Danny Rohl's New Challenge at Red Bull Salzburg: A Fresh Start
Danny Rohl leans back in his chair, the glass of his office window framing the Berchtesgaden Alps like a postcard. Taxham is quiet, almost too quiet for a coach who has just lived a year at full speed.
“Some people were asking why but I felt this is the right one now. I can confirm, it's a good move,” he says.
He is 37, already with the air of a man who has lived several managerial lives. From a crisis at Sheffield Wednesday to the storm of Glasgow and now the relative calm of Red Bull Salzburg, his last 12 months read like three different careers spliced into one.
From chaos at Ibrox to a call in Hawaii
When Rohl walked into Ibrox, Rangers were sixth in the SPL, with one win from their first eight games. The club was drifting, the season threatening to unravel before it had really begun.
He yanked them back into the title race. For a spell, Rangers looked transformed, aggressive, alive. The turnaround was close to spectacular.
Then came the collapse. Four defeats in their final five league games dragged them down to third. The season that had seemed reborn ended with a grim sense of what-might-have-been.
Rangers expected him to stay. Rohl expected the same. The story, in his mind, was not finished.
Then the phone rang.
He was on holiday in June, on a cruise off Hawaii, jet-lagged and awake at dawn on the main deck while most of the ship still slept. Salzburg’s interest landed in that strange early-morning quiet.
“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?’”
He spoke to Rangers. He spoke to Red Bull Salzburg, and in particular sporting director Marcus Mann.
“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 – 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.”
In the end, the restart won.
Life after Rangers – and a warning for McInnes
Rangers turned to Derek McInnes, the man who had taken Hearts to the brink of the title before losing out to Celtic on the final day. He walked into the same demands, the same noise, the same unforgiving environment.
So far, it has been a harsh introduction. After Thursday’s Europa League exit to Jagiellonia Bialystok, McInnes has failed to win any of his opening four games.
Rohl spoke before that defeat, but his words cut straight to the reality of the 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 talks about Rangers with clear affection, but there is no sense of regret. Just a manager who has chosen his next fight.
Back in the Red Bull universe
Austria is not new to Rohl. Nor is the Red Bull model. He started his coaching journey in the RB Leipzig setup under Ralph Hasenhuttl, then followed him to Southampton. He has worked with Bayern Munich and Germany. His CV is already crowded.
Now he returns to Salzburg at a time when the club is no longer the untouchable force it once was. After 10 straight Austrian Bundesliga titles, Salzburg have gone three seasons without lifting the trophy. Last season they finished third.
Rohl has never been shy of a challenge.
“This is the main part of my character, be brave. In the last three years I always pushed the limit,” he says, describing his rescue act at Sheffield Wednesday in 2023-24 – dragging them to safety – as a miracle.
His targets in Salzburg are blunt and simple.
“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, those two aims are inseparable. The club’s training base at Taxham has become a conveyor belt for elite talent. Lucas Gourna-Douath is the latest to move on, close to joining Hull. The recent alumni list reads like a who’s who of European football.
Karim Adeyemi left for Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and has since joined Barcelona. Erling Haaland’s explosive 2019-20 season in Salzburg propelled him to Dortmund and then to the top of the game. Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano, Dominik Szoboszlai – all passed through here.
“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.”
A comeback in Cyprus, a quiet start at home
The first steps are already under way. On Thursday, Salzburg staged a wild Europa League comeback in Pafos, recovering from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 and go through 4-3 on aggregate. It booked a play-off tie against Swedish side Mjallby.
Domestically, the start has been solid rather than spectacular. Four points from two games: a win over Hartberg, then a 1-1 draw at Wolfsberg in which Salzburg dominated but could not kill the game.
“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.”
They travel to WSG Tirol on Sunday with that same mantra. No noise. Just work.
Undercover in Salzburg
Away from the pitch, life has slowed down. His family remain in Leipzig, just a few hours away, and he has started to explore a city that lives at a very different tempo to Glasgow.
He recently went to the theatre to watch “Jedermann”, the Hugo von Hofmannsthal play that has been at the heart of Salzburg’s festival for more than a century. It is a world away from the daily grind of press conferences and post-match phone-ins.
“You can't compare, especially in Glasgow – it's all about football,” he 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. 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 unnoticed. In a club that has forgotten how to win titles and a league that has stopped fearing Salzburg, Rohl has picked another high-wire act.
He would not have it any other way.
