YOUNG TYKE WITH HUGE AMBITIONS
BARNSLEY supremo Gauthier Ganaye is the youngest chief executive in the Football League – and already has his sights on reaching the top.
Frenchman Ganaye, 29, believes Barnsley (above) can follow Huddersfield and Burnley by getting into the promised land of the Premier League.
They got into the top flight in the 1990s and manager Paul Heckingbottom has been charged with building a “sustainable” team to get them out of the Championship.
Ganaye (below) played at youth level before taking up various roles at French club Lens, which is famous for its youth development and producing young players.
That experience may reap rewards for Barnsley after he joined them in the summer and signed 17 new players on a budget.
Ganaye said: “The Barnsley model is to shop in lower leagues, find the talent, bring the players through and find something different and do something extra that other clubs are not doing.
“Barnsley is financially sustainable, that’s how we want to run the club.
“Already you have seen smaller clubs have success with promotion and reaching the playoffs, so why not us?”
Barnsley believe Ganaye just succeeds Mansfield’s Carolyn Radford – who became chief executive at 29 – as the youngest chief exec in the league and he has big responsibilities.
There has been interest in takeovers at Barnsley – one Chinese consortium including baseball’s Moneyball guru Billy Beane.
And there is a need to be successful in a Championship where Wolves are running away at the top.
Ganaye has not found his age a barrier, but is trying to establish a connection with the players and bring the whole club together, with simple things like all the staff travelling to away games on the same bus.
Ganaye said: “It’s good that you can relate to players, but I also feel I have more experience in the business than people who are older.
“I’ve had a warm welcome. “I think a few people – agents and so on – are trying to take advantage and destabilise me. But that won’t work.
“They didn’t know my background at Lens where we had a strong set-up and also the ninth best academy in Europe with many good players.
“Barnsley is a very attractive club, with a strong fan base and run in a sustainable way. We think it is very dangerous to spend what you cannot afford, but we believe we can build for the future.
“Barnsley will never pay massive fees or massive wages and we believe that can work.
“I left my country to come here, it’s a big challenge – and I won’t leave without success.”