Express & Star

Comment: Why Darren Moore will develop into the real deal for West Brom

After the microphones were switched off at Bramall Lane around 10.30pm last Friday, Darren Moore got up to leave.

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Darren Moore enjoyed an impressive victory over Sheffield United. (AMA)

It had been an exhausting evening in Sheffield but a fruitful one, and by way of farewell, this reporter said, “You can enjoy your weekend now.”

But Moore’s response was telling. “I’m watching a game tomorrow!” he said on his way out.

This is not unusual. Every manager in the country would take an opportunity to watch an upcoming opponent on a Saturday afternoon if they were playing Friday night.

But the fact Moore’s thoughts had already turned to the next match, less than two hours after winning away at Sheffield United, is an indication of his mindset.

While Albion’s players geared up to celebrate with a fancy-dress Christmas party, Moore’s thoughts were on his festive fixture schedule.

This is just a snapshot of why he has been a success so far, and why he’s given himself the best chance of continuing to be a success in the future.

Moore may be a rookie manager, but he has an unshakable desire to improve and learn.

Ever since he was installed as caretaker boss in April, he has done his best to leave no stone unturned.

Security at the training ground has been heightened over fears of leaks, training before night games has been moved to the evening to best prepare the team.

Moore is young and hungry, a good man with a huge affinity to the club. In short, everything Albion fans craved during the stodgy years battling for survival in the Premier League.

He’s not a fully-formed head coach yet, but nobody is born to be a football manager. Just like players, coaches have to hone their skills through dedication, hard work, and an appetite for learning.

There’s no question Moore has all three in abundance.

Whether it’s the hours he’s put in the classroom obtaining his badges, the hours he’s put in on the pitch coaching Albion’s youth teams, or the hours he’s put in on the road driving up and down the country watching games, he has spent the last six years since retiring from playing preparing for this eventuality.

Now he’s in the hot-seat of the club he holds so dear, he’s not going to suddenly change and become complacent. He doesn’t have the ego for that.

There’s no doubt that, over the past eight months, Moore’s time in charge has been a success.

On the pitch, he nearly pulled off a miracle last season and has given the Baggies a platform to mount a promotion challenge this season.

Off it, he has healed the club, restoring pride and dignity from one of its darkest points in recent history. The turnaround in mentality has been staggering.

The only slight criticism that can be levelled at him is that, at the start of the season, Albion tried to run before they could walk, playing a possession-based brand of football alien to the team. But his intentions were admirable and worked for a while.

More importantly, he has subsequently fixed that problem, and since moving to a back four, the Baggies have gone six games unbeaten.

The other aspect that has come under the spotlight this season has been his in-game management, with fans wondering why so little activity has come off the bench.

And yet Moore's side has won 16 points from losing positions, the highest in the division.

There is an argument that Albion’s superior quality will tell in the end, but Moore also deserves praise for those turnarounds, because some have also been brought about by tactical tweaks.

And perhaps he also deserves more credit for picking the right starting line-up.

Anyway, in-game management can be learned through experience, and the more games he racks up as head coach, the more scenarios he will come across.

He’s already proved this season that he is capable of learning from his mistakes.

And it is that, coupled with his insatiable determination to develop that suggests Albion’s rookie head coach could be the real deal.