Lee Clark has resigned as Hartlepool United head coach with immediate effect, announcing his decision in his post-match interview following his side’s 3-1 home defeat by Worthing.
The loss at Victoria Park was a third defeat in a row and a sixth in seven matches for Hartlepool, pushing the club down to 18th before the afternoon’s kick-offs in the National League. Supporters had called for Clark to go during Saturday’s game as the slump continued.
Speaking to BBC Radio Tees, Clark said: “I resign from my position with immediate effect. I wanted to give this club and the fans something to be proud of, what they deserve, but I haven’t been able to do that unfortunately.”
He added: “I was excited to take the job and I wanted to be the man to get them back to where they need to be and deserve to be, but it hasn’t worked out.”
Clark, a former Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham player who previously managed Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City, took charge at Victoria Park in the summer after a short spell with Rotherham United at the end of last season. He won three of his nine National League games with Hartlepool.
The club was taken over in January by American businessman Landon Smith, with the County Durham side aiming to end a four-year stay in the National League. Hartlepool must now begin the search for their ninth permanent manager or head coach of that spell outside the English Football League.