[HamsteadHarry]

Good luck for the future Darren- thanks for what you'done player and manager.

[HampshireBaggie]

I’ve not posted on here for months, which is unusual for me. My interest has been slowly ebbing away.

Darren Moore was the last element of football/West Brom that retained my interest, now that has gone, so am I. I’m disgusted.

[Standaman]

Pretty much agree with every word from Baggie79. For me this a watershed moment. The club I loved is gone and now I have to accept that it won't be coming back. Throughout the Pulis years I could believe with the right appointment and a little bit of courage things could be different. Well that notion has been laid to rest.

I absolutely did not want Darren Moore appointed I did not believe he was ready for what remains one of the most challenging roles in the Division. I feared that it would end this way. However once we had appointed him and let's not forget the club made his life even more challenging than it needed to be then we had to believe in the project warts and all.

For what it is worth while I am of a generation that started watching football 30 years before the birth of the Premier League. I don't believe I have a dewy eyed sentimentality attachment to the past. A lot of things in the old days were rubbish and some of the legacy of 30 years ago still haunts the game but the one thing that remains constant if you do the same thing and behave the same way as clubs awash with money e.g. Man United etc. with a lot less money you are going to get a bad outcome.

So here we are just a pound shop Man United.   

[KN22]

I don't believe they would have sacked him the day before. Perhaps there was a meeting and he was told "fail to win against Ipswich and we're going to have to look for a new coach" but no way would he have been sacked.

I'm also amazed at how many were begging for DM to be sacked after yesterday's game and now he's gone it appears that 95% of the fan base is saying how embarrassing the decision was to sack him.

Great post, agree with all that you say. Whatever our feelings we must now move on and hope that the next appointment is the right one.

[lewisant]

I was so excited to come back to watching West Brom 2 weeks ago after my self inflicted Pulis ban after the Astle game. I feel very saddened that they’ve pulled the trigger so quickly. Like many say Moore galvanised the club and bought back enthusiasm for me.

Too soon

My love and enthusiasm will not change but I’m probably a little more cynical now.

[Westie]

Albion79, excellent post. TV money and the Premier League has ruined football for the real fans, those of us that actually go to matches rather than the fat legend arses that just consider football as TV ‘entertainment’. It’s the TV money that brought the likes of Lai into the picture, they know sod all about the game and are in it purely for their own financial gain. Whilst I never want the Albion to be relegated, it would serve our owner right if we went down to League 2 and he lost all his investment. Actually, I don’t want that for The Albion but it would serve him right.

[BB74]

I can understand the decision. We have 25% of the season left and have a hardcore of points on board. That is more than enough to see us over the promotion line given someone experienced comes in and gets the new manager bounce and tidies a few things up.

Moore is a club legend and I wish we had time to let him learn his trade but now is not the time for a rookie to cut his teeth. I love the guy to bits but he shouldn’t have been given the job in the first place. We were damned if we gave him the job and damned if we didn’t.

Jokanovic or Allardyce for me. I must admit I’m swaying towards Allardyce only because I would have more confidence in him settling things down, getting the job done and keeping us in the Premier League.

[17GD]

I can understand the decision. We have 25% of the season left and have a hardcore of points on board. That is more than enough to see us over the promotion line given someone experienced comes in and gets the new manager bounce and tidies a few things up.

Moore is a club legend and I wish we had time to let him learn his trade but now is not the time for a rookie to cut his teeth. I love the guy to bits but he shouldn’t have bern given the job in the first place. We were damned it we gave him the job and damned if we didn’t.

Jokanovic or Allardyce for me. I must admit I an swaying towards Allardyce only because I would have more confidence in him settling things down, getting the job done and keeping us in the Premier League.

We've got to get there first! lol

[BB74]

We've got to get there first! lol

You must have missed points 1 and 2 then...

1) settling things now - next couple of weeks
2) getting the job done - playoffs/promotion
3) staying there

[TiptonThrostle]

Soon good comments about how much of a great servant he was and local lad etc etc  but the harsh reality was unfortunately he wasn’t good enough as a manager. Constantly making the same mistakes and tactics not good enough. I didn’t want him in the first place but understood why. However, I don’t understand  the timing of doing it now when automatic isn’t going to happen. Should have waited until the end of the season and if we failed at promotion then he had to go then.


Good luck Darren, hope you get the chance again at a lower league club and gain some experience.

[NJS]

I was not positive about the appointment of DM which I thought to be for sentimental rather than football reasons and I have echoed many of the criticisms of his managership that have appeared on this site.  But I was shocked to read of his sacking.

I didn't think we would go up this year but only at the end of the season could we have established:

1) Whether the rookie DM had learned and improved over the season in terms of game management or not

2) Whether there would be a clear out of the old players

3) DM's competence at introducing young players and whether we could look forward to building a team fit to win the Championship

4) Hopefully Lai might have sold the club at a discount to someone genuinely interested in football

As a loyal servant he deserved that chance.  I only hope that the board has someone lined up to take over or the club is going to be a laughing stock.

[baggieboyfred]

I am sad to see Big Dave go , whether it is right decision only time and nothing less than a promotion to premiership will tell, anybody who has ever met Big Dave will confirm what a genuine human being he is and is baggies through and through and I have never met a baggies fan who had anything but respect for the man as a player.
there is no doubt that as a manager he was on a learning curve , unfortunately that is what has caught him out, with the loss of Barnes and Phillips being injured a chunk of the time we lost the attacking edge that made us so dangerous in the first half of the season dispite a very dodgy defence
with the absence of those two players specifically , he could not or would not change his system or tactics to suit the players he had got, he certainly persisted in his three at the back which was a disaster.
I think it is fair to say that since the turn of the year our current play off position owes as much to the inconsistency of the teams below us as it does to our own efforts , and the 3 above us who have had their own little inconsistent runs  which kept us in touch with them until the SU game have put it right and will now sort out the 2 auto places between them.
Personally I think we may well have made the play offs with Big Dave whether we would have got through them  I am not sure.
To be honest from a playing perspective even if we did get promotion , that squad would have to  be dramatically overhauled to have a chance of staying in the top flight and I do not think Big Dave would be the man for that, what I would like to have happened was to keep Big Dave to the end of the season , and then whatever happened would like a change of management in close season so that Big Dave could stay at the Albion in another capacity if he so wished, with his head held high and hopefully come back into management more experienced another day.
finally I for one would like to thank Big Dave , for his contribution to the Albion over the last 20 years both as player and manager and wish him every success in the future

[Pureade1]

Whether i or anyone else agrees or disagrees with his sacking is another matter but all i want to say is

Big Dave you brought this club back together at a time where it was disjointed and regardless of anything else i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for that.

[zippyandbungle]

Well I am calling it a disgrace and I've seen every home game and 7 away games.

You will be very aware of the last 9 homes returning only one win, the crazy subs, the strange way that players are not utilised correctly the hesitance of a keeper who looks devoid of confidence , the differing instructions being ralyaed on to the pitch ...

[TiptonThrostle]

You will be very aware of the last 9 homes returning only one win, the crazy subs, the strange way that players are not utilised correctly the hesitance of a keeper who looks devoid of confidence , the differing instructions being ralyaed on to the pitch ...

Great post.

[17GD]

You must have missed points 1 and 2 then...

1) settling things now - next couple of weeks
2) getting the job done - playoffs/promotion
3) staying there

I didn't. I meant let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's focus on this season and getting promoted. Worry about next season in the summer once we know what division we're in. I do understand though that's it's a bit of a catch 22.

[zippyandbungle]

When you look back there have been plenty highs as well as the lows , we have to respect that
The bit that really made me feel we needed to make a change and that Moore was out of his depth was after a home match (can't remember against who) and we had just signed the loanees

We hadn't played well and the reporter on WM  asked Moore why he had left out johansen (bearing in mind we had 5 other lowness in the match squad so there is the answer I was expecting)
Moore explained "when loaners come in they can't go straight in to the team, it's important that they spend time around the squad and get to know the players first"
Johansen signed a couple of days before

In that match Murphy started having signed a couple of days before
In that match. Montero was on the bench having signed a couple of days before
In that match holgate started and had done so in the cup 2 days after signing

This alone showed that the general awareness and management acumen wasn't there , really nice bloke, really good man , I wish him a long healthy and prosperous life, this guy makes people feel good.
But he is not cut out for the level of management that we require

[albion59]

You will be very aware of the last 9 homes returning only one win, the crazy subs, the strange way that players are not utilised correctly the hesitance of a keeper who looks devoid of confidence , the differing instructions being ralyaed on to the pitch ...

Easy to forget the free flowing attacking football that as got us 68 goals the 7 against QPR the 4 against Leeds and so on we have no divine right to go back up and as I've said before people who think we have the best squad in the division are sadly deluded! Darren Moore got this club back together and got an average squad performing. Problem know is our squad are ageing and to many loan players who don't have the club at heart IMO the board havent backed him and Jones was a hinderance rather than a help.

[mulliganstired]

Two things I could never work out about Moore's tactics, he himself was not the kind of player to be comfortable playing out from the back, so why was he so keen on it for players at his sort of level?  And secondly, as a defender, he must have been aware than if/when we lost it playing from so deep, we were essentially allowing a free run for them with virtually no chance of an offside.  Maybe it was Jones, I suppose we might find out now.

[baggie82]

Easy to forget the free flowing attacking football that as got us 68 goals the 7 against QPR the 4 against Leeds and so on....

But how much of that was due to Darren Moore as opposed to the brilliance of Gayle and Barnes? Then we lose Barnes and he shoves Gayle out wide. Very harsh to sack him but it's also not too hard to make a sensible case for him going given the performances, tactics, results and form.

[LiamTheBaggie]

The idea that early season success was purely down toGayle and Barnes, with no credit to Moore is for the birds

Credit the players in the success, vilify the gaffer in the first poor run of form..

[VANDERLEI]

I'm struggling to understand why anybody is shocked or upset about Darren Moore losing his job. He has had undoubtedly, the best squad in the league and automatic promotion should be the target. Darren and his team have failed and we are getting worse. The way we have continually passed it out from the back, constantly playing ourlesves into trouble on the edge of our box is criminal and sunday league standard. The persistence with this tactic and our failure to improve as time has gone on (we have actually regressed) is more than enough for me to be confident that the club have made the right decision for the club.

While some are questioning the timing, I actually think it's the perfect time. We have time now to change things and correct the glaring tactical deficiencies, to consolidate a playoff spot or even push for automatic if we can get an immediate momentum change from a new coaching setup. A few draws and losses for the teams above could open the door. With Moore in charge it wouldn't have mattered because we wouldn't have a prayer of defending well enough to win 7 or 8 on the spin. With the quality in our squad, we are capable if setup right.

I'll always have the utmost respect for Darren Moore has a human being and also as a football player, but he was simply not ready for the job on a full time basis. He needs more experience and a lot more tactical nous to be competing at this level. He deserved his chance, but ultimately he has failed. Now it's time for somebody else to get an opportunity to get the BEST SQUAD IN THE LEAGUE performing to their ability levels.

[Albion79]

Why do you feel its the best squad in the league?

Between march 2017 and april 2018 this squad had one of the worst records in the country, we lost games reguarly, two managers (including one who had managed a 1000 odd games) couldnt get them to improve, in fact they showed signs of getting worse.

We finished bottom last season and Had it not been for a mini revival at the end of last season when pressure was off we would of gone down as one of the worst premier league teams ever.

Out our current squad - johnstone, bartley, gayle, hrk, murphy, hoolahan and johansen have played regularly at this level in recent years, so thats 7 players out a squad of 20 plus players.

Jrod, Brunt, mears and mozza played at this level around 8-10 years ago, a lot has changed since then. Phillips and hrk did a few seasons ago, dawson and burke have played about 10 games at this level years ago.

Holgate, gibbs, tosin, gibbs, townsend, barnes, barry, livermore, field, harper, hegazi, montero, leko, edwards have never played at this level.

So over half out squad has never played at this level and we have a few who did nearly 10 years ago, a large chunk of those players had also played reguarly in a team that lost a lot of games between march 2017 and 2018 whilst playing anti football, and also are very one paced.

So where is the evidence and why are they the best squad in a league where other teams are younger, hungrier and have been together, developed and built over a couple of years?

[baggiemart]

I think fans class us as having the best squad in the championship on paper.  The only trouble is football isn't played on paper !!!

[glosterbaggie]

Why do you feel its the best squad in the league?

Between march 2017 and april 2018 this squad had one of the worst records in the country, we lost games reguarly, two managers (including one who had managed a 1000 odd games) couldnt get them to improve, in fact they showed signs of getting worse.

We finished bottom last season and Had it not been for a mini revival at the end of last season when pressure was off we would of gone down as one of the worst premier league teams ever.

Out our current squad - johnstone, bartley, gayle, hrk, murphy, hoolahan and johansen have played regularly at this level in recent years, so thats 7 players out a squad of 20 plus players.

Jrod, Brunt, mears and mozza played at this level around 8-10 years ago, a lot has changed since then. Phillips and hrk did a few seasons ago, dawson and burke have played about 10 games at this level years ago.

Holgate, gibbs, tosin, gibbs, townsend, barnes, barry, livermore, field, harper, hegazi, montero, leko, edwards have never played at this level.

So over half out squad has never played at this level and we have a few who did nearly 10 years ago, a large chunk of those players had also played reguarly in a team that lost a lot of games between march 2017 and 2018 whilst playing anti football, and also are very one paced.

So where is the evidence and why are they the best squad in a league where other teams are younger, hungrier and have been together, developed and built over a couple of years?

Very good post.The players we face are the ones who want to play and improve.They could go to a Prem club and sit on the bench every week.
But they are footballers and want to play.Organize them against big time charlies,past sell buy's and look at the results.