This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Barnsley are facing a very difficult situation now with regards to the future of manager Markus Schopp following their latest setback against Reading on Saturday.

The Tykes have now suffered four straight defeats in the Championship and they remain inside the relegation zone after winning just once in the league since Schopp took over as manager in the summer.

Pressure will now be mounting on Schopp over his long-term future at Oakwell with Barnsley struggling to score goals and finding it very difficult to gain any sort of positive momentum at the start of the campaign.

According to the latest report from the Sunday Mirror (17/10/21, p74), Barnsley are now considering making potential move for Neil Redfearn if they decide to part ways with Schopp.

Redfearn is a highly experienced coach and he is currently in charge of Sheffield United women, while he also racked up just under 300 appearances for the Tykes in his playing days.

So with Redfearn thought to be on Barnsley’s radar, we asked some of our FLW writers whether they feel he would be the right man to potentially replace Schopp…

Adam Jones

It's great to see Neil Redfearn rightly champion women's football and ply his trade in that sector, also working in youth football with Newcastle United a couple of years ago.

These experiences should have helped him to become a more well-rounded manager - but it remains to be seen how rusty he is after remaining out of the men's Championship for so long.

If I'm honest, I thought we had seen the last of him in the second tier when he left Rotherham United in 2016, but he is accustomed to life in Yorkshire and, with this, should settle in well at Oakwell and make an instant impact.

He would also be likely to operate a much different system to Markus Schopp, although it remains to be seen whether the manager or the system itself is currently at fault for the Tykes' underwhelming start.

Despite Valerien Ismael being a success, it does seem as though they need someone with previous Championship experience to come in and make a real impact to stabilise them.

Whether Redfearn can be that man is questionable after not enjoying a hugely extensive managerial career, but something needs to change.

 

 

George Harbey

I’m really, really not sure about this.

Barnsley have been very meticulous and data-led in the way they have gone about appointing head coaches in recent times, when they went and appointed Ismael and Struber.

What has Redfearn done in management to make him a genuine contender for Barnsley, especially over the recent years?

Of course, he knows the club well having made over 250 appearances for them as a player, so maybe the club are looking to get a bit of knowhow and passion back in.

But for me, as a manager, I do not think he’d be a good appointment.

Chris Thorpe

It would certainly be more of a left field appointment and perhaps be one that no one will have expected.

He’s obviously had previous experience of managing in the Championship before, which should weigh heavily in his favour.

Whether he can galvanise that group of players or not is another matter entirely.

The quality in the squad is there but things have gone downhill for them since losing out in the play-offs last season.

I’m slightly sceptical that Redfearn could be the man to halt their slide but we shall see.