Barnsley co-chairman Paul Conway says a new chief executive could be appointed within a month while the club are looking to extend the contracts of several star players in their promotion- chasing team.
American Conway has been acting chief executive at Oakwell since Gauthier Ganaye moved to OGC Nice – who have the same owners as the Reds – on February 1. Conway told the Chronicle: “There is a lot of interest from all around the world and we should have some news in the next month or two. “The interview process is ongoing and we have met some really, really good people.”
The Reds are keen to tie star players such as centre-backs Ethan Pinnock and Liam Lindsay – whose current deals expire next summer – down to longer contacts. Conway also said planning is well underway for the summer recruitment but, unlike previous Reds regimes during promotion or relegation battles, they do not have two separate plans for League One and the Championship.
“We are in discussions about contract extensions. The important players in the squad, we want to extend their deals appropriately. “The transfers never stop and recruiting continues every day. We have one transfer list no matter what our division is, obviously some transfers get easier and harder depending on where we are. “Promotion would make things easier because it’s an extra £6million which allows us to strengthen the squad and invest in the long-term.”
Conway – and the rest of the consortium headed by the other co-chairman Chien Lee – bought 80 per cent of the club in December 2017 from Patrick Cryne, whose son James retains the rest as well as working in the club’s recruitment department. The football club owns half of Oakwell and hopes to eventually buy the other half from Barnsley Council. Conway said: “I was in Barnsley last week for a bunch of meetings about the infrastructure both with the local government and other parties.
“We are in active discussions about buying the stadium. Then the question is: ‘what do we do with it?’ That is where we are trying to get some of the best experts out there to give us some ideas about how we can give the fans the best experience and also how we can grow the revenue of Barnsley. We have some ideas but these big projects take time – it’s something for the long-term.”
Conway said the club are hoping to create a ‘fanzone’ and ‘kidzone’ at Oakwell as well an ‘all-year sports bar’ and to ‘be more creative with ticket packages.’
The Reds were relegated from the Championship less than six months after the sale but Conway says there are some positives to that.
“Relegation gave us the courage to do what we want. We are working with James, building an attacking style of football and developing the youngest squad in England’s top three divisions. If we didn’t get relegated, it is probably unlikely Daniel (Stendel, head coach) would be here so it gave us the courage to build for the long-term and we’re excited by that.”
Stendel’s side are in the second automatic promotion place in League One with 12 games remaining. Conway said: “The goal has always been automatic promotion from the first game of the season. We can pretty much control our destiny right now so let’s just keep up the progress. The fans are getting behind the team and the support at games like Portsmouth is fantastic. We have some big clubs around us too so it won’t be easy but promotion is certainly our goal.”
Conway says he is enjoying spending more time at Oakwell in his current acting role. As a board we roll up our sleeves and do what needs to be done. I am willing to lend a hand when things change.
“I am around the club more now. Barnsley is God’s country. It is nice to eat at more restaurants, see more spots and meet more people. “There is a greater depth in spending more time with Daniel and his team.
“It’s important to show everyone at the club, including the supporters, that we as owners are very focused on our goal. “You can see by how much I go to games that Barnsley is very important to us as an ownership group.”
