It took almost six weeks but Barnsley have finally appointed a new permanent manager. 

The Yorkshire club announced yesterday that Gerhard Struber had left his role at the helm of Austrian Bundesliga side Wolfsberger AC to take charge at Oakwell–signing a two-and-a-half-year deal.

The 42-year-old had made a fantastic start to the season with Wolfsberger, taking them to third in the Austrian top-flight and on the verge of possible qualification for the knock-out stages of the Europa League.

He faces a very different proposition as the boss of the Tykes. Barnsley are bottom of the Championship, having won just once all season and are going to have to scrap it out to ensure they remain in the second tier of English football.

Struber developed as a coach in the RB Salzburg system, which should make him well prepared to develop what is a very young squad.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Austrian Bundesliga analyst Anna Konovalova revealed that Struber is likely to stick to the 4-4-2 diamond formation that he has favoured throughout his coaching career.

She expanded: "We’re talking about a pressing-and-counter-pressing-oriented 4-4-2 with a diamond in midfield.

"Two forwards usually focus on pressing the opposition centre-backs, the diamond is often quite wide, offering support to the full-backs, and intercepting the ball in central midfield is vital."

Under caretaker manager Adam Murray, Barnsley set-up in a 3-1-4-2 formation (as the line-up from the 4-2 loss to Stoke City below shows), so the first change the Austrian will have to make is moving to a back four.

That means one of Aapo Halme, Bambo Diaby and Tony Sibbick will have to drop out of the side.

Dimitri Cavare has really impressed me at right wing-back and looks the likely candidate to step in on the right-hand side of the back four but I would question whether Jacob Brown is disciplined enough to be a full-back, so it's likely there will be a return for either Ben Williams or Daniel Pinillos.

Kenneth Dougall has brought more stability to the Tykes since coming back into fray side five games ago, leading the side in tackles per game and making the third-highest passes per game (Whoscored), he seems tailor-made to play at the bottom of the diamond.

That will allow Alex Mowatt and Cameron McGeehan to play on either side of the diamond, which I think could help to bring out the best in both of them.

Think you can name the Championship winning manager from the last 15 seasons? Try our test to find out!

The diamond formation will likely mean a return to the side for Mike-Steven Bähre, who has been absent since Stendel's sacking. The German has struggled to recreate the form he showed last season, failing to contribute either a goal or an assist, but perhaps Struber can get him back to his best.

Whoever's in charge at Oakwell, you'd imagine that top-scorer Cauley Woodrow will be the first name on the teamsheet and I can't see that being any different with Struber, with Conor Chaplin likely to start next to him.

Mallik Wilks is an extremely talented player, as his 16 goals and 12 assists at Doncaster Rovers last season proved, but I'm not sure he can be trusted to provide the defensive contribution that a high-pressing style demands.

With Struber's style based around pressing and counter-pressing, he will be looking for energy from his players and that is something that this squad has in abundance (as the potential line-up for Saturday's visit to Ewood Park shows above).

It is going to be a real test for the Austrian coach at Oakwell but given his pedigree with young players and his high-energy style you feel there is a chance it could be a match made in heaven.