League One manager sacked after 7 defeats in 11 games - including Stockport County, Blackpool & Wycombe losses

League One side Barnsley have sacked manager Darrell Clarke after a run of seven defeats in 11 games and with the Tykes eight points adrift of the play-off spots.

The Oakwell club have lost their last two games to Charlton Athletic and Blackpool. That came after a three-game winning run over Lincoln City, Northampton Town and Rotherham United. Prior to that streak of victories, they’d lost five of their last six league outings with losses to Huddersfield Town, Stockport County, Wycombe Wanderers, Stevenage and Bristol Rovers putting a major dent in Barnsley’s hopes of a top-six finish.

Barnsley confirm sacking

A club statement confirmed the news that Clarke had been sacked after 44 games in charge. Chairman, Neerav Parekh said: “We would like to thank Darrell for his efforts in a season which has been difficult for various reasons. 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.”

Sporting Director, Mladen Sormaz added: "Darrell is someone I respect and have enjoyed working with and I’d like to thank him for his efforts this season. 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.”

Who is in charge now?

Former Aston Villa player Conor Hourihane has been named the interim manager until the end of the season. He will be assisted by Jon Stead and Martin Devaney alongside Tom Harban.

Blackpool secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Barnsley in what has proved to be Clarke’s final game in charge. His final comments as Barnsley manager were scathing ones as he branded the loss at Blackpool unacceptable and claimed his side threw the towel in.

Clarke said on Saturday: “It’s another one of those games that I am apologising for. We’ve had too many of those this season, where we have been nowhere near the level that I expect. It’s unacceptable to go a goal down and chuck in the towel like we did. I won’t have it. The players are well aware of that.

“We have to respond, there’s 10 games left, and I will not let this season fizzle out. I wanted to give the boys a recharge, but they won’t be doing that. They will be working even harder. I won’t accept performances like that. We went in our shells, with players doing their own thing. It looked like we were out of ideas.

“We looked soft and fragile. I don’t want to kick players while they are down, but I also have to give out home truths. I will never give up. I am not the sort of guy who will give up.”