Relegated side Barnsley are yet to finalise their shortlist in the search for a new manager as they look to find a successor for Poya Asbaghi, according to the Yorkshire Post.

The Tykes parted ways with the Iranian last month following confirmation of their relegation to League One, with Martin Devaney taking charge of their last three league games of the 2021/22 campaign, but failing to win a single point from a possible nine.

Despite this, he is thought to be on the shortlist to take the top job permanently, with Burton Albion boss Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Cheltenham Town's Michael Duff also being linked with the vacancy at Oakwell.

In fact, the Tykes have even gone as far as approaching Cheltenham for the services of the latter and the 44-year-old has reportedly been granted permission to speak to officials in South Yorkshire.

Despite this, journalist Doug O'Kane has recently revealed that nothing has been finalised yet and that other candidates are at a similar stage in the process, indicating that they aren't close to appointing a new man just yet.

And the Yorkshire Post believe their shortlist hasn't even been finalised yet, with the second-tier side's board wanting this managerial recruitment process to be "thorough".

The Verdict:

Although there is a need to be thorough, they do need to bring in a replacement before the end of the month if they are to give themselves the best possible chance of enjoying a productive summer window - because clubs across the EFL including Cardiff City are already starting to snap up free agents.

They will fall behind their competitors if they continue to drag out this process for too long and considering they parted company with Asbaghi last month, it could be argued that this process should be on the verge of coming to an end already.

After all, this is probably one of the most important windows in their recent history following their relegation, because bad decisions could keep them in the third tier for the long term and this is something they won't want after managing to come within a few games of the Premier League at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

Recruitment will be key to their success as their recent windows have shown, with Daryl Dike a shrewd find in January 2021 and Domingos Quina and Amine Bassi previously giving the Tykes a chance of surviving.

Their buys last summer haven't worked out for the best though and this is why a huge amount of preparation needs to go into this upcoming period. Without a manager in place, they won't know who will and won't fit in well at Oakwell during 2022/23.