Paul Heckingbottom says Barnsley FC are 'standing still' due to the ongoing takeover talks, which are understood to have stalled recently.
Current owner Patrick Cryne has been in negotiations for about six months with a consortium of Chinese and American investors and they originally hoped to change the ownership by late September. National newspaper speculation that the takeover has 'collapsed' is inaccurate, with consortium leader Paul Conway attending Saturday's game against Middlesbrough, but the Chronicle understands the deal has hit complications.
One of the main reasons for the delay seems to be proof of funds and 'due diligence' checks for the people who will be brought in to help run the club should the takeover go through. Both sides are still hopeful but the deal is not finished. Heckingbottom says he cannot make plans for January signings or offer players new contracts while the negotiations go on.
At Thursday's press conference, he said: "I haven't spoken to Paul Conway for a long time. I understand he was there on Saturday so I suppose that's a good sign.
"Someone called me before it went out in the media to tell me (that there were reports that the deal had collapsed) and that might be true but the fact that Paul was at the game on Saturday suggests it was nonsense. I really don't know.
"I'd like it all to be over for two reasons. One, people will stop asking me about it and, secondly, we can get on with trying to get better. I keep asking questions but everything is in limbo and I keep being told 'we can't do this yet' and 'we can't do that yet.' We are just standing still at the minute and I can't stand that. We don't know what money we will have to spend (in January) and what our targets are going to be, if it's going to be free transfers or other signings. We just have to work out what our absolute priorities are."
Heckingbottom is understood to have been referring to having to deal with his current two-match touchline ban when he said: "I was angry the other week because I had to go to a meeting to deal with something so I couldn't get out on the grass. I had to miss meetings with players. That is unacceptable and it will never happen again.
"These are things everyone at the football club has to understand. There are lots of clubs in our league who have umpteen staff and they are not clubs who develop players like us. It's a backwards way around. We work the hardest with the players so we need more support, not to be taken away from the grass. That is one area where we can improve."
The consortium is headed by US businessman Conway and Chinese billionaire Chien Lee, who have had success with French club Nice. Baseball legend Billy Beane is also involved in the group who had hoped to spend £20million and collect a 98.5 per cent share of the club, with the remainder going to Cryne's son James.
