Daniel Stendel's inability to speak fluent English will not be a problem as he begins his work as Barnsley head coach on Monday, insists his chief executive Gauthier Ganaye.
The new Reds boss was educated in communist East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, so he learned Russian in school rather than English as he would have done in the west. He is expecting to rely heavily on assistants Andreas Winkler and Christopher Stern to translate in training and player meetings until he is more fluent.
Ganaye, who speaks German, English and his native French, insists that Stendel will be able to communicate his high-intensity style of play to the Reds' players without speaking perfect English. He told the Chronicle: "Daniel has a very clear vision of how he wants to play so it will not be difficult for the players to understand. Daniel's understanding of English is perfect but he is not fluent in speaking it yet. He is able to speak some, but it is not perfect.
"I have experience of learning foreign languages and the most difficult part is getting the understanding then you can speak fluently very quickly. That is why we wanted to meet his backroom staff (before he was appointed). They are fluent and we wanted to get to know them as well because they will obviously play a massive role on the training pitch, especially early on while Daniel is still improving his English."
