Paul Conway on why Markus Schopp has a release clause at Barnsley FC

Conway has confirmed that current incumbent Markus Schopp, like his predecessors Valerien Ismael and Gerhard Struber, has a contractual clause in his deal that allows him to speak to any interested clubs should a pre-determined cash sum be hitt - in what represents a 'transfer fee' in effect.

West Brom and New York Red Bulls both utilised those clauses to prise Ismael and Struber away from Oakwell.

Just as the presence of that provision enticed both Ismael and Struber to the club from the continent in the first place, so it also proved attractive for Schopp in his decision to take on the Barnsley challenge after leaving Austrian football in the summer.

Conway said: "Our ability to attract foreign managers is to pitch the opportunity. That usually requires a release clause.

"But it can be win-win for everybody.

"Valerien did an incredible job here last season and wanted to leave.

"We’d rather have a release clause than a worse situation where the manager says: ‘I want to leave’ and there’s no process. When that came up, he (Ismael) knew the release clause, they (West Brom) hit it and it’s the way it happens.

"I personally think it is good for a club like Barnsley, it enables us to better recruit foreign managers and when he leaves, there is a process for it."