Huddersfield Town sack manager Darren Moore and look for 'short-term impact'

Moore leaves the Terriers three points above the Championship relegation zone 29 matches into the season. When he replaced Neil Warnock seven games into the campaign, Huddersfield were in 16th, five points above the bottom three.

Having saved them from relegation in his second spell at the club, Warnock was a hugely popular choice and Moore was never able to win over supporters in the same way.

He often spoke of playing “front-foot” football but – hindered, it must be said, by injuries – it rarely manifested itself.

In announcing the decision it was notable that Huddersfield chief executive Jake Edwards referenced more attacking football.

“This was not a decision that we made lightly, but we believe it is one that we had to take,” he said. “We still have 17 games to be played this season, and that still gives us the chance to positively impact our results and position in the league table.

“We’re looking for our next appointment to have a big short-term impact, but also to fit with our longer-term strategy of building an attack-minded, progressive style of football over a number of seasons.”

Moore’s team scored 21 goals in 23 matches and drew 11 of the. That, ultimately, would be his undoing.

Chairman Kevin Nagle, who was critical of the former Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers manager’s conservative playing style, had publicly labelled Sunday’s game at Queens Park Rangers a “Must-win”, and Huddersfield looked to have done it when Jack Rudoni opened the scoring in the 86th minute, only for Kenneth Paal to equalise in the fifth added minute.

“We have to make this decision to give us the best chance of maintaining our Championship status come the end of the season,” explained Nagle.

“Darren is a fantastic man, and he has worked tirelessly since taking the job back in September. I know I speak for everyone at the club in wishing him the very best for the future.

“We appointed Darren on the strength of his credentials as a manager, but it is now clear that this has not worked as we envisaged and hoped. There have absolutely been mitigating circumstances, such as the high number of injuries that Darren has had to cope with, but we have still not seen enough on the pitch in terms of results or the direction of travel in playing style and performances.“I believe that our current squad is capable of more, particularly on the back of the work we have carried out in this transfer window, and we’re quickly moving to identify the right person to lead them through a crucial period of the season. We hope to make that managerial appointment soon.”

Moore leaves three days before the close of a transfer window which has seen them invest significantly in strikers Rhys Healey and Bojan Radulovic, plus defender Radinio Balker, as well as loaning Chelsea midfielder Alex Matos.

It will be the second second running they have three managers.