Some fans think Sheffield Wednesday could be the mystery club with whom Daniel Stendel is accused of “entering negotiations” while still in charge of Barnsley.
Stendel was sacked as manager of the Tykes in early October after a disappointing start to the Championship season.
Nevertheless, the German’s exit came as something of a surprise, having led Barnsley out of League One in style the previous campaign.
And after his appointment as Hearts’ new boss on Saturday, the Oakwell side alleged that, earlier in the season, Stendel: “entered into negotiations with a rival Sky Bet Championship club, to take over their managerial post and recruited other members of contracted Barnsley Football Club staff to follow him.”
The Tykes added: “Never once did Mr. Stendel seek approval or alert members of the club’s board to these discussions.”
Wednesday, Huddersfield Town, Reading and Millwall were the only Championship clubs to have been without a manager at some time or another prior to Stendel’s dismissal.
And the following Twitter users – including a handful of Owls supporters – have been airing their suspicions…
Sheffield Wednesday hired the out-of-work Garry Monk as manager around a month before Stendel departed, with Huddersfield, Reading and Millwall later turning to Danny Cowley, Mark Bowen and Gary Rowett, respectively.
Barnsley replaced Stendel with Gerhard Struber at the end of last month.
Wednesday made a similar accusation about Newcastle United’s ultimately successful pursuit of Steve Bruce earlier in the summer.