Yorkshire Post football writer Leon Wobschall discusses the sacking of manager Darren Moore by Huddersfield Town and what needs to happen next for the Terriers to avoid being relegated to League One under owner Kevin Nagle.
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00:00 The numbers were stacking against Darren Moore, three wins in 23 matches and I think from
00:17 a Huddersfield perspective they were probably conscious of thinking, well if we do leave
00:22 it a little bit later and it doesn't turn and they could potentially go down by a few
00:26 points and they could probably have some recriminations when they're doing the post-season review
00:33 thinking well if we do go down did we leave it too late.
00:36 So I think it just never took off did it really, Darren Moore's reign, it was ultimately a
00:44 little bit like Mark Fotheringham's as well, things conspired against him.
00:50 I have some sympathy in the respect, especially in mid to late August, the amount of injuries
00:58 that Huddersfield had was incredible really, there were literally some games 12, 13 players
01:04 out.
01:05 There was always a big thing of getting to the transfer window, addressing one or two
01:09 areas, certainly Huddersfield have looked light in terms of forward, they sort of addressed
01:16 that, they brought a couple of players in, Bojan Radilovic and Reece Healey, so the sort
01:23 of forwards that Moore was wanting had come into the building.
01:27 The injury picture was clearing up as well but I think it was just fighting to lose,
01:32 it was like a battle against time almost Phil, he was just hoping for that catalyst, that
01:36 spark and it just never arrived unfortunately, obviously it culminated in the game against
01:45 the Queen's Park Rangers the other weekend and they were so desperately close weren't
01:50 they, it was fine margins, they were winning, they scored after 86 minutes and it looked
01:55 like this was the moment that perhaps Moore had been hankering for, then QPR equalising
02:01 a scuffy goal really late into stoppage time, so obviously they made the decision to get
02:10 rid of Moore soon after.
02:11 What I didn't personally like was, he does engage with the Huddersfield Townsfolk, Kevin
02:19 Nagel on social media and I didn't particularly like it in the build up, there was a lot of
02:26 talk about it being a must win game for Darren Moore, I think everybody knew that anyway
02:31 didn't they to be quite honest, then what happened in the game obviously with QPR equalising
02:37 at the death and there was soon after another little bit of a dig at Moore, this being a
02:43 man who was soon to get the sack, basically saying that we were hanging on, we were too
02:47 defensive, and I just thought personally that lacked a little bit of class from the Huddersfield
02:53 Town Chairman there, so not surprised that they made the decision to get rid of Darren
03:00 Moore, that is Huddersfield's prerogative whether you agree with it or not, I thought
03:04 it might have got a little bit more time but at the end of the day no one can really argue
03:08 with the decision, but it was just some of the manner of it that left a little bit of
03:12 a sour taste I thought.
03:14 Yeah, and what also would have left a sour taste I guess really, we didn't really see
03:18 the result of the first game without him at the helm, Huddersfield 1-4-0, obviously John
03:22 Wormton coming in and took caretaker charge, obviously remains to be seen who takes charge
03:28 on a full time basis after Darren Moore, whoever it is, and it may well be if John Worthington
03:35 has a good run of results, he may get the gig until the end of the season, but whoever
03:39 it is, what will be the priorities?
03:42 Well I think first and foremost he's just getting enough points to keep out of trouble
03:47 really Phil isn't it, I think it was ironic, I've just spoken earlier about Darren Moore
03:52 not having those forwards available, then we get to the game against Sheffield Wednesday
03:56 and the two forwards actually both got injured and came off, which was somewhat bizarre,
04:01 Rhys Healey came off with a groin injury and in the second half Radalukevic came off as
04:09 well with an issue, so it's sod's law really isn't it, but yeah the changes were, Ben Wiles
04:15 who's had a difficult time at Huddersfield since he's come from Rotherham, it's never
04:18 really taken off for him, he was excellent in playing as a number 10 and he was involved
04:26 in some of the goals, and yeah it just came together, it was one of those mad spells of
04:33 football at the John Smith Stadium, I did the game against Middlesbrough last April
04:38 and they scored about 4 goals in 20 minutes and this was even less, it was 4 in 12, there's
04:44 a lot to be said for the Sheffield Wednesday defending and they really did go to pieces
04:48 and it was a bit of a, it wasn't a 4-0 game if you like, it wasn't a game particularly
04:55 going anywhere, but Huddersfield made hay while the sun is shining so to speak and psychologically
05:03 a big moment in the season and you can imagine when Darren Moore sort of, if he'd have been
05:10 following the results thinking why couldn't this sort of thing happen for me, but ultimately
05:15 that's football isn't it Phil and yeah I think they've bought themselves a little bit of
05:20 time I think in the search to bring in a new permanent head coach, there's been quite a
05:25 few names that have been mentioned, some good solid candidates for me, Paul Hegginbottom
05:30 he's obviously left Sheffield United a bit earlier this season, but what I'm led to believe
05:37 is if it's the right challenge that comes along he'd be happy to get back in, but I
05:45 think also as well he could potentially wait until the end of the season and see what's
05:51 available there, but that's a decent standard of candidate, he's obviously got a promotion
05:56 from this level, he's got Sheffield United in the play-offs, Michael Duff as well, he's
06:00 out of work, he left Swansea City just before Christmas, I know there's been in the past
06:07 there has been, he has been linked with the Huddersfield job in the past, I think there's
06:13 some people in the club who are obviously probably aware of him as well, that could
06:17 be one to watch, and John Eustis as well who did so well earlier in the season at Birmingham
06:23 City and obviously left there when Wayne Rooney came in, he'll probably be nice and refreshed
06:29 and looking for his next challenge, so there's some decent calibre of candidates there and
06:34 with Huddersfield as well you can't discount a left fielder candidate as well, and Kevin
06:41 Neagle has spoken about speaking to quite a few candidates, they really need to get
06:46 this right don't they, and he's mentioned up to 10, 12 candidates, so it's a big decision
06:52 for Huddersfield, they've obviously got a game at St Hampton on Saturday, if they can
06:57 get anything from that it's a bonus, but at least they've gone in there with the confidence
07:04 bolstered and potentially one or two players to come back as well, there's Mikkel Helik
07:08 missed out on Saturday with an injury issue, he's Huddersfield's top scorer as a centre-half,
07:14 eight goals, Jack Radony was ill as well, so add those two back in, suddenly one or
07:22 two selection issues potentially, and after St Hampton they've got two home games against
07:28 Sunderland and Hull City and a chance for points there, and just looking at the table
07:34 I think the important thing to quickly say is that they've managed to reel one or two
07:39 other teams in above them, you look at some teams that were really starting to struggle
07:43 at this early period of the new year, Blackburn especially, they're on a real torrid run,
07:50 and obviously there was a lot of talk about not bringing in the American striker just
07:54 before the deadline, that one's not got over the line, and Stoke City as well, so Huddersfield
08:02 managing to claw one or two teams back.
08:04 [END]
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