Bristol Rovers' two-time promotion winner sacked as ex-Derby County star lands caretaker role

Darrell Clarke, the manager who led Bristol Rovers to consecutive promotions from the Conference to League One, is out of work after being “relieved of his duties” by Barnsley on Wednesday morning, a Tykes club statement has confirmed.

Clarke, who was at the Memorial Stadium for four-and-a-half years between 2014 and 2018, had been appointed as Barnsley manager last May on a two-year contract, but has now been fired with the club tenth in the table.

He will be succeeded by former Barnsley, Aston Villa and Derby County midfielder Conor Hourihane, who has been placed in caretaker charge.

Clarke’s latest appointment comes to premature end

Clarke’s last match proved to be a disappointing 3-0 home defeat to Blackpool, which was the club’s second consecutive reversal although they had won three matches on the bounce under Clarke prior to those less positive results.

That result left Barnsley four places and eight points outside of the play-off places, and Barnsley chairman Neekav Parekh said in a statement that the club “feel a change is needed.”

New head coach Hourihane, who played over 600 games in a career including 36 Republic of Ireland caps, will take up his first managerial role. He has appointed on an interim basis until the end of the season, and will be assisted by Martin Devaney, Under-21 coach Tom Harban and former Blackburn Rovers striker Jon Stead.

Clarke’s struggles after Bristol Rovers continue

The newly-unemployed Clarke enjoyed his best years in management with Bristol Rovers, taking them back to the Football League via the Conference (now National League) play-offs in 2015 before earning automatic promotion up to the third tier with a third-place finish in League Two the following year.

Since leaving the Gas in 2018 after a poor run of results and public criticism of the club’s infrastructure and wage system, he has struggled to find sustained success. A two-year spell at Walsall followed his time at the Memorial Stadium, before he was poached by Port Vale, a job which lasted for just over two years before he was let go following a run of two wins in 18 games.

He then took over a Cheltenham Town side who were rock bottom of League One in 2023/24 but despite an uptick in performances, he was unable to save them from relegation. His posting at Barnsley followed this year, but he will now be left to look for his sixth management job in the EFL.

Elsewhere, Kofi Shaw was the star of the show as Bristol Rovers secured an important 3-2 win over Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday evening. The result leaves the Gas nine points clear of relegation zone as the battle to dodge the drop continues.