped away. So did the sense of closure.
"It was also clear, our story was not finished," Röhl says. He had been planning for the summer, seeing "a lot of opportunities, what we can do in the summer, what we should do".
He expected to stay. Rangers expected him to stay.
Then Salzburg called.
On that cruise, Röhl weighed it all up. He spoke "really transparent and open" with Rangers, laid out how he felt, how he saw the project. On the other side stood Red Bull Salzburg and sporting director Marcus Mann, selling him a reset, a fresh start, a squad packed with talent.
"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," Röhl explains. "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 Röhl at Rangers
Rangers moved quickly. Derek McInnes, the man who had taken Hearts to the brink of the title before losing out to Celtic on the final day, came in as Röhl’s replacement.
The pressure bit early.
After Thursday’s Europa League exit to Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok, McInnes is still waiting for his first win, four games into his tenure. Röhl spoke before that defeat, but his words about the Ibrox environment already sounded like a warning.
"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."
For now, Röhl is feeling something else entirely: stability.
Back in the Red Bull orbit
Austria is not new to him. Nor is the Red Bull machine.
Röhl’s coaching journey took off at RB Leipzig under Ralph Hasenhüttl before he followed him to Southampton. He then worked at Bayern Munich and with Germany. Now he returns to Salzburg, a club that once set the standard for talent development and high-intensity football, but one that has slipped from its domestic throne.
After 10 straight Austrian Bundesliga titles, Salzburg have gone three seasons without lifting the trophy. Last season they finished third. For a club used to dominance, that stings.
"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," Röhl says. "I want to win titles and, after the season, I will measure myself on this result.
"The second is of course developing young players."
That second strand is stitched into the walls at Taxham. The list of graduates reads like a Champions League night: Erling Haaland, Sadio Mané, Dayot Upamecano, Dominik Szoboszlai. Karim Adeyemi left for Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and then joined Barcelona this summer. Lucas Gourna-Douath is the latest to move on, close to joining Hull.
Ten years ago, Salzburg were the model. Now, Röhl argues, they are in a race they helped start.
"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," he 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 blunt. The method, as ever with Röhl, is to push the limits.
"This is the main part of my character, be brave. In the last three years I always pushed the limit," he says.
Early signs and early standards
The first steps in Austria have been promising, if not perfect.
On Thursday, Salzburg went 2-0 down away to Pafos in the Europa League, only to claw their way back to 3-3 and go through 4-3 on aggregate. That comeback booked a play-off tie with Swedish side Mjällby and gave Röhl an early taste of European jeopardy in his new job.
Domestically, they head to WSG Tirol on Sunday with four points from their opening two league matches: a win over Hartberg and a 1-1 draw at Wolfsberg. The latter result frustrated Röhl, but not in the way a Glasgow draw might have.
Salzburg dominated, he insists. They created the better chances. He made eight changes. Nobody outside the club seemed especially interested in the rotation.
"Nobody spoke directly about the eight changes or the reason why we didn't win," he 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."
In Glasgow, the headlines chase you. In Salzburg, you can at least walk away from them.
Undercover in Salzburg
The city suits him. His family remain in Leipzig, just a few hours away, and Röhl has started to explore his new surroundings, recently going to the theatre to see Jedermann, the Hugo von Hofmannsthal play that has been a centrepiece of the Salzburg Festival for more than a century.
It is a different rhythm to life at Ibrox.
"You can't compare, especially in Glasgow – it's all about football," Röhl says. "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."
He talks about anonymity almost as if it is a luxury. Walking through the city. Going out for dinner. Not being stopped every few steps.
"At the moment it's great to go through the city, to have dinner and you are a little undercover," he says. "Ask me – hopefully – after three years here what I like more then I will tell you."
By then, Salzburg will know if the brave choice he made on a ship in the Pacific has delivered what he demands of himself: titles, talent, and a club dragged back into Europe’s spotlight.
