Darrell Clarke says Barnsley’s performance in the 7-0 thrashing at Manchester United ‘ruined’ his night managing at the club he supported as a boy – but praised the ‘unbelievable’ away fans.
The Reds were thrashed in the EFL Cup by the Premier League giants, with Clarke ruing the ’shocking’ goals his side conceded.
Clarke said: “I have had a go at them. I wasn’t happy with the performance, I know we have come to Man United, who have world class players, but I wasn’t happy with how we played.
“Mael (de Gevigney) was the only player who comes out with credit.
“Did the occasion get to some of them? Yes probably.
“We have to understand what it takes to be a top player.
“Don’t ever let me hear one of them talking about how bad some Premier League players are. They are miles off. The players were miles off the standards of a top Barnsley player tonight never mind a top Premier League player.
“It was proud night for myself but it’s been ruined by the performance.
“We want a successful season and we can’t tolerate performances like that even against a class team.”
More than 6,000 fans were in the away end and sang loudly throughout.
Clarke said: “I cannot thank the fans enough. They were absolutely unbelievable. The players didn’t deserve the reception they got at the end. The fans have backed us in numbers and sang every minute.
“We need to repay the fans on Saturday (at Burton). It meant so much to me that they paid their hard earned money to come here back us. We should be dying for our fans and crawling off the pitch. We were short tonight.”
Clarke called his side ‘flaky’ and added: “We kept spreading then going to Gabs’ (Gabriel Slonina) left foot. Some of the mistakes for the goals, I didn’t recognise. We were a mile off.
“My biggest fear was that we wouldn’t do ourselves justice and I don’t think we did.”
Clarke started 18-year-olds Fabio Jalo and Vimal Yoganathan but took them off at half-time.
“It’s a great learning experience and great for the football club.
“It was a big occasion for them to start. They deserve it. Fabio was excellent when he came on on Saturday but didn’t get a lot of joy tonight. Vimal has been excellent in the previous two cup games. We’re a club who want to bring our players through at the right time. They will learn from that, no doubt about it.”
