Barnsley closing in on 36-year-old as Markus Schopp’s replacement | OneFootball

Sweden under-21 manager Poya Asbaghi is set to be named as Barnsley’s new head coach, according to Expressen.

The Tykes have been searching for Markus Schopp’s replacement after the former Austria international was sacked after just 15 league matches in charge.

Schopp left the Yorkshire club in 23rd position in the Championship after just one win and a whole host of names – both British and foreign – have been linked to the vacancy.

Quiz: 28 questions about some of Barnsley’s most expensive signings – Can you score 100% on this?

The search was set to go into a third week with a big match against Fulham on Saturday coming up but it appears that CEO Khaled El-Ahmad, who replaced Nottingham Forest-bound Dane Murphy this summer, is about to appoint a fellow countryman.

36-year-old Asbaghi was appointed as Sweden’s under-21 manager last year and has senior coaching experience with three Swedish clubs, including IFK Goteborg.

He is a name that is familiar to the Barnsley board as per reports in November 2019 he turned down the job at Oakwell when Daniel Stendel departed the club.

Expressen believe that Asbaghi’s appointment is close to being confirmed with Barnsley going down a familiar route of an overseas manager – which all have been since Chien Lee’s takeover in 2017.

The Verdict

It’s no surprise to see Barnsley go down this kind of route, even though it would have been easy to appoint someone with Championship experience.

That is probably what a section of the fanbase wanted after what happened with Schopp, but it didn’t work out too badly with Valerien Ismael last season, did it?

According to his manager profile on transfermarkt, Asbaghi’s preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1 which could mean a shift in system when his appointment is confirmed.

Perhaps that is what is needed to get a tune out of the current squad but this is definitely an El-Ahmad inspired appointment that is set to happen and there’s bound to be a lot of angry fans if it doesn’t work out.