Barnsley considering appointing Martin Devaney as new head coach

Barnsley have got through a plethora of head coaches in recent years, although many of them haven’t departed Oakwell through the club’s choice.

Since Daniel Stendel’s appointment five years ago, there has been six permanent managers for the Tykes in the space of five years, with Stendel himself along with Markus Schopp and Poya Asbaghi ending up sacked due to their performances.

Gerhard Struber and Valerien Ismael however were headhunted by New York Red Bulls and West Brom respectively for their work with the South Yorkshire outfit though, and the same has happened to their latest boss in Michael Duff.

Duff was in the dugout for just one season after moving from Cheltenham Town as he led the club to the League One play-off final, but after falling short to Sheffield Wednesday he was always likely to be considered for any Championship jobs.

And with Russell Martin heading from Swansea City to Southampton, the South Wales club decided to make Duff their priority target and they got their man on Thursday.

That has left a vacancy at Oakwell, but it appears that the Tykes hierarchy have a name in mind to replace Duff.

Barnsley considering Martin Devaney for head coach role

According to a report from Alan Nixon on Patreon, the one name that is being considered to follow on from Duff’s work in the previous 12 months is Martin Devaney.

Devaney would be an internal appointment and knows the club inside out, having played for the club for six years between 2005 and 2011 and following his retirement a few years later, he was named as Professional Development Phase Coach in November 2015 for the Tykes.

He was given a brief chance in the dugout at the end of the 2021-22 season following Poya Asbaghi’s sacking as head coach, and after Duff was eventually hired as the Swede’s replacement, he joined his coaching staff on a full-time basis as first-team coach.

And instead of an outside hire this time around, Barnsley could be set to promote from within as sections of the hierarchy are said to be keen on appointing Devaney as a man who has the club in his heart.

Would Martin Devaney be a good appointment for Barnsley?

It wouldn’t exactly get the pulses racing like many outside hires would, but Devaney would bring some stability and continuity.

The ownership at Oakwell will perhaps be peeved that Duff has only stayed for a year and not gone into next season to try and win promotion to the Championship, and there’s little chance that someone like Devaney would do that to them.

Promoting from within doesn’t always work though and it can sometimes be seen as the cheap option, but the 43-year-old could potentially be worth a go with the right staff around him.