Barnsley manager, Gerhard Struber has departed the Championship Club to take the vacant managerial position at MLS’ New York Red Bulls.
Having taken over as permanent manager at Oakwell nearly 11 months ago from Daniel Stendel, Struber guided the Tykes to survival on a dramatic final day of last season with a 2-1 win over Brentford who missed out on automatic promotion as a consequence, but leaves with the team sat just outside the relegation zone with one point from their four opening league matches.
Struber however did guide Barnsley to a first Third Round appearance last month in the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2017-18 season, eventually losing 6-0 away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Barnsley put out an official statement expressing their “best wishes and an abundance of thanks…” for his effort in helping the club to safety last season, whilst the Tykes’ Chief Executive Officer, Dane Murphy paid tribute to Struber’s effort the following statement;
“I must start by thanking Gerhard for the last 11 months. Tasked with maintaining the Club’s Championship status, he took a difficult position at Oakwell last November. Despite the seven points deficit and COVID-19, his belief never wavered and the night at Brentford will live long in the memory of all supporters.
“As much as we wanted Gerhard to remain at Oakwell we were not in a position to deny him this opportunity with a buy-out clause in his contract and his connection within the Red Bull set-up.”
Murphy also iterated in his statement that “the recruitment process for a replacement has already begun and we will update supporters when appropriate.”
Last season’s caretaker manager in between Stendel’s exit and Struber’s arrival, Adam Murray will take temporary charge of “first team matters.”
During his short time at Oakwell, Struber guided the Tykes to 14 wins, eight draws and 17 losses across all competitions with an unbeaten record of 56.4% from 39 matches in all tournaments.
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