DERBY HIT STRIDE AGAIN AS MORAIS IS SACKED
DERBY’S joy at extending their season into the playoffs was mirrored by Barnsley’s dejection at a relegation that was followed minutes after the final whistle by the revelation that head coach Jose Morais had been dismissed. The Portuguese only succeeded Paul Heckingbottom in February but, after a run of just three wins from 15 games, Barnsley triggered the relegation clause in his contract. Derby may even hit the ground running in the play-offs when they entertain Fulham here in Friday night’s semi-final first leg but Barnsley will be starting all over again in League One come August. Barnsley-born Mick McCarthy, recently of Ipswich Town, is now being linked with the vacant manager’s job. Gauthier Ganaye, the Barnsley chief executive, said: ‘You can say (Morais) has been sacked. It is a sad day because we have not been good enough as a club . . . I am very disappointed because I expected a different outcome. ‘The owners took this on as a long-term project. We wanted to do it from the Championship but we will have to do it from League One.’ Gary Rowett’s side sealed sixth place with a performance that reflected the kind of confidence that had disappeared as they fell from second place in February. Barnsley slipped into the bottom three as Burton threatened to continue their miraculous climb and, even when Nigel Clough’s brave survival bid faltered at the last, Bolton’s comeback against Nottingham Forest confirmed Barnsley’s demotion. No amount of text messages from his former boss Jose Mourinho could save Morais from the sack. Cameron Jerome has scored four times in three games and Matej Vydra came on to win the Championship’s golden boot with his 21st goal of the season as Derby regained momentum at the right time. Rowett said: ‘If you’d asked me eight or nine games ago if we would go up, I’d have said we’ve not got enough form to really challenge, but now in the last few games we’ve performed really well. ‘It’s all about the players’ psychology and they’ll be going into these games almost as if they’ve been given a second chance.’ Once Derby took the lead through Jerome’s assured finish in the 14th minute, they never looked in danger. Vydra got the second 10 minutes after half-time as he converted Jerome’s superb right-wing centre. Everything Rowett touched turned to gold in the Derbyshire sunshine. He sent David Nugent on midway through the second half and the veteran striker headed in Andi Weimann’s cross within two minutes and made the final Derby goal when he hooked the ball over his head for Tom Lawrence to touch home. Morais took his players over to the travelling fans, who had George Moncur’s superb shot into the top corner 10 minutes from time as scant consolation.