Football fans can be a ruthless bunch, with a few bad results often all it takes for them to turn on their club’s manager.
It’s rare, then, that supporters are actually left disappointed to see a head coach sacked after an 10-game winless run that has left their side in the relegation zone.
And it’s even more unusual for that manager to have a leaving party arranged by them.
But, one day after being dismissed by Championship strugglers Barnsley, Daniel Stendel was invited to spend an evening sharing a drink with dozens of Tykes fans at a pub in the town centre.
The German was a hugely popular character at Oakwell, having guided the club to promotion from League One last season in his first campaign in English football.
Stendel, who turned up at the Garrison pub with assistant Chris Stern, won 31 of his 66 games in charge – the third highest win ratio of any permanent manager in the club’s history.
“It’s been a very emotional time for me,” he told the Barnsley Chronicle. “What a lot of people have said to me is this – ‘once a red, always a red’.”
