Darrell Clarke: Barnsley sack boss after nine months in charge

League One Barnsley have sacked head coach Darrell Clarke after nine months in charge.

The Reds have lost seven of their past 11 matches to drop out of play-off contention and down to 10th place.

Assistant coach and former Barnsley captain Conor Hourihane, 34, has been placed in interim charge for the rest of the season, and will be assisted by coaches Jon Stead, Martin Devaney and Tom Harban.

“Darrell has worked extremely hard to try and get the team competitive and pushing for promotion, unfortunately, we find ourselves eight points away from the play-offs and feel that a change is needed,” chairman Neerav Parekh told the club website., external

Clarke was appointed in May last year as Neill Collins’ replacement.

The Scot had been sacked with one game of the 2023-24 regular season to play and although Devaney helped them secure a top six berth they lost to Bolton in the play-offs.

Former Bristol Rovers, Walsall, Port Vale and Cheltenham boss Clarke made a good start at Oakwell and four successive wins over Christmas and New Year left them in fifth place.

However, they then lost five of their next six and although they were able to put together a run of three straight wins at the end of February and start of this month Saturday’s 3-0 reverse at home to Blackpool proved to be his final match.

Sporting director Mladen Sormaz added: “Whilst a list of replacements has been identified, we will take some time to ensure the next appointment is the right one with a focus on playing identity, returning to high pressing and attacking football.

“We believe that Conor can help to create enough bounce to keep us fighting for the top six until the end of the season.

“We will also be working in parallel to have a new head coach in place over the summer.”

Barnsley are the 13th League One club to change manager since the season started in August.