Barnsley FC sack Darrell Clarke after 293 days in charge at League One club as former captain is named as caretaker head coach

It leaves the Oakwell outfit looking for their 12th permanent manager/head coach in the space of ten years.

Coach Conor Hourihane has been installed as caretaker head coach for the rest of the season.

He will be assisted by Jon Stead and Martin Devaney alongside Tom Harban, who will step up from the under-21s set-up.

His first game in charge will be at Mansfield on Saturday.

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.”

A combination of poor recruitment in the winter window, inconsistent results, especially at home and injuries have ensured that the Reds have dropped out of serious play-off contention recently.

Following Tuesday night’s programme, they were positioned in 10th spot, eight points behind the side currently occupying the final play-off spot in Bolton Wanderers.

Barnsley have won just five home games out of 18 so far this term with their home record being the 19th best in the division.

By contrast, their away numbers are among the best in League One, with 10 wins from 18 matches. Only Wycombe have taken more points than the Reds’ tally of 31.