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Darren Moore beat nearly 50 applicants to West Brom job

Darren Moore beat nearly 50 applicants to the Albion job after significantly impressing the club’s Chinese owners with his loyalty and love for the Baggies.

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Darren Moore. (AMA)

Guochuan Lai and his associates picked Moore over Brentford’s Dean Smith from the two main candidates presented by chief executive Mark Jenkins and technical consultant Giuliano Terraneo last week.

But the club had already whittled down dozens of applicants to those two men during an extensive six-week process following Alan Pardew’s departure.

“We had a lot of applicants,” confirmed Jenkins. “It is still an attractive job.”

Jenkins and Terraneo flew out to Guangzhou last week in order to meet with Lai and make a decision over the new head coach.

Moore received the backing both publicly and privately from Albion’s players, with senior squad members like Ben Foster and Chris Brunt coming out in support of him.

But Jenkins said that was not the most important reason behind his appointment.

“It was a factor but I wouldn't say it was a significant factor,” said Jenkins. “His work ethic his belief, his loyalty, the fact he loves the club stood him head and shoulder above the other candidates.

“Not only myself and the others members of the board but the owners were significantly impressed by that.”

After returning back to England, Jenkins called Moore into the club’s Palm training ground on Thursday morning.

Revealing what happened that day, Moore said: “Mark arrived back from China and I was called into the office at the training ground, along with Mark, Giuliano and (Chinese director) Ken (Ke Xu).

“I drove to the meeting knowing that the decision was going to be made.

“They said after the interview process, careful planning and preparation you're the lead contender and that's why we want to offer you the role.

“To which my reaction, if anybody knows me, was the biggest smile.

“I was absolutely delighted and thanked them all so much and then sort of murmured the words ‘let's get to work.’

“I was really pleased and filled with adrenalin and excitement.”

Moore was not one of the candidates at the start of his six-game tenure as caretaker boss but a series of impressive results against strong opposition put him in contention.

“He surprised everyone, didn't he?” admitted Jenkins. “I can't describe it.”