Sheffield Wednesday fans are just going to have to accept Darren Moore as he is - Alan Biggs
and live on Freeview channel 276
Equally, there won’t be many occasions when the unfailingly unpredictable Darren Moore’s starting selection, doesn’t provoke debate, the lifting of an eyebrow or a barbed comment.
And you can guarantee that, if the result isn’t right, he’ll be variously called things like “tactically inept” and “out of his depth”, among kinder reactions.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdFurther, there won’t be many times when the manager gets widespread credit, be it for his changes, his formation or his substitutions.
That’s just the way it is for the boss of a big club playing below its station. And let’s face it, this squad should be able to overcome Burton, as they failed to do in midweek, in any combination.
But, as we move back to the meaningful stuff, maybe it’s time to accept that Moore simply won’t change. Only the nature of the changes he makes will change. It’s his way and it’s his neck on the block, though I feel the strength of his relationship with the owner might not necessarily bring the axe down on a narrow failure.
And if we can’t second guess him then you’d imagine the same applies to opposition managers.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAlso, if Moore feels a sense of fairness and security from within, in being given every chance, then that surely has to be a good thing.
He can carry on making the calls he feels are best for team and club without compromising to worry about personal popularity.
While many of us might believe he should identify his best team and stick to it - certainly it’s the way I’m conditioned to think by the past - it would in some ways negate the strength of a group in which everyone knows he has a chance of contributing.
Picking the same eleven every week would bring a sense of alienation for just as many.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAnd let’s go back to where we started by looking at the bench.
Last Saturday saw a ridiculous array of substitutes for a League One club. Cameron Dawson, Will Vaulks, Mallik Wilks, Lee Gregory, Callum Paterson, Tyreeq Bakinson, Alex Mighten.
Never mind this level, you’d struggle to find a more potent back up force in the Championship - to which all those players are attuned.
Moore used just two - Gregory and Mighten - in the dramatic rescue of a point against Ipswich.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOccasionally it won’t work but never count against this team while there are still minutes to be played. All of Wednesday’s last five league goals, across the two games concerned, have come in the last 20 minutes.
And the boss will surely end up getting it right more often than not.