[koren]

On a sentimental basis and I know there is no room for sentiment, there was so much wrong in sacking Darren when and how we did.

But on a practical and purely business basis it was the correct decision as a decline had set in and, sad to say, with little sign of it being turned round.

I was pleased when Darren was appointed as, imo, he had earned the chance. I wish him all the best in the future as he is a very decent bloke.

Does anyone know if Jones has also left the club?

Yes. Jones and Wayne Jacobs also left.

[mulliganstired]

He should never have been given the job after 6 or so meaningless matches at the end of last season in the first place. He was the cheap option for #skinflint Albion. I knew it would end in tears - he's been hung out to dry in my opinion. Best of luck for the future Darren

I hope he comes back from this somewhere else, not being clever after the event, but I did say something like this when he was appointed.  On the other hand if he's been sensible he will be set up for life financially, so he can take a step back and I'm sure he'll be in demand as a coach.  Good luck Big Dave, come back and see us sometime when the dust has settled.

[AlbionFan]

Yes. Jones and Wayne Jacobs also left.

In that case, I believe we already have our new head coach in place all but for the announcement.

Just hope it’s Jakanovic

[GREGMT]

I’m Sorry that ultimately Darren Moore has left.  No one likes to see people lose their job.  I called him out because I saw our squad consistently underachieving.

For me his legacy from the last 12 months is a manager with a lack of authority who failed to be his own man.  I just hope he can learn from it and be a success elsewhere.

[KN22]

WM radio had an extended programme this evening. The bloke that interviewed Darren after the game stated, categorically, that Darren was relieved of duties after the interview. I’m not disbelieving you, and it would in some way explain the deflated performance of the players, but how can you say you know 100% that the sacking was the day before? No need to go into detail, but it would be interesting to know.

Simply do not believe he was sacked the previous day then asked to manage the team on Saturday, no way

[richjonawba]

Simply do not believe he was sacked the previous day then asked to manage the team on Saturday, no way

I can't see it being true either. How about if we had won 5-0 yesterday, how could we have announced we had sacked Moore after that?

[tegga]

So the club have sacked Darren Moore because its looks as if he will not deliver the objective of getting back into the Premier league after one season in the championship. Let me tell them something, the team from last season were never going to be good enough to go straight back up. To me, Darren has done well to get the team to this position even though we have all questioned his methods. Look at the team, we have decent defenders and strikers who can score goals, but we have no midfield. The team are not good enough to get promotion. This is why the club have made the wrong decision in trying to get straight back up. In my opinion they should have chosen the manager that could restore the football style we all want and given him a 3 year plan to do it in.

[Albertbaggie]

Russell Hoult and Johnathan Greening both piping up on Twitter.

https://mobile.twitter.com/russhoult/status/1104478775834742784?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

And

https://mobile.twitter.com/JonoGreening8/status/1104484110091849734

Correct decision for me. Maybe there were hoping to get on our payroll under Moore.

Or maybe they just think it was a harsh decision. Totally unnecessary comment.

[Hull Baggie]

I'm not surprised by the decision but I think it's a poor one. Why do the club put so much store in getting back into the premier league? It's not as if we would have been competitive, which means it can only be about money and/or the associated "glory" of being in the "best league in the world" for Mr Lai and the Palm group.

Whoever comes in will struggle with this team. The players need to have a long hard look at themselves.

Yes Moore made mistakes but this was his first job in a very challenging league with a lot of very experienced managers.

I've heard Jokanovic and Wagner being cited as new managers. I can't see the logic when both failed so abjectly in the Premier league. Should we manage to scrape through the playoffs we'll be looking for a new manager again in November if we take on either of those two.

Might as well have stuck with Moore and let him learn his trade.

[Do I not like Wolves]

I have to say that as a fan for over 50 years i did not see that coming but the reality is that with the squad we have and the money spent (compared to the competition) means we should be miles clear  at the top of the table and we are under achieving big time, so it has to be the right decision.
You have to feel for Moore, he is a great bloke but we need somebody who is a tactician and a motivator - we need to get up this season or next.

[Blowee]

So the club have sacked Darren Moore because its looks as if he will not deliver the objective of getting back into the Premier league after one season in the championship. Let me tell them something, the team from last season were never going to be good enough to go straight back up. To me, Darren has done well to get the team to this position even though we have all questioned his methods. Look at the team, we have decent defenders and strikers who can score goals, but we have no midfield. The team are not good enough to get promotion. This is why the club have made the wrong decision in trying to get straight back up. In my opinion they should have chosen the manager that could restore the football style we all want and given him a 3 year plan to do it in.

Even though the large majority of fans will agree with you as a business I guess the owners are thinking about the cost of not returning to the Premier League. Financially, it makes more sense to get promoted and relegated than to spend 3 years out of the Premier League. It is always short term rather than a longer term strategy.

[Albertbaggie]

I have to say that as a fan for over 50 years i did not see that coming but the reality is that with the squad we have and the money spent (compared to the competition) means we should be miles clear  at the top of the table and we are under achieving big time, so it has to be the right decision.
You have to feel for Moore, he is a great bloke but we need somebody who is a tactician and a motivator - we need to get up this season or next.

Can someone tell me how much we have spent though given we sold Evans, Chadli, Foster, McClean and off-loaded wages for Yacob, McAuley and Rondon ..plus wages of Burke?

[Albion79]

Woke up today feeling quite numb.

I detest everything the premier league stands for and had fell out of love with football whilst we were in there, going the Albion had become a chore.

Keep hearing phrases like 'its a business', 'no room for sentiment', 'have to be in the premier league for the money' which are all true but when i first started watching and playing football thats not why i did it.

As a fan, none of the above really benefits me, all it means is the players i see get bigger inflated pay packets whilst passing through our club and everything becomes about being desperate to get into a league where if all things fall into place, and we have the season of our lives, we would get to finish...........7th! I bet there was some little kid who went to the Albion for the first time yesterday and said Dad i know its far fetched but imagine if we can get upto the premier league, and one day finish 7th! The glory! His dad would of said your dreaming son, 17th is the aim!

What a load of nonsense football has become, why as fans are we so desperate to see our team go and make up the numbers? How does this extra money benefit us? We may beat one of the big boys in the odd game but overall in a season, we dont compete with in any way, where is the enjoyment in that, so what do us fans have to look forward too?

My family gets to benefit from some of the off the work programmes that the club run (none of it funded by the premier league) and its those types of things that makes me feel an attachment to the Albion still.

So with how the countrys football setup is as mundane as it is, we as fans have to look for other things, those things that do make football a bit magic again. It may be you see a player who really excites you and you know they are going onto bigger and better things - Lukau, Harvey Barnes. It may be you see one of your clubs local lads breaking through - Harper, Field (Morgan Rogers looks something special too) but there has to be something that still makes football magic when your trying to get into / stay in a competition you cant win (the premier league)

So after years of unusual appointments Mel, Irvine, Pulis and Pardew, for me personally the enthusiasm and life getting sucked out of football through a combination of the premier league and boring football, to get Darren Moore was a breath of fresh air.

The goal against Tottenham was one of the best moments for years because for the first time in ages there seemed to be a connection between the fans, players and management.

We then appointed Darren Moore and we had something most clubs crave - a local bloke, a club legend, a man who had earned his stripes by working his way up the Albion ladder finally getting a chance.

A man who was trying to introduce a passing style, was starting to introduce youngsters, was scoring lots of goals (2nd highest scorers in the league) and it seemed that even if we did get to the premier league, it may be different because we had one of us in charge, different from the managerial merry go round, a bloke who did have a vision, who knew what the youngsters coming through could do.

Of course Moore has made mistakes, loads of them, but as the best coach in world Guardiola says, he makes them everyday. Giving Guardiola as an example (i am not comparing by the way) he didnt win a trophy in his first season at Man City despite having the best squad in the league, despite the money they spent, he was implementing a new style which as his first season shows, didnt happen overnight, yet Man City stuck with him.

Darren Moore has been in or around the top 3 all season, that is credit to him, as the Guardiola reference above states, change takes time, yet even as of two weeks ago we could of gone top. The last six weeks has been poor, there has been no disputing that, but i would of hoped based on the 8 or 9 months Darren Moore had previous he would of at least been given the chance to turn it round, he wasnt given that chance.

It may of been come the end of the season we would of missed out on the playoffs, (personally i dont think we would) and at that point i think you could understand discussions about his future taking place, to not finish in the top 6 would be a failure.

If as its been rumoured he was sacked before or regardless of yesterday it would seem we have based our decision on the last two games, had we say beat Sheffield United and drew with Leeds do people still think he would of been sacked? Its unlikely, but as we lost those two games it seems a whole seasons work had been defined by those two games, despite their being just under a quarter of the season left to rectify it!

People say we were not going to make the playoffs, our position suggests otherwise, we are still 4th in the league with just a quarter of the season to get ourselves back on track, if we were halfway down the league or bottom half you could maybe understand the decision but we were in a bad run of form and what the new manager has to be aware of now is that a bad run of form at West Brom means you get the sack, because the actions have shown thats how we operate now.

After 8 years of the premier league boredom, Darren Moore had made me start to enjoy going the Albion again, of course there were frustrations, and i dont think i will ever feel as passionate about the club as i once did, probably due to a combination of getting older, premier league boredom, etc but with him in charge it gave me a bit of hope that if we were going to try and get back to the premier league we were going to do it a bit different this time, sadly it wasnt to be.

If i had to pick a realistic appointment to replace him i would probably say Jokanovic but in all honesty with how this has all panned out, i dont really care, it could be Alan Pardew again for all i give a toss.

Its not just the sacking of Darren Moore, what yesterdays actions did confirm are my worst fears that with our club now everything else goes out the window, its the premier league gravy train or nothing and to me there has to be more to football than that, unfortunately i will always support Albion as you cant switch that off but how i support them may well change as yesterday was a nail in the coffin moment, its not just because somebody was sacked, its because of what we seem to have become and stand for nowadays (and Albion are not the only club like that)

[17GD]

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.

[skyclad99]

He should never have been given the job after 6 or so meaningless matches at the end of last season in the first place. He was the cheap option for #skinflint Albion. I knew it would end in tears - he's been hung out to dry in my opinion. Best of luck for the future Darren

I am not sure that the matches at the end of last season were 'meaningless'. Given our previous performances he very nearly pulled off the greatest escape of all time. Not in the same league I know but do you think that Solskjear will not be offered the Man Utd job after he has transformed the results and team with the same players? Darren did a similar job on a smaller scale so I can see why he was offered the role.
I am surprised and sorry that it has ended this way, but results have not been good over the past few months and I think the Mr Lai can see his investment going very south at the moment so its understandable.

[boinging_along]

Blowee is right. Its not just getting to the Prem, its using that money to keep us competitive at the top of the Champ.  Look at the reams we are competing with, they've spent years having to rebuild and scramble for a competitive squad.  We should have a head start on them financially with Prem money.  it appears we don't have a chairman who will dip his hand into his pocket so the Prem money and parachutes are crucial to us staying competitive.

Somehow, we've ended up with the only Chinese businessman with no money.

[baggies_24]

I do have to laugh at the so called experts calling the decision a disgrace, how many Albion games have Linneaker, Savage, Cole etc. watched this season? I bet between them they havnt mustered a full 90 minutes. I thought Paul Stewart from the Birmingham Mail sums it up pretty well as shocking and untimely his sacking has been deep down did anyone truly believe he would find the right formula to get us up this season, we’l never know but on the evidence of the past 6 - 7 weeks you’d have to say no. The fact they reverted back to the 3 at the back and played 2 in midfield yesterday when it’s clear from earlier on in the season the defence isn’t comfortable playing 3 at the back and we’ve been overrun in midfield shows Moore & Jones had no idea and were unwilling to change the approach. Had we been playing a top 10 championship club yesterday we would have conceded 4 or 5 again.

[Mo]

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.

Yes I would like to know how many of the outraged hissy fit mob boooed at 78 mins and 90 mins.

Moore will have known his cards were marked . He will have been given the nod we were sounding out other coaches , harsh but it’s the world we live in .

[Atomic]

I do have to laugh at the so called experts calling the decision a disgrace, how many Albion games have Linneaker, Savage, Cole etc. watched this season? I bet between them they havnt mustered a full 90 minutes. I thought Paul Stewart from the Birmingham Mail sums it up pretty well as shocking and untimely his sacking has been deep down did anyone truly believe he would find the right formula to get us up this season, we’l never know but on the evidence of the past 6 - 7 weeks you’d have to say no. The fact they reverted back to the 3 at the back and played 2 in midfield yesterday when it’s clear from earlier on in the season the defence isn’t comfortable playing 3 at the back and we’ve been overrun in midfield shows Moore & Jones had no idea and were unwilling to change the approach. Had we been playing a top 10 championship club yesterday we would have conceded 4 or 5 again.

We would've yes. Yesterday reminded me of when we played Southampton last season and Pardew played our two slowest players (Barry and Yacob) against Southampton's five man midfield. Absolutely, mind-numbingly stupid. Yesterday was worse. I'm not a fan of Livermore's at all but he had no chance yesterday.

[frazzle]

I'm not surprised by the decision but I think it's a poor one. Why do the club put so much store in getting back into the premier league? It's not as if we would have been competitive, which means it can only be about money and/or the associated "glory" of being in the "best league in the world" for Mr Lai and the Palm group.

Whoever comes in will struggle with this team. The players need to have a long hard look at themselves.

Yes Moore made mistakes but this was his first job in a very challenging league with a lot of very experienced managers.

I've heard Jokanovic and Wagner being cited as new managers. I can't see the logic when both failed so abjectly in the Premier league. Should we manage to scrape through the playoffs we'll be looking for a new manager again in November if we take on either of those two.

Might as well have stuck with Moore and let him learn his trade.

Agreed. I think we should have let him start next season regardless of what league we are at to give him the chance to shape his team and put in place the things he’d learned.

[lewisant]

Albion79 - great post.

I would have given Darren another week with the 2 more games and reassessed this time next week. I think it’s really really harsh. I don’t know if he would have turned us around however there is one thing in football that is now very rare that Moore shown us - loyalty and I wish we had reciprocated and given him a chance.

After sleeping on it those are my views, he may have ultimately failed but he earned a chance in my opinion.

On the pundits front the one that has made me laugh the most is Don Goodnan. Absolutely slates is every time he watches us, points out how obvious it is and how we’re our own worst enemies and architects of our own downfalls and is now shocked when he’s one of the people putting pressure on the board to make decisions.

[frazzle]

Woke up today feeling quite numb.

I detest everything the premier league stands for and had fell out of love with football whilst we were in there, going the Albion had become a chore.

Keep hearing phrases like 'its a business', 'no room for sentiment', 'have to be in the premier league for the money' which are all true but when i first started watching and playing football thats not why i did it.

As a fan, none of the above really benefits me, all it means is the players i see get bigger inflated pay packets whilst passing through our club and everything becomes about being desperate to get into a league where if all things fall into place, and we have the season of our lives, we would get to finish...........7th! I bet there was some little kid who went to the Albion for the first time yesterday and said Dad i know its far fetched but imagine if we can get upto the premier league, and one day finish 7th! The glory! His dad would of said your dreaming son, 17th is the aim!

What a load of nonsense football has become, why as fans are we so desperate to see our team go and make up the numbers? How does this extra money benefit us? We may beat one of the big boys in the odd game but overall in a season, we dont compete with in any way, where is the enjoyment in that, so what do us fans have to look forward too?

My family gets to benefit from some of the off the work programmes that the club run (none of it funded by the premier league) and its those types of things that makes me feel an attachment to the Albion still.

So with how the countrys football setup is as mundane as it is, we as fans have to look for other things, those things that do make football a bit magic again. It may be you see a player who really excites you and you know they are going onto bigger and better things - Lukau, Harvey Barnes. It may be you see one of your clubs local lads breaking through - Harper, Field (Morgan Rogers looks something special too) but there has to be something that still makes football magic when your trying to get into / stay in a competition you cant win (the premier league)

So after years of unusual appointments Mel, Irvine, Pulis and Pardew, for me personally the enthusiasm and life getting sucked out of football through a combination of the premier league and boring football, to get Darren Moore was a breath of fresh air.

The goal against Tottenham was one of the best moments for years because for the first time in ages there seemed to be a connection between the fans, players and management.

We then appointed Darren Moore and we had something most clubs crave - a local bloke, a club legend, a man who had earned his stripes by working his way up the Albion ladder finally getting a chance.

A man who was trying to introduce a passing style, was starting to introduce youngsters, was scoring lots of goals (2nd highest scorers in the league) and it seemed that even if we did get to the premier league, it may be different because we had one of us in charge, different from the managerial merry go round, a bloke who did have a vision, who knew what the youngsters coming through could do.

Of course Moore has made mistakes, loads of them, but as the best coach in world Guardiola says, he makes them everyday. Giving Guardiola as an example (i am not comparing by the way) he didnt win a trophy in his first season at Man City despite having the best squad in the league, despite the money they spent, he was implementing a new style which as his first season shows, didnt happen overnight, yet Man City stuck with him.

Darren Moore has been in or around the top 3 all season, that is credit to him, as the Guardiola reference above states, change takes time, yet even as of two weeks ago we could of gone top. The last six weeks has been poor, there has been no disputing that, but i would of hoped based on the 8 or 9 months Darren Moore had previous he would of at least been given the chance to turn it round, he wasnt given that chance.

It may of been come the end of the season we would of missed out on the playoffs, (personally i dont think we would) and at that point i think you could understand discussions about his future taking place, to not finish in the top 6 would be a failure.

If as its been rumoured he was sacked before or regardless of yesterday it would seem we have based our decision on the last two games, had we say beat Sheffield United and drew with Leeds do people still think he would of been sacked? Its unlikely, but as we lost those two games it seems a whole seasons work had been defined by those two games, despite their being just under a quarter of the season left to rectify it!

People say we were not going to make the playoffs, our position suggests otherwise, we are still 4th in the league with just a quarter of the season to get ourselves back on track, if we were halfway down the league or bottom half you could maybe understand the decision but we were in a bad run of form and what the new manager has to be aware of now is that a bad run of form at West Brom means you get the sack, because the actions have shown thats how we operate now.

After 8 years of the premier league boredom, Darren Moore had made me start to enjoy going the Albion again, of course there were frustrations, and i dont think i will ever feel as passionate about the club as i once did, probably due to a combination of getting older, premier league boredom, etc but with him in charge it gave me a bit of hope that if we were going to try and get back to the premier league we were going to do it a bit different this time, sadly it wasnt to be.

If i had to pick a realistic appointment to replace him i would probably say Jokanovic but in all honesty with how this has all panned out, i dont really care, it could be Alan Pardew again for all i give a toss.

Its not just the sacking of Darren Moore, what yesterdays actions did confirm are my worst fears that with our club now everything else goes out the window, its the premier league gravy train or nothing and to me there has to be more to football than that, unfortunately i will always support Albion as you cant switch that off but how i support them may well change as yesterday was a nail in the coffin moment, its not just because somebody was sacked, its because of what we seem to have become and stand for nowadays (and Albion are not the only club like that)

I agree with everything you say about Moore and your pride in the club. The opportunity to build something long term and special is gone. It may not have worked but it’s a shame we didn’t give it a try.

[Atomic]

Albion79 - great post.

I would have given Darren another week with the 2 more games and reassessed this time next week.

That's what I would've done as well. If we'd lost to Swansea and Brentford I would've been surprised if the owner / board didn't act.

I'm surprised we've acted as quickly as we have but not shocked.

[tylerm]

I do have to laugh at the so called experts calling the decision a disgrace, how many Albion games have Linneaker, Savage, Cole etc. watched this season? I bet between them they havnt mustered a full 90 minutes. I thought Paul Stewart from the Birmingham Mail sums it up pretty well as shocking and untimely his sacking has been deep down did anyone truly believe he would find the right formula to get us up this season, we’l never know but on the evidence of the past 6 - 7 weeks you’d have to say no. The fact they reverted back to the 3 at the back and played 2 in midfield yesterday when it’s clear from earlier on in the season the defence isn’t comfortable playing 3 at the back and we’ve been overrun in midfield shows Moore & Jones had no idea and were unwilling to change the approach. Had we been playing a top 10 championship club yesterday we would have conceded 4 or 5 again.

Spot on post. However I am pleased you could see what yesterday’s formation was as I had no idea

[albion59]

I do have to laugh at the so called experts calling the decision a disgrace, how many Albion games have Linneaker, Savage, Cole etc. watched this season? I bet between them they havnt mustered a full 90 minutes. I thought Paul Stewart from the Birmingham Mail sums it up pretty well as shocking and untimely his sacking has been deep down did anyone truly believe he would find the right formula to get us up this season, we’l never know but on the evidence of the past 6 - 7 weeks you’d have to say no. The fact they reverted back to the 3 at the back and played 2 in midfield yesterday when it’s clear from earlier on in the season the defence isn’t comfortable playing 3 at the back and we’ve been overrun in midfield shows Moore & Jones had no idea and were unwilling to change the approach. Had we been playing a top 10 championship club yesterday we would have conceded 4 or 5 again.

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