The Millers chief turned on his players in a scathing press conference after the game and felt that some ‘gave up’ in a one-sided second half which saw the visitors, without a win in their previous six games, ease to victory.
He also fired a warning to players whose contracts are up this summer, with a host seeing their deals expire.
Adam Phillips and Tom Bradshaw (2) were on the mark for Barnsley, with the Millers netting a late consolation in stoppage time when Sam Nombe netted from the penalty spot.
It was the club’s first goal in the Clark era – and ended a near nine-hour goal drought – but the angry Millers boss took no solace from it whatsoever.
His side’s mission to stave off the drop is an increasingly doomed one. They are 13 points adrift of fifth-from-bottom AFC Wimbledon.
Clark said: “It was a very tough afternoon. Before I say anything else about the quality of our performance, I’ve just got to give a whole-hearted, heartfelt message to the fans.
“I apologise for the performance. I felt some people gave up in the second half. That’s unacceptable in any game, but especially in a derby match. It gives you an indication why we are where we are.
“It’s galling. Lots of these players are out of contract. If they think that they’ll just move on to pastures new and get a contract elsewhere, they might be in for a shock.
“It’s getting harder to earn contracts now with the financial difficulties some clubs have. They can’t just give contracts out willy-nilly. It’ll be a tough reality check for some of the players, to be honest.
“If there are people who think that that’s the end and they don’t want to try to contribute (here), no problem.
“But I’ll not be looking after them. I’ll be letting the fans know; I’ll be letting the football world know. I’m not saying it has happened, but if people have that mentality that they’re not ready to go anymore and that they want to throw the towel, there will be repercussions, absolutely.
On whether he inherited an impossible task trying to keep Rotherham up, he added: “I didn’t think I had.
“What I’m going to say is what the fans don’t want to hear. I’ve told the players; they’ve turned into what’s called ‘practice-match players’. So Monday to Friday, they’re brilliant on the training ground; they deliver everything I ask. The sessions are brilliant; they’re positive; they score goals. We come onto a match pitch and we don’t deliver.
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