Reds set to give Markus more time, with players coming back from injury and a kind fixture list, but can he prove he is the right man for the job?

‘HAS HE gone yet?’

That seems to be the most frequent question from Barnsley fans as Markus Schopp staggers on as head coach despite the worst start to a tenure in the club’s history and a win percentage of seven. It is asked increasingly with a weary, apathetic expression as the anger of the opening months of the season has turned, for some, into a contemptuous disbelief that nothing is changing.

A season in which the club has closed as many stands as they have won football matches has been very difficult on and off the pitch so far and, although it certainly could change, the drop-off in the last six months since Barnsley reached the play-offs is astonishing.


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Almost every available piece of evidence – results, performances, the relationship with the fans, comments from some of the players – suggests Markus Schopp is simply not the right man to be Barnsley’s head coach.

But the Reds’ owners are keeping faith in him, at least for now, as he insists the results will change now that they have scored some goals and key players are not far off returning from injury.

It is a dangerous policy which could be ‘Schopp til you drop’ as the Reds, despite having more than enough quality to stay up, slide further into relegation trouble after almost a third of the season.

We have become used to major highs and lows on the Oakwell rollercoaster, but the great escape of last year or this year’s play-off charge were only achieved due to a change in head coach.

There won’t be many employees at Oakwell who do not like Schopp as a person, and it is hard not to feel sorry for him on some level as he is constantly barracked by fans and asked by press about losing his job. He comes across as a good man.

But ultimately he is failing badly.