Barnsley are scouring the market at the moment to find a replacement for former head coach Neill Collins after the 40-year-old was relieved of his duties on Monday afternoon.
Frustrations had been growing with Collins for quite some time at Oakwell. The Tykes have failed to win at home since a 2-1 victory over Derby County in the last week of February and this Saturday’s clash with Northampton Town on the final day has been deemed too important for another slip-up by the Barnsley board.
The West Yorkshire outfit had been sitting comfortably inside the play-off places following the 2-1 win over the Rams two months ago. However, two victories in 12 since then have left the former Premier League side on the brink of missing out on the top six as the regular season wraps up this weekend.
In a club statement, Barnsley stated that recent results were the sole reason behind Collins’ immediate departure, with Sporting Director Mladen Sormaz thanking him for his services during his nine-month stay.
🚨 BREAKING: Barnsley Football Club have confirmed the departure of their Head Coach Neill Collins pic.twitter.com/CJ9K7q0fB5
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 22, 2024
“Neill has been extremely professional throughout the period with which I have worked with him, he has done everything he can do to push the team in the direction we all want Barnsley to go,” Sormaz said.
However, with a crucial season conclusion ahead of us, we feel that now is the right time to make a change,” he continued.
We thank the fans for their continued support and urge you all to back the team this Saturday against Northampton. We will update supporters in the coming days.”
It was further revealed in the statement yesterday afternoon that former player Martin Devaney will take charge of the club while the board searches for Collins’ successor in the dugout.
According to the Daily Record, Barnsley have identified Aberdeen caretaker boss Peter Leven as a potential candidate after his team narrowly missed out on the Scottish Cup final on penalties against Celtic last weekend. Across two spells in charge of Aberdeen, Leven boasts two wins in seven matches, which is a 29% win rate, although it’s certainly a small sample size.
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Writer’s View
Collins’ departure was certainly not a surprise. However, it was strange that the club opted to do so with merely one match remaining of the regular season. Perhaps the board felt this weekend’s match at Oakwell against Northampton was too important to risk keeping him in the dugout.
Leven is a really good coach but has primarily been an assistant manager. The Barnsley hierarchy would be taking a big risk by handing him the reins, just like they did when Collins came from the Tampa Bay Rowdies last summer.
