Maybe Danny Rohl Recognised – Ex-EFL Star On Sheffield Wednesday Boss’ Positional Decision | OneFootball

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Ex-EFL winger Adrian Clarke has hailed Southampton loanee Shea Charles as a ‘very good player’ and pointed out Danny Rohl’s tactical awareness to play him even deeper against Norwich City earlier this week.

Southampton paid a sizeable £10.5m to Manchester City in the summer of 2023 to acquire Charles on a four-year deal when the Saints were in the Championship.

He played 38 times for Southampton in his first season and in this campaign, he was loaned out to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday after Saints achieved promotion back to the Premier League.

Charles has been a crucial part of Rohl’s Sheffield Wednesday side, who are having a very good season in the Championship, and the Owls saw off competition in January to keep hold of him until the summer.

On Tuesday night, Rohl played him in a deeper role against Norwich City and the Owls won the match 3-2 at Carrow Road.

Clarke pointed out that Rohl made the decision to play Charles as a defender due to his defensive qualities even though he is certain that defensive midfield is his best position.

“The issue I have with them is that, I do not think that they are very good at the back at all and individually they have a few mistakes in them”, Clarke said on What the EFL (41:07) about the Owls.

“I know that Shea Charles played a much deeper role at Norwich, he was almost a part of a back-three, which is interesting.

“Because he is a very good player, he is very good in that defensive midfield role.

“So, what maybe Rohl has recognised that he can use his defensive qualities in a deeper role and maybe bring in someone like [Svante] Ingelsson alongside [Barry] Bannan in midfield and that worked for them against Norwich.”

The Owls are not too far off the top six as they are only five points adrift of fifth and sixth spot, and Charles will look to help Rohl’s side to make a final push for a playoff spot in the last nine league games.

Southampton are set to suffer relegation back to the Championship at the end of the season and if Sheffield Wednesday were to get up then they would likely knock at Saints door for a permanent deal.