Updated: Former Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel expresses disappointment at a statement issued by his old club on his departure

The statement, issued on Stendel's Facebook account, came after a war of words had broken out between Barnsley and Heart of Midlothian after the Scottish Premier League side dismissed the Reds’ claim for compensation for the services of the German as being ‘entirely without merit’.

Barnsley had claimed that part of the reason that they decided to sack Stendel in early October was because he spoke to a rival Championship side without permission earlier in the season.

The former Oakwell head coach will be officially unveiled by Hearts on Tuesday.

In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, Barnsley broke their silence regarding the circumstances of Stendel’s exit.

The statement also added that the club had failed to secure a compensation settlement with Hearts for the services of Stendel and his former Reds assistants Dale Tonge and Christopher Stern – and will continue to proceed in their quest for ‘damages’.

Both parties have been in dispute over a severance package for Stendel, whose Oakwell contract was due to run until next summer.

Meanwhile, Stendel claims that he was not informed about any 'detailed reasons' regarding the club's decision to terminate his contract - adding that no reasons hinting at the move were offered in an 'open discussion' with a board member a week before his dismissal.

Stendel also claimed that the club refused to speak to him or his representatives for a fortnight after he was dismissed - despite the 45-year-old being keen to find an 'amicable solution' regarding his contractual situation following Barnsley's decision to part company with him.

A statement on Stendel's Facebook account read: "I am disappointed to see that the owners of Barnsley Football Club has today chosen to release a statement about my departure from the club, which contains a number of factual inaccuracies.

"During my entire time at Barnsley I gave my full commitment, energy and passion for the club and their supporters. I always put the sporting results of Barnsley first and always tried to achieve the very best results that were possible. We had a fantastic last season in League 1, securing promotion to the Championship, playing some very entertaining football.

"The start to this season was very difficult though, with the club being unable to retain several key players from the promotion team and couldn’t replace these experienced players. I always remained committed and accepted all the decisions of the board during my entire time - including the decision to terminate my contract with immediate effect. At the day of my dismissal, I was not informed about any detailed reasons.

"The week before my dismissal I asked for an open discussion about the sporting situation with a board member, during which none of the reasons that apparently led to my dismissal were raised as complaints.

"After the termination of my contract, I have made it clear that even then I was open to finding an amicable resolution in order to keep noise away from the team. But the club has (had) refused to speak with me or my agent/my lawyer for nearly two weeks.

"I am very disappointed about the way I have been treated by the owners of the club. The people from Barnsley and the fans know that. I always was a fighter on and also next to the pitch and will also now fight for my rights. I do, however, wish all the players, the supporters employees and the new manager the very best for the future."

Earlier, a Barnsley statement had read: "Early in the season, Daniel 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.

"Never once did Mr Stendel seek approval or alert members of the club’s board to these discussions.

"Only when approached, by the board, was there any sign of acknowledgement.

"This was a clear violation of Mr Stendel’s contract and created additional unnecessary ‎distractions for our club which was recently promoted to the Sky Bet Championship.

"This event, coupled with numerous other issues, led to removal of Mr Stendel as head coach."

The club went onto claim that attempts to agree a compensation settlement ‘privately and amicably’, out of the public eye with Hearts for the services of Stendel, Tonge and Stern had been ‘to no avail’. After two months of discussions, the club could wait any longer to speak to fans.

The statement added: “The club will continue to vigorously defend its rights against all parties involved in tampering of club staff, so the club recovers all damages incurred. All recovered damages will be reinvested in our squad.”

In a separate statement issued early on Monday evening, Hearts insisted that they do not owe Barnsley a penny in compensation for Stendel after consulting lawyers on the appointment of their new manager."

A Hearts statement read: "We are aware of the statement released by Barnsley Football Club earlier today (Monday) in relation to our appointment of Daniel Stendel to the post of first team Manager.

"On behalf of the board of directors of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, we would like to reassure our supporters that we have followed all proper procedures in appointing Daniel Stendel.

"He was not an employee of Barnsley Football Club when we first consulted him and there is no basis on which Heart of Midlothian Football Club is liable to Barnsley Football Club.

"Misleading reports and statements to the contrary elsewhere are entirely false. Should any claim be commenced against Heart of Midlothian Football Club, it will be defended in the strongest possible terms.

"We are looking forward to supporting Daniel in what we hope will be a long and successful tenure at Heart of Midlothian. Given that we consider any threatened claim to be entirely without merit, we do not propose to comment further on this matter."