After 15 league matches in charge of the club, Markus Schopp's time at Barnsley was officially ended yesterday morning after a poor run of form.

The Austrian was the third manager in a row to be brought in by the Tykes from his home nation's top tier, with previous bosses Gerhard Struber and Valerien Ismael coming in from Wolfsberger and LASK Linz respectively.

Schopp, a former international midfielder as a player, was acquired from TSV Hartberg but he wasn't able to have an immediate impact like Ismael did when he arrived last year.

Just one win was acquired in his tenure, that coming against Coventry City way back in August and a run of seven defeats in succession finally forced the board's hand and they terminated Schopp's contract officially on Monday after strong rumours the evening prior.

One player who arrived after Schopp but who was presumably acquired by the recruitment team and not the Austrian was Josh Benson, a purchase from Premier League outfit Burnley who has made seven appearances in the Championship so far this season.

Benson has admitted that it is sad to see Schopp depart Oakwell and had nothing but positive things to say about the 47-year-old.

"It's never nice for a gaffer to leave on terms like that," Benson said, per Doug O'Kane of the Barnsley Chronicle.

"He came in on Monday, acted with real class and said goodbye to everyone.

"He had a hard job because of injuries and problems with visas which was out of his control."

The Verdict

It's never nice to see someone lose their job but sometimes tough decisions need to be made taking emotion out of the equation.

But it can be argued that the Barnsley players had their part to play in Schopp being sacked as well as they were clearly underperforming.

It is by and large a similar squad to what Valerien Ismael was working with last week but they have gone in the complete opposite direction and now sit in the relegation zone.

Maybe a new manager can get the best out of the squad but the likes of Benson and co have a lot to answer for in terms of what has been going wrong on the pitch although ultimately the blame fell at the feet of the Austrian head coach.