BREAKING: Darrell Clarke is set to Barnsley FC as head coach.

[POGGYWELL]

BREAKING: Darrell Clarke is set to Barnsley FC as head coach. He has left Cheltenham Town.
Clarke was part of the process all along and has now been selected as the new head coach.

Clarke is the kind of 'knows the league' experienced English coach some fans have been calling for.
Yes Cheltenham just got relegated but they did not score or win in the first ten games before he arrived and then went down on last day.

Clarke has nearly managed in 500 games, with five promotions (three in non-league).
Plays a back three, high intensity football, by all accounts.

[Young_Nudger]

Nivver heard of him - didn’t expect to.
But he gets my support.

[NerfHerder]

Didn’t know a whole lot about him but having read up on a few different things, I’m now feeling slightly optimistic.

Hopefully now we can start building a squad together and he can get his ideas across.

I’m hoping we’ll be back to high press and not having our centre halves pass the ball between them for a vast majority of the game.

[POGGYWELL]

Barnsley FC is delighted to announce the arrival of Darrell Clarke as our new Head Coach, the former Cheltenham Town boss signing a two-year contract at Oakwell with a club option of a third.

The 47-year-old is known for an attacking style of football and an intense approach to training which has seen him gain three promotions in his managerial career to date.
Boasting ten years management experience within the EFL and a track record of getting teams promoted, Clarke will link up with Martin Devaney, who has recently signed a new deal as Assistant Head Coach.

Last season he took over at Cheltenham Town in League One, with the Robins having failed to win or even score during the opening 10 games. Despite a difficult start to the campaign, Clarke led Cheltenham to pick up 42 points across the next 36 games.
On arriving to take charge at Oakwell, Clarke spoke of his pride in taking the role: “I'm absolutely delighted, can’t wait to get started. I’m proud to be managing this football club, I’m really looking forward to it. I didn’t need to be sold on the club, it’s got huge potential and I’m excited to get myself going and get the squad rebuilt and try to push on for a promotion challenge.”

Sporting Director, Mladen Sormaz, said: “We are pleased to bring Darrell to Barnsley, his style of play is attacking and aggressive and he has shown that he can quickly get strong performances and results at his previous clubs. Darrell has a strong track record in the EFL and is an ambitious head coach who has consistently been able to get teams promoted and has spent a significant period of time at each club - we believe he’s the right man to help us achieve our aim of promotion to the Championship.
“After a thorough search including meeting with a number of candidates in person in recent weeks, I had the most immediate connection with Darrell and appreciated how open and direct he was when we spoke. I believe for Barnsley to be successful in the coming seasons, clear and open communication and alignment between us both will be key. I felt that Darrell deserved the opportunity come and test himself at a Club which wants to push for promotion from League One. Darrell’s personality, vision for the project and excitement for the challenge have set him apart from other candidates and I am sure our supporters will join me in welcoming him to the Club”.

Barnsley FC CEO, Jon Flatman, added: “The appointment of Darrell Clarke is key element in our attempts to modernise the structure of the Club. Darrell will benefit from working with Mladen Sormaz and Ann Hough who have both joined us in the past few months. The process of finding a new Head Coach was impressive with Mladen presenting several candidates from across Europe for consideration with Darrell’s name included from very early on in the discussion. We knew that he was keen to test himself at this level and we felt that this was the right move for us. Work is already underway to recruit some exciting players for next year and we are all looking forward to a positive future. I want to take this opportunity to thank supporters for their patience, we did not want to rush into making an appointment, we had to make sure we found someone who shared our vision for how we can get Barnsley to reach the next level. We now need to come together, support Darrell and his staff in every area including recruitment and look forward to the 2024/25 season”.

[POGGYWELL]

Good look Darrel let’s hope you get the necessary backing you will certainly need it.

[Barnsley Chop]

Welcome Darrel, best of luck to you.

Good experience both playing and coach wise could be a really good fit for us in our current position.

Just listened to his interview on Radio Sheffield, came across very well.

Hopefully some good player additions to his liking and we are good to go by the time 1st week of August arrives.

[SBRed48]

Darrell Clarke's Red and White Army.

Came close to "being our No1 choice from the outset" with Flatman's comment " Darrell's name was included from very early in the discussion" to find a new HC.

He has had tough times in his domestic life. Experience of the lower Third Division, Fourth Division and Non-League should prove useful.

Flatman says we are to recruit some "exciting players for next season" so much to look forward to down Grove Street way.

Good luck Darrell.

[perkytyke]

Shepherd will be in defence next season, Clarke played him a lot at Cheltenham.

[Doggydo]

Good luck to him I hope he’s the answer to what we need.
It’s all going to depend on how much say he gets in recruitment and team selections, the last thing he needs is interference from above.

[b1gduk]

https://www.skysports.com/watch/vide...darrell-clarke

Speaks well. Good Luck. Would have liked to see Poya .. hmmm I mean big Val back but this is definately a better bet than Lumphammer for me so probably panned out for the best, all about the club supporting him and building a competitive side now.