Barnsley chief executive Gauthier Ganaye insists he does not feel any extra pressure after appointing a second successive foreign head coach, Daniel Stendel, who he insists is the 'right man to take us forward'.
The 44-year-old was given the job last week and, although he is now back in his native Germany, he is due to meet the squad on June 25 when they return for pre-season training – six weeks before the relegated Reds begin their League One campaign.
Ganaye – along with co-chairmen Chien Lee and Paul Conway who led a consortium which bought the club in December – appointed Portuguese Jose Morais in February and he won just three of 15 Championship matches as Barnsley were demoted on the final day.
The French chief executive insists that his future at the club is not linked to the success or failure of Stendel, but knows a second unsuccessful appointment would be a blot on his Oakwell career which began at the start of the relegation season a year ago.
He told the Chronicle: "I have felt pressure from the first second I came to Barnsley, and I don't feel any more pressure now because of this appointment. It's a collective decision with a lot of people involved in the process.
"Appointing a manager is always a big decision but that is part of the job. If you don't want to feel pressure, you don't do this work."
He added: "You could say it was a brave move to go for another foreign appointment. But, when everyone agrees, you know you are doing the right thing. It is a big thing for us to have been able to convince him to come here, because I definitely feel he is the right person to take us forward."
Ganaye said one of Stendel's first tasks would be to 'shift the mentality' from losing regularly in the relegation season to getting enough points to mount a promotion challenge.He also said the Reds squad were 'in for shock' when they return to pre-season training as Stendel will be 'very demanding fitness-wise.'
He added that Stendel was impressed by Barnsley's sale of 8,000 season tickets by the end of May despite the drop into the third tier, and that was one of the factors which persuaded him to make the move.
The former striker is friends with fellow German and Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner, with whom he played at FC Gütersloh in the late 1990s, while he is also close to former Germany and Arsenal centre-back Per Mertesacker.
Ganaye confirmed there had been five main candidates for the role, several of whom were British with Paul Hurst known to have been an initial favourite before his move from Shrewsbury Town to Ipswich Town. Blackpool's Gary Bowyer, Wycombe's Gareth Ainsworth and ex-Red Grant McCann were also considered.
Ganaye said: "There are very few English managers at the moment who play the style of football we decided we wanted to play, the high-intensity pressing style."Daniel played very attacking football at Hannover, based on high intensity and high pressing which was entertaining."
Stendel did not apply for the job but was identified in the Reds' recruitment process. He said: "The first step was to identify the style of play that we thought would be successful in League One, then to narrow down the potential candidates. Then we used data to analyse which coaches fit closest to that style of play.
"Daniel was one of the names at the top of the list so we made contact with him, and got to know him and his staff. We didn't speak to a lot of people about him, but we did a background check. The best way is to meet him in his own environment in Germany. That was very important.
"We needed to know that he was ready to move out of Germany for the first time and take on this challenge, and I know that he is. He has done a lot of research on us as a club as well. Both sides are happy with the decision. He is someone who, within a few seconds of meeting him, you feel that you can trust him."
Asked about the aims for the season, Ganaye said: "We want to get promoted, obviously. I don't think our fanbase would understand if we had any other goal. We want to keep the core of this team, build around that and then get promoted. It is not the end of the world if it does not happen, but it is what we want."
