Barnsley suffered a sixth consecutive league loss at the weekend to Sheffield United and with the club embroiled in a relegation battle, there have been calls for current boss Markus Schopp to be relieved of his duties.

However, Don Goodman has spoken on the Sky Sports EFL Podcast and said you 'feel for Markus Schopp' because of the current situation at the club.

It hasn't been an easy ride for the manager since he made the move to Oakwell and he has struggled to get the team going again this season.

The second tier side were one of the bright spots of the 2020/21 campaign, as they snuck into the play-off places under Valerien Ismael and surprised many with their battling performances.

However, over the course of the summer, the side lost key players and their manager to over clubs (including Ismael and Alex Mowatt to West Brom) and now Schopp is feeling the losses, as his side are now struggling at the wrong end of the table.

 

 

They currently sit in 23rd place in the league and if they can't pick up wins soon, they could soon fall below Derby despite the Rams being deducted points for entering administration.

However, former Barnsley player Don Goodman has spoken out on Sky Sport's EFL Podcast about the ongoing situation at Barnsley and said you should 'feel for Markus Schopp.' He said: "Yeah I mean you feel for Markus Schopp don't you, I mean he inherited a situation where Valerien Ismael has more or less performed a minor miracle in getting Barnsley into fifth place and a play off spot.

"That isn't really the benchmark that you should judge Barnsley coaches on because they're not supposed to be up there. They are supposed to be in a relegation battle with the finances and the resources at their disposal and this season they are and it's a big fall off really unfortunately."

Barnsley certainly shocked many with their showings during the last campaign and they would have hoped to keep their performances up again this season.

However, so far Schopp has been unable to replicate it and Barnsley fans will be hoping he can either turn it around or the side may have to turn to somebody else to manage them.

The Verdict

Barnsley are not the richest side and there was always bound to be a drop off after last season's brilliant campaign. However, the club would have been hoping that new boss Schopp would have fared better so far and at least kept them in mid table.

It's been the opposite so far and although you do feel for the manager, they can't allow him to keep on at the club if he is going to struggle to get wins. If the side can't start picking up wins, then they may be forced to pull the trigger.