Barnsley sack boss Collins with one game remaining

Neill Collins won 24 of his 52 games in charge of Barnsley

League One Barnsley have sacked head coach Neill Collins with one game of the regular season left.

The Tykes are fifth in the third tier but are without a win in their past five matches.

Should they fail to beat Northampton on Saturday in their last game, they will drop out of the play-off places if two of Lincoln, Oxford and Blackpool win.

Collins, 40, took over at Oakwell in July after a spell in charge of USL Championship side Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USA.

Director of football Mladen Sormaz said in a statement on the club website that "with a crucial season conclusion ahead of us, we feel that now is the right time to make a change".

The South Yorkshire side have not dropped out of the top six once since 3 October.

They were three points off second-placed Bolton with a game in hand after blowing a 2-0 lead over Wanderers in a home match on 5 March.

However, they subsequently lost 5-1 at home to Lincoln five days later and have won just two of their nine matches since then and Saturday's 3-2 reverse at Blackpool proved to be the Scot's last match.

Coach Martin Devaney has been placed in interim charge as Barnsley look to secure a play-off berth for the second successive season.

Lincoln host promoted Portsmouth, while Oxford and Blackpool face away trips to Exeter and Reading respectively in League One's final round of matches on Saturday.

Have fans forced club to act - Analysis

BBC Radio Sheffield sport manager Rob Staton

The fans were calling for Collins to go throughout the Blackpool game and certainly Barnsley’s form has collapsed in recent weeks. They’ve gone from legitimate automatic promotion candidates to needing to win on the final day to guarantee a play-off place.

However, it’s hard to understand how a club can decide, with one game to go, that now is the time to change. If they don’t see Collins as the man today, what did they think a month ago? Why not change earlier, to give a new boss the time to set things up for the play-offs? Or why not, having got this far, just play out the season?

I also think it’s harsh on Collins. He picked up a team that had lost its manager and key players last summer and had them in the play-off places most of the season. This isn’t a squad that screams promotion or bust, so what are the expectations? It does feel a bit like the club has reacted to the disapproval of the fans, which was extremely vocal at the weekend.