Sam Parkin ‘surprised’ at favourite to become next West Brom manager
Sam Parkin has had his say on West Brom’s search for a new manager, with Darren Moore the current favourite to succeed Eric Ramsay.
West Brom parted company with manager Ramsay a week ago after drawing 1-1 at home to Charlton Athletic.
That was Ramsay’s ninth game in charge in all competitions, with none of those ending in victory for the former Minnesota United head coach.
James Morrison is in temporary charge and oversaw the 2-1 loss to Oxford United at the weekend, but it may well be that someone else is brought in soon.
Moore is the current frontrunner with one major bookmaker, but Parkin does not believe that is a move that would make sense.
Who else is in frame for West Brom job?
Moore has previously spent a year in charge at The Hawthorns, with his tenure ending in March 2019.
The 51-year-old has since managed Doncaster Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town and Port Vale.
Moore was sacked by Vale at the end of December and is currently out of work.
However, asked about talk of Moore being the man most likely to step into Ramsay’s shoes, former EFL player Parkin said on What The EFL: “The last time I saw Darren Moore take a team was Port Vale at AFC Wimbledon earlier this season.
“They played really well, and they were in the mix of a really good run, relative to the season Port Vale have had.
“I think they were unbeaten in four of five, round about when I witnessed them play very well, and he looked to have something going, seemed to be changing the style a little bit at Vale.
“But, I would be surprised if he went back at West Brom at this juncture, given the way it ended for him as well.
“I am not sure if that is a move that is going to appease every supporter right now, and I don’t know which way they will go.”
Parkin is certainly not alone in being surprised by suggestions Moore could take over, even accounting for his Albion links.
If it is not going to be Morrison, Shilen Patel needs to turn to an experienced head and someone with a better record than Moore.
Slaven Bilic is the second favourite, sandwiched between Moore and Morrison, and seems a far better fit for now.
Tony Mowbray and Sean Dyche complete the top five and would also fit into that category, albeit the former’s most recent spell in the Black Country did not exactly pan out too well.
Could a Morrison-Moore double act work for West Brom?
There have also been suggestions that Moore could be brought in alongside Morrison as part of a double act.
Morrison clearly cares a great deal about the club, as we saw in his post-match press conference after losing to Oxford.
There could be some method to the madness, but it is also a very desperate act on the face of it.
West Brom are in this position because they appointed a rookie manager in Ryan Mason and a relatively untested manager in Ramsay.
While Moore does at least have some managerial pedigree, he has not exactly had massive success. Morrison, meanwhile, is very much in that rookie category.
Patel simply needs to go all out to try to bring in Bilic, whether short term or long term, in order to get the Baggies out of the mire.
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