Moore Pays Price For Being Off Pace For Automatic Promotion
High-fliers WBA axe former Reggae Boy
DARREN MOORE was sensationally sacked as manager of Championship club West Bromwich Albion on Saturday evening.
The former Reggae Boyz player was relieved of his duties following their dismal 1-1 draw against basement side Ipswich Town.
Chasing a return to the Premier League (PL) after last season’s relegation, Moore paid the price for their recent home form of just one victory in their past nine matches – although they sit fourth in the table and are virtually guaranteed a PL play-off place.
Moore was initially thrown in at the deep end as interim boss following the Birmingham-based club’s parting with manager Alan Pardew in April 2018, and despite suffering the drop to the Championship was appointed manager the next month.
He guided WBA, an outfit he had played for 116 times, to an unexpected unbeaten run last April to win the prestigious PL Manager of the Month award, but leaves the club sitting nine points off automatic promotion with 10 games remaining.
But Moore’s managerial stint has been brief, although included memorable shock 1-0 triumphs over Manchester United and Tottenham last term, spearheading 17 wins in 36 Championship games.
But their push for promotion has been halted in recent weeks with just maximum points achieved in just four of their past dozen Championship outings.
But 44-year-old Moore, deemed to be one of the most exciting young managers in the Championship, was unable to hole up the leaky defence that gave them the dubious honour of conceding the most goals in the top eight of the division.
And since the return to Leicester City of midfielder Harvey Barnes, who scored nine times during a half-season loan, the goals have dried up. West Brom have been heavily reliant on the forward pairing of Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez, who have contributed 33 strikes between them this campaign.
Moore, popular with players and fans alike, represented Jamaica twice in 1999 and became only the second manager from the CONCACAF region to take the helm in the PL, following in the footsteps of ex-US national coach Bob Bradley who was briefly Swansea City boss.
WBA chief executive Mark Jenkins explained in a statement: “This has been an enormously difficult decision for the club.
“After discussions with our owners, the difficult decision to make a change was taken.
“Darren’s dedication over the last 12 months is not underestimated, and there will always be a welcome for him at The Hawthorns.
“But we have to place the club’s best interests at the forefront of our thinking, and we must do everything we can to try to deliver the promotion we have targeted.”
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