Struber targets Championship survival at Reds
Gerhard Struber is a name largely unfamiliar in English football. Stuart Rayner spoke to an Austrian journalist to learn more about Barnsley’s new man.
NEW Barnsley head coach Gerhard Struber is urging everyone connected with the club to ‘pull together’ as he seeks to mastermind the Reds’ second ‘Great Escape’ from Championship relegation in eight seasons.
The Austrian is the new face in the dug-out at Oakwell after being confirmed as Barnsley’s third successive continental head coach and is entrusted with the demanding brief of steering the club to safety in the remaining 30 league games of 2019-20.
In the process, Struber has swapped challenging for a place at the top end of the Austrian Bundesliga with Wolfsberger AC – currently third in the table – for a survival fight and he insists that he is up for the challenge in his first post away from his homeland.
The 42-year-old – partway through his first season in senior management at Wolfsberger – has signed a Reds contract until 2022 with a further year’s option.
Struber, who will be assisted by an Englishman in former Arsenal coach Matt Rose, who worked at the Gunners academy in Athens, said: “Now is a time for everyone to pull together; the board, the management team, the squad, the wider club, staff and of course our passionate supporters.
“If we can do this together, we can keep this club in this league. I cannot wait to start working for this club and town, and especially to meet you all at the game this weekend.
“I am extremely happy and proud that everything has worked out and I would like to thank the board for giving me this opportunity.
“The last couple of days have been extremely exciting and I am ready for the challenge to do everything we can, to keep this club in the Championship.”
Struber, whose first game in charge is at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, will be seeking to emulate the feats of former boss David Flitcroft, who presided over a stirring and successful againstthe-odds battle against the drop in the second half of 2012-13.
Struber takes over a side who are without a win in 16 matches in all competitions since the opening day of the season, a 1-0 victory over Fulham – and are propping up the Championship table.
As it stands, Barnsley are five points behind the side just outside of the relegation positions in Luton Town.
Prior to finalising a deal to bring in Struber, several foreignbased coaches had been linked with the Barnsley position following the departure of Daniel Stendel, including former Schalke and Stuttgart coach Jens Keller and Gothenburg head coach Poya Asbaghi.
Described as a combative midfielder in his playing days and a proponent of a fast-paced ‘gegenpressing’ style of play espoused by Stendel, Struber is a natural fit for Barnsley’s declared profile of harnessing young talent, according to CEO Dane Murphy.
On the appointment of Struber, which arrived 43 days after the departure of Stendel, Murphy commented: “Gerhard is a young coaching talent that any side would be pleased to have.
“The club had pursued him in the past as his tactical approach and track record of developing burgeoning talent appeals to the core philosophies at Barnsley Football Club.
Gerhard Struber, new Barnsley boss on challenge awaiting him at Oakwell.
“Gerhard made it quite clear that he believes in our project and has confidence that the club can remain in the Championship under his stewardship, which is the club’s main objective for this season.
“This was a long, arduous process that tested the patience of many working to better the club. In the end, the labour has bore fruit and we are anticipating an enticing brand of football with Gerhard at the helm,” added Murphy.
Struber, who began his career as a youth coach with Red Bull Salzburg and had spells at the helm of his hometown team SV Kuchl and Salzburg’s feeder club Liefering, will take charge of his first home game in the all-Yorkshire encounter with Hull City on Saturday week.
Prior to that, Barnsley face a huge relegation ‘six-pointer’ at rivals Middlesbrough next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the club have confirmed that Chris Stern, a former assistant to Stendel, has left Oakwell.
Further announcements regarding the club’s backroom setup will be made in due course as Struber finalises his coaching team.
In a separate development, Hearts have approached ex-Reds chief Stendel about their managerial vacancy, but face a major stumbling block if they want the German coach to succeed Craig Levein.
According to reports in Edinburgh, former Tykes boss Stendel’s severance package is still being negotiated and shows no sign of being finalised quickly, meaning he is unlikely to become a realistic option for Hearts any time soon.
The Tynecastle outfit would need to pay a substantial six-figure sum to get the 45-year-old out of his Barnsley agreement, should they decide to follow up their initial approach through his representatives.
Former Bradford City chief Stuart McCall and ex-Sheffield Wednesday manager Alan Irvine are among others who have spoken with Hearts about the vacant position alongside Neil McCann and Steve Cotterill.
I am ready for the challenge... to keep this club in the Championship.
DIAMONDS could be forever at Barnsley under new manager Gerhard Struber.
Austrian league analyst Anna Konovalova says the Reds can expect a style of play which is “fast and vertical, but not headless; clever, but not too complicated; exciting to watch and fruitful.”
It will be based around the 4-4-2 fundamental to Struber’s “very strictly-developed football philosophy”.
That is the formation Struber has used since his formative days coaching Red Bull Salzburg’s youth teams through to the job he has just left, at Austrian Bundesliga side Wolfsberger AC.
“We’re talking about a pressing-and-counterpressingoriented 4-4-2 with a diamond in midfield,” explains Konovalova.
“Two forwards usually focus on pressing the opposition centre-backs, the diamond is often quite wide, offering support to the full-backs, and intercepting the ball in central midfield is vital.”
Set-pieces were another feature of Wolfsberger’s football.
Konovalova describes 42-yearold Struber as a gifted graduate of Austria’s strongest coaching school, a breeding ground for talented coaches as well as players, with pressing football at its heart. The Austrian made “textbook” progress through the age groups until taking the assistant manager’s job in 2015. His first season was a difficult one, and when he returned to the development ranks he was unable to build on predecessor Marco Rose’s UEFA Youth League triumph. Although he was moved to a non-coaching role after being put in charge of Salzburg’s reserve team, Liefering, in 2017, Konovalova stresses: “There were many on- and off-field factors, so no blame was put on Struber directly.”
It did not dampen the enthusiasm around his arrival at Wolfsberger. And he soon justified it, starting the club’s first Europa League campaign with a 4-0 win at Borussia Monchengladbach, and following it with a 1-1 draw against Roma.
A small squad’s form has dipped since but not unexpectedly, according to Konovalova. They are third in their domestic league after 14 games but already eight points behind the top two, and although they are bottom of their Europa League group, the gap to next week’s opponents, second-placed Monchengladbach, is only a point.
Struber is no shrinking violet in the technical area. “He is always active and loud,” says Konovalova, “and he lets his emotions go over the top from time to time.” He was fined after clashing with the opposition coaching staff at Rapid Vienna in October.
A pedigree working with young players was clearly an attraction for Barnsley, given their youthful squad. If the Reds are as frugal in January’s transfer window as they were in the summer’s, it should not be a problem.
“It’s not like it was that different for him at Wolfsberger,” says Konovalova. The squad he has worked with this season was largely inherited, “with quite a similar style and approach, but different in details and personnel in several positions.”
Konovalova warns that, “even a club struggling to survive in the Championship will be a big step up compared to a club that still has a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League.” Despite their European adventures, WAC remain ‘minnows’.
“Struber has shown that a good structure and clear, understandable philosophy are able to cope with bigger names.”