Darren Moore: West Brom sacked me at the wrong time
Darren Moore still believes Albion should have left him in post as manager back in 2019 – and he believes the decision to sack him turned out to be the wrong one.
Moore, who played 116 games for Albion enjoying two promotions, was put in interim charge following the sacking of Alan Pardew in the latter stages of the 2017/2018 Premier League campaign.
However, despite sparking a mini revival at the end of the season with wins over Manchester United and Tottenham, he could not keep Albion up but did do enough to land the job on a permanent basis.
His free-scoring Albion side were sat in the fourth in the Championship table the following season when Moore was sacked in March – to be replaced by coach Jimmy Shan.
The Baggies went on to lose on penalties to rivals Villa in the play-off semi-final and reflecting on his time as manager on the latest episode of the Baggies Broadcast, which is available, Moore said the conclusion of the season shows the club made the wrong choice.
He said: “I thought to myself, the club was going to appoint someone with wealth and experience to get them over the line, but because they didn’t do that I think they should have just left me in place to get on with it.
“It didn’t finish the way it should have done that season and decisions at the top proved it was the wrong decision at the time.”
Just months after being sacked by Albion, Moore went on to manage Doncaster Rovers before moving on to Sheffield Wednesday.
The former Baggies boss insisted he just wanted to get straight back into coaching after his first taste of it at The Hawthorns.
But after being fourth in the table when he was sacked by Albion, he was in that position again when he left to join the Owls and it has left former defender with a funny feeling towards the number and position.
“I took the opportunity to go and work at Doncaster Rovers to get straight back into it,” he added. “People asked me why I went there, but I just wanted to work and get back in. I had two fantastic seasons there, it was through Covid which was tough.
“Then the position came up at Sheffield Wednesday so I went there. I don’t like being fourth in the table though.
“I was fourth at West Brom and fourth when I ended up moving on from Doncaster, so I need to get off being in that position!”
