Top six favourites to become new Barnsley boss as club sack manager

The top six favourites to become new Barnsley boss as the club sack manager after a shocking start to the 2021/22 Championship season.

Barnsley have sacked head coach Markus Schopp after a run of one win in 15 league games and seven straight defeats left them 23rd in the league standings.

Appointed in June on a three-year contract, the Tykes have struggled under the 47-year-old’s stewardship.

They have scored just 10 goals in the league this season, the second fewest of any club in the second tier.

“I wish the club all the best for the future and that they will achieve all their goals,” he told the club website.

“I would like to thank all those who have accompanied me in this short but very intense time. It is a pity that our hard work was not reflected in the results.”

Joseph Laumann will take charge on a temporary basis starting with Wednesday’s league match against bottom side Derby County.

Former Sturm Graz and Austria midfielder Schopp joined the south Yorkshire club having previously led Hartberg to the Europa League qualifying round in 2020.

He replaced Valerien Ismael, who joined West Bromwich Albion, having taken Barnsley to last season’s Championship play-offs.

Schopp was Barnsley’s third managerial appointment from Austrian football, with Ismael and Gerhard Struber also previously joining from the Austrian Bundesliga.

Barnsley Football Club can confirm the departure of First Team Head Coach, Markus Schopp, with immediate effect.

— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) November 1, 2021

BARNSLEY STATEMENT:

Barnsley Football Club can confirm the departure of First Team Head Coach, Markus Schopp, with immediate effect.

The Club places on record its appreciation for Markus’ efforts and wishes him the very best in his future endeavours.

Chief Executive Officer, Khaled El-Ahmad, said: “On behalf of everyone at Oakwell, I would like to thank Markus for the last few months and wish him well for the next step in his career.

“I would like supporters to know that the process for finding a suitable replacement is underway and we will announce a new appointment in due course.”

Markus Schopp remarked: “I would like to thank all those who have accompanied me in this short but very intense time. It is a pity that our hard work was not reflected in the results. I wish the club all the best for the future and that they will achieve all their goals.”

Joseph Laumann will take charge of first team affairs on a temporary basis, starting with Wednesday night’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Derby County.

The Club will not make any further comment at this time.

– STATEMENT ENDS –

So who are the top six favourites to replace Schopp? Find out below…

6) NEIL LENNON

Neil Lennon is a football coach and former player from Northern Ireland. He was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he made over 200 appearances and was appointed captain in 2005. Before retiring as a player, he returned to England and played for Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers. Lennon made 40 appearances for Northern Ireland in nine years, scoring two goals.

Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic in March 2010, initially in a caretaker capacity, after the departure of Tony Mowbray. Lennon enjoyed significant success as Celtic manager, winning three Scottish league championships, two Scottish Cups, qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League twice and the knockout stages once, before leaving the club in May 2014. After an unsuccessful spell with Bolton Wanderers, where the club suffered financial problems, Lennon returned to Scottish football in 2016 with Hibernian. He led them to a promotion in his first season as head coach, and European qualification in his second season, before leaving Hibernian in January 2019.

Lennon returned to Celtic in February 2019, initially on an interim basis for the rest of the 2018–19 season, and guided them to the league and Scottish Cup titles. His contract was renewed and he led Celtic to the Scottish league title again in 2019–20. He also led the team to a fourth consecutive domestic treble by also winning the League Cup and the Scottish Cup that season. Lennon left Celtic in February 2021, as the club had fallen far behind Rangers in the 2020–21 Scottish Premiership.

BetVictor odds – 10/1

5) JOSEPH LAUMANN

Joseph Laumann is a German football coach and former footballer. He is currently the assistant manager of Barnsley. Lauman became caretaker manager on 1st November 2021 after the sacking of Markus Schopp.

Laumann started his playing career at Oestrich-Iserlohn before moving to SpVgg Erkenschwick in 2004. He was then snapped up by Bundesliga giants FC Schalke in 2005, where he also played in the reserve.

In 2006, Laumann moved to 2. Bundesliga side Rot Weiss Ahlen where he played 30 games, scoring 11 goals. He then moved on to VfB Lübeck before playing in the German Third Division for the first half of 2008. In January 2008 moved to Rot-Weiss Erfurt, where was fired in May 2008 after a hidden trial with Vitesse under the pseudonym “Joseph Ratzinger”. In July 2008, Laumann went on trial with Scottish First Division side Dunfermline Athletic while the Scottish side were on their summer tour of Austria. After playing one match for the Pars against Romanian side Timişoara, manager Jim McIntyre said that they did not come together with the German striker. On 16 October 2008, after five months without a club Lauman signed a contract with Sportfreunde Siegen.

He has been an assistant at Sportfreunde Lotte (2015–2017, 2017-2020), VfL Bochum (2017), Hallescher FC (2020) and Barnsley (2020-).

BetVictor odds – 8/1

4) GARETH AINSWORTH

Gareth Ainsworth is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of League One club Wycombe Wanderers.

A former youth player at Blackburn Rovers, the midfielder, who is known for his crossing ability, won a move to Preston North End in 1992 after impressing at non-league Northwich Victoria. He moved on to Cambridge United, who in turn loaned him back to Northwich Victoria. He returned to Preston North End in 1993, and established himself in the first team during his second spell at the club. Sold on to Lincoln City in October 1995 for a £25,000 fee, his performances at Lincoln earned him a place on the PFA Third Division Team of the Year in 1996–97, and also won him a £500,000 move to Port Vale in September 1997. After being named as the Port Vale F.C. Player of the Year in 1998, he was sold on to Premier League Wimbledon for £2 million in October 1998. He was dogged by injuries at the club, and following loan spells with Preston North End and Walsall, he moved on to Cardiff City for a nominal fee in March 2003. He signed with Queens Park Rangers in June 2003, and after went on to spend seven years with the club. During his time at QPR he helped the club to win promotion out of the Second Division in 2003–04, and twice served as caretaker-manager.

He joined Wycombe Wanderers in February 2010, following a short loan period. He was named in the PFA League Two Team of the Year in 2010–11, as Wycombe won promotion out of the division. He was appointed as the club’s manager in November 2012, after a short period as caretaker-manager. He retired from regular playing appearances to concentrate on his management duties in April 2013, but remained registered as a player. He led the club to promotion from League Two at the end of the 2017–18 season and then from League One in 2020, securing a place in the Championship for the first time in the club’s history.

BetVictor odds – 8/1

3) ALEX NEIL

Alex Neil is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club Preston North End.

Neil began his professional career at Airdrieonians in 2000, playing half a season in the Scottish Football League First Division before moving to Barnsley. He played 142 games across all competitions in his four-year spell at Barnsley, and then signed for Mansfield Town on a free transfer. After a season at Mansfield, he returned to Scotland’s First Division with Hamilton Academical, featuring in 246 matches across a decade and winning promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2008.

He became Hamilton’s player-manager in 2013 and led them to promotion to the Scottish Premiership in 2014. In January 2015 he was appointed manager of Norwich City, as the second youngest manager in the Football League at the time. Neil guided Norwich to promotion to the Premier League, after winning the 2015 Football League Championship play-off Final. But the team suffered relegation following the very next season, and on 10 March 2017, Neil was sacked from his role as Norwich City manager following a period of poor results. He was appointed by Preston North End on 4 July 2017 and led the team to seventh place in the 2017–18 Championship.

BetVictor odds – 8/1

2) MICK MCCARTHY

Mick McCarthy is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City, leaving by mutual consent on the 23rd of October 2021 after suffering a club record eighth successive loss of the season at the hands of Middlesbrough.

McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had spells at Manchester City, Celtic, Lyon, and finally Millwall, retiring in 1992. He went on to manage Millwall then the Republic of Ireland. He guided Republic of Ireland to the knockout stage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. He later managed Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. McCarthy began a second tenure as manager of the Republic of Ireland football team in November 2018,[3][4] leaving the position in April 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic having guided the team to a Euro 2020 playoff place. He joined Cypriot club APOEL as manager in November 2020, but was sacked two months later. He has also been a television pundit and commentator, including for the BBC and Virgin Media Television.

BetVictor odds – 6/1

1) CHRIS WILDER

Chris Wilder is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He was most recently the manager of Championship club Sheffield United.

His extensive professional playing career saw spells at Sheffield United (twice), Rotherham United, Notts County, Bradford City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Halifax Town. He also had loan spells at five clubs.

After retiring, he became a manager and was in charge of Alfreton Town, Halifax Town (their last manager before liquidation), Oxford United and Northampton Town before his appointment at Sheffield United. He won promotion from the Conference Premier with Oxford via the play-offs in 2010, from League Two as champions with Northampton in 2016, from League One with Sheffield United as champions in 2017, and from the Championship with the same club two years later.

On the 28th of April 2019, it was confirmed that Wilder had led the Blades to the Premier League following nearest rival Leeds’ 1–1 draw at home. This ensured his second promotion in just three years at the club. This achievement earned him the LMA Manager of the Year award.

In July 2019, Wilder signed a new three-year contract with the club. On the 10th of January 2020, Wilder signed a four-year contract extension with the club. Sheffield United went on to finish ninth in their first season back in the top flight, their best since 1991–92.

On the 13th of March 2021, Wilder left the club by mutual consent, with the club bottom of the Premier League, with 14 points from 28 games.

BetVictor odds – 4/1

Steve Bruce, Ryan Lowe, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Appleton are other names mentioned.

Twitter users reacted with the top six favourites to become new Barnsley boss revealed as the club sack their manager…

@Alex_red_87: Not my proudest wank

@bfc_harry: all the best markus i’m sorry it didn’t work out. good luck in the future

@bfc_cheets: all the best to the bloke for the future, clearly didn’t work out here

@LorDan247: Second W of the season

@DavidHancock101: Its about time, lets get someone in who knows a bit more about this level. COYR

@crazzzylegs: Don’t think anybody wanted Markus to fail like it has been, we’d all much prefer to be doing well higher up the league regardless of who is the manager but obviously it’s not worked out and probably for a number of unseen reasons. Best wishes to him in his future career 👍⚽️

@BingSantuary: Nuno in

@RobertKnowles92: Right decision, just didn’t work out. Wish him well

@grumpycyclist72: Barnsley CEO now ringing round pubs in Austria to see if any Sunday league teams have a spare manager. 5 year contract, Vauxhall Vectra and a flat on Racecommon Road up for grabs

@LeeW1875: This has Mick Mccarthy and Terry Connor all over it….

@w4key7: Come on @BarnsleyFC announce Chris Wilder!! 🤣🤣 Dream on! #barnsleyfc

@DanielN34041762: The new man needs passion and to be a leader and get this young lads playing again . Does not matter what kind of football we play as long as we are winning games . Still don’t forget that some of these players have still got to shoulder some of the blame #BarnsleyFC

@Stoney1875: Mental how they’ve went from play offs to this I mean Ismael done wonders at Oakwell

@HallyHUFC: Now this is potentially the type of job I’d expect Challinor to be linked with.

@RiddyRedSkyBFC: Pleased for Joe Laumann, great bloke, lots of charisma and visibly passionate. He’s got a huge week ahead of him, I hope the players deliver on his behalf.

@lukastyke: 6 weeks too late. No sympathy for Schopp I’m afraid. Huge pressure on the board to pick the right man now. I’d go with a safe pair of championship hands in either Alex Neil or Mick McCarthy #barnsleyfc

@RedsReport_: “Cometh the hour, Cometh the fans”. The players need us now more than ever on both Wednesday and Saturday to lift us up the table & lift the spirit . Let’s get behind @CauleyWoodrow and the team and be the 12th man!

@hhayden93: Barnsley in need of an appointment similar to their one of Valerian Ismael. Seasons young enough & Championship is competitive enough that this can still be turned round very quickly.

@luke_burgwin: Finally an end to the suffering