Either way, the inspirational young boss should be courted as strongly as possible to shape the Owls' future. With a definite plan. While all the above may be stating the obvious, it is a highly unusual scenario. Certainly a first for Dejphon Chansiri who has always been the one who's had to be appeased, not the other way around.

You'd guess he can't be relishing this change of dynamic. Normally it would be the manager more than the chairman sweating over a possible relegation. No previous manager has dared to challenge Chansiri so publicly to provide the conditions for long-term success.

Although Rohl has not made his demands personal, he has been pointed in his wording and body language, leaving little doubt that he may well see his future elsewhere if his vision for the club cannot be matched. It's beyond doubt, too, that his demands for infrastructure improvements, besides backing to improve the team, will be expensive.

Rohl makes them in the almost certain knowledge that he will have attractive options to advance his career should Chansiri not deliver to his satisfaction. Against that, as the man who pays the bills and has shelled out many millions in Wednesday's cause, the owner isn't inclined to play second fiddle.

Will he be smarting? You imagine it must privately irk him that Rohl will get all the credit if Wednesday complete their great escape, leaving him with all the blame if they don't.

With a fans' group continuing a strongly supported campaign for him to sell the club, if this was a game of chess you'd say Chansiri was in checkmate. Can he afford to satisfy Rohl even assuming he wants to? Can he afford not to? It's hard to see the German waiting around for investment or a sale.

But underlying it all, however strongly he plays his hand, you suspect Rohl would not be doing so if, in his heart, he did not want to stay. I believe he does and with as much passion as fans have shown him.

Even so, it's a small window to climb through, albeit opening up a panoramic view. The standing of Chansiri's ownership hangs on how this pans out.

It's pretty remarkable that off-field intrigue matches or even overshadows the on-pitch drama of Wednesday needing a point at Sunderland - a club linked with Rohl - to finally head off a once-certain looking return to League One. That is a measure of both Rohl's impact and his potential as a transformative force for the club. There are no half measures now either on the pitch or off it. Rohl knows that seeking a point is one of the most dangerous scenarios in football.

How wise he is to shun that approach and insist on retaining the bold, winning mentality that has embodied all he has achieved. But it is actually two big results he and Wednesday need right now, not just one.