Darren Moore’s exit stunned his players – where do Sheffield Wednesday go now?

Darren Moore could not have done much more as manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

A record-breaking play-offs comeback, overhauling a 4-0 deficit from the first leg; a last-minute goal in the final to secure promotion; victory over Champions League-bound Newcastle United in the FA Cup; a 96-point regular season in which new club clean-sheet and unbeaten-run records were set.

And of even greater value to a club where chaos was the status quo before his appointment, Moore added stability and a feel-good factor that had been sorely missed at Hillsborough since the 2015-16 season, when they got to the Championship play-off final before losing 1-0 to Hull City.

The sun-drenched memories of that far happier afternoon back at Wembley late last month will be looked upon with extra fondness now because, with some degree of inevitability, Wednesday — who were last part of the Premier League in 1999-2000 — have descended into disarray once again.

Just 21 days after that play-off final against Barnsley, with the Championship fixtures out tomorrow (Thursday), players due back to begin pre-season at the end of the month and the season starting on the first weekend in August, they are now without a manager, his technical staff, a head of recruitment, a chief executive (although there has not been one of those since Katrien Meire’s exit in February 2019) and a director of football. And there are just 14 players under contract.

David Downes, the head of recruitment who arrived from Aston Villa when Steve Bruce became manager, also in February 2019, left to join Blackpool (one of the relegated sides Wednesday are replacing in the Championship) two weeks ago. Players Dennis Adeniran, Jaden Brown, Ben Heneghan, Jack Hunt and David Stockdale have been released with their contracts ending this month, having helped deliver promotion at the end of Wednesday’s second season back in League One.

The decision to part ways with Moore came as a genuine shock to fans and squad alike, with the announcement on Monday evening following a weekend meeting between the 49-year-old former centre-half and chairman Dejphon Chansiri. Players who are still on their summer holiday were said to be stunned by the news. A difference of opinion on what the club’s transfer policy this summer should be is said to have driven behind the split, although it was apparently amicable.

“I would like to take this time to acknowledge the chairman, Mr Chansiri, for giving me the opportunity to manage this great club, it’s been a journey in every sense,” Moore said in a statement published on the club’s website.

“Both the chairman and myself have been determined to get this club back into the Championship. I’m delighted this has been achieved, and I hope the football club continues to develop and will soon fulfil the dream of mine, which was to take them back to the Premier League where they belong.”

“It’s not complicated,” Chansiri told fans at a forum on Tuesday evening following Moore’s departure. “It happens in football: coaches come and go. I can’t talk much because I promised him I will not say anything. If he says first, then I will say it. If you want more info, maybe go and ask him. We have (a) good relationship still. After the game (Wembley) he went on holiday and then came back last week. We had a meeting.

“It’s nothing different – it’s football. Maybe he’ll come and watch us and sit next to me. I’ve been in football long enough and the coach leaving is normal.”

That forum saw Chansiri face questions in person after smaller engagement meetings with supporter groups in recent years. Among the other topics addressed were ticket and shirt prices and the club’s transfer policy as they now look for a new manager.

Moore leaving at this stage of the summer is a blow and has turned a mood of positivity to one of worry among Wednesday followers. His popularity with the players was clear from the dressing-room scenes after that play-off semi-final comeback against Peterborough United, which saw the Yorkshire side win through to Wembley in a penalty shootout.

They had been looking forward to pre-season, in the understanding that a period of hard work would be needed if Wednesday are to be competitive in 2023-24 and keep the place they had regained in English football’s second tier — internally within the few remaining members of the squad, one with plenty of older players that is in need of freshening up, there is an acceptance the club must strengthen in key areas in this transfer window.

At the end of last season, Moore is believed to have compiled two lists of transfer targets, one if they stayed in League One and one for if promotion was secured, and he was influential over transfer policy.

Some work on transfers had begun but a new manager coming in could mean a different direction, so Chansiri will need to move quickly over an appointment to give the club the best chance of starting on a stable footing in what is a competitive-looking Championship now including relegated sides Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton.

While Wednesday’s squads over their two seasons in League One were largely made up of loanees and players signed as free agents, it remains to be seen whether Chansiri plans to invest in the 2023-24 version by paying transfer fees. It is important not to forget what got them relegated to the third tier in the first place — a six-point deduction for breaking the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules, with the added drama of three permanent managers in one season (with Moore the last, arriving in March 2021) and late wage payments to players.

In the end, relegation in an echoing, crowdless Pride Park gripped by a Covid-19 haze after a 3-3 draw with fellow strugglers Derby County on the final day of that season felt like an act of mercy after fighting on the pitch and in a legal battle with the EFL all season long.

Though relegation happened on Moore’s watch, the damage had been done over the preceding months under Garry Monk, Tony Pulis and caretaker manager Neil Thompson, and he was handed a clean slate to go again in the third division.

Moore leaves with the second-best win rate of any manager in club history (51.2 per cent) and though it took him two seasons to escape League One — after a 2-1 play-off semi-finals defeat to eventually-promoted Sunderland a year ago — the good feeling among the fan base had never been higher than after promotion was clinched in such dramatic fashion with those wins over Peterborough and local rivals Barnsley.

It seems scarcely believable that it has come to this, with players quick to post tributes to Moore and his impact.

George Byers wrote that Moore, “Brought me to this fantastic football club and always knew how to get the best out of me”, while captain and fellow midfielder Barry Bannan said, “You broke records. You were a part of history, and more importantly – as a person — second to none. Thanks Gaffer, and all the best in your future.”

Last season’s points tally of 96 points, an unbeaten run of 23 games from October to March and a club-record 24 clean sheets will cement Moore’s legacy at Hillsborough and should put him in a good position to land his next job soon.

His stock could not be higher but who Wednesday turn to now is anybody’s guess. Their next manager has big shoes to fill.

(Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)