Rohl: "This is the right one" as he leaves Rangers to take charge of Salzburg

Danny Rohl said "Some people were asking why but I felt this is the right one now. I can confirm, it's a good move," as he explained his June decision to leave Rangers and become head coach at Red Bull Salzburg, where he is now based at the club's training ground in Taxham.

Rohl described an eventful 12 months that took him from a crisis at Sheffield Wednesday to eight months at Ibrox before the move to Austria. He worked as a coach under Hansi Flick at Bayern Munich earlier in his career and began his coaching path at RB Leipzig under Ralph Hassenhuttl, later following Hassenhuttl to Southampton. At Rangers he took charge when the club sat sixth in the Scottish Premiership after one win in eight games and moved them back into title contention, only for four defeats in their final five matches to leave Rangers third.

He said the Salzburg approach came while he was on holiday in June and that it was unexpected. "I was not prepared for this change in the summer," he told 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?'"

Rohl detailed his discussions with Rangers and Salzburg and said he was transparent about his thinking. "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."

Derek McInnes, who took Hearts to the brink of the title only to lose out on the final day to Celtic, replaced Rohl at Rangers. Rohl, speaking before Rangers' Europa League exit to Jagiellonia Bialystok, warned of the pressures of the role: "Consistency, this is the most important thing. The environment is really demanding. "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."

Salzburg arrive with recent domestic difficulties, having failed to win the Austrian Bundesliga for the past three seasons after a run of 10 consecutive titles, and they finished third last season. Rohl set out his objectives plainly: "This is the main part of my character, be brave. In the last three years I always pushed the limit," and "I want to win titles and, after the season, I will measure myself on this result." He added that developing young players is also a priority.

The club's production line was highlighted in the article, with Lucas Gourna-Douath named as the latest youngster close to joining Hull, while Karim Adeyemi moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and joined Barcelona this summer. The piece also referenced Erling Haaland's 2019-20 season at Salzburg and alumni including Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano and Dominik Szoboszlai. Rohl said: "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."

Salzburg progressed in Europe after a comeback in Pafos, recovering from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 and advance 4-3 on aggregate to reach the Europa League play-off round against Sweden's Mjallby. Rohl reflected on recent domestic results, noting Salzburg have taken four points from their opening two league matches — a win over Hartberg and a 1-1 draw at Wolfsberg — and said: "Nobody spoke directly about the eight changes or the reason why we didn't win," before adding, "The main focus is on the football." He also described personal adjustments to life in Salzburg, noting his family remain in Leipzig and that the city has allowed him some anonymity and calm.

Salzburg travel to WSG Tirol on Sunday and will meet Mjallby in the Europa League play-off round after progressing 4-3 on aggregate from their tie in Pafos.