Barnsley CEO Khaled El-Ahmad has said Markus Schopp still has the club's full support despite recent results as he spoke to the Yorkshire Post, although he admits every game 'continues to be reviewed'.

The Tykes have endured an extremely difficult start to the 2021/22 campaign despite a promising campaign last term, failing to win a league game since August and losing five consecutive matches going into tomorrow afternoon's tie against Sheffield United.

With this, they currently sit in 23rd place, three points adrift of safety and in real danger of being dragged down further if they maintain their current form, with Derby County currently just four points behind the South Yorkshire side after receiving a deduction on their entrance into administration.

The Tykes have lost three key figures in former manager Valerien Ismael, ex-captain Alex Mowatt and the prolific Daryl Dike since the end of last season, with the former two arriving at The Hawthorns to link up with second-tier rivals West Bromwich Albion and the latter returning to Orlando City on the expiration of his loan deal at Oakwell.

But the Championship side would have expected to be doing a lot better than they are currently after keeping the core of their squad - and their 2-0 away loss against Middlesbrough on Wednesday night has only increased calls for former Austria international Schopp to be sacked.

Nonetheless, he still has the club's backing, with CEO El-Ahmad saying to the Yorkshire Post: "As we speak today (Friday), he is the manager and has the full support of the club.

"Every game continues to be reviewed. Football is pressure whether you are top or bottom of the league.

"As a CEO of a club, I think you have to step away from all the noise, pressure and emotions and try and look at not the short-term solution, but the long-term.

"There are various implications in this, whether they are financial or the narrative of changing coaches in the fall (autumn), with some of the history Barnsley has.

"All of that has to be calculated and weighed upon for the best of the football club."

The Verdict:

You have to admire El-Ahmad for his thought process, because the short term is often focused on the most by many CEOs across the EFL and this is why there are so many sackings.

But this short-term footballing nature isn't just exclusive to the EFL, but to the Premier League too and the Barnsley official's decision to buck the trend and remain patient could potentially pay off in the long term.

However, there doesn't seem to be a real plan from Schopp. And if there is, it certainly isn't showing on the pitch. Even during one of their better performances of the season against Reading, they failed to be ruthless enough in front of goal and were punished because of that.

It would be a shame if their form was to remain the same and the Austrian was dismissed, because the Tykes did well in appointing a successor for Ismael quickly in the summer and there were good noises coming out of Oakwell in pre-season.

You have to feel sorry for Schopp with Carlton Morris and Mads Andersen unavailable for the vast majority of the 2021/22 campaign so far, but he needs results quickly because if he loses again today, it would be hard to see him remaining at the club beyond Monday morning.