TalkSport pundit and former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes next season will be the “last chance saloon” for Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore if they fail to win the League One playoffs and if he was to stay on as manager afterwards.
Sheffield Wednesday have guaranteed third place in League One, but have missed out on automatic promotion at the expense of Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town, who both sealed their promotion to the Championship following their most recent victories against Burton Albion and Exeter City respectively.
Who is Darren Moore?
Darren Moore has been in charge of the Owls since early March 2021 after leaving then League One side Doncaster Rovers to take the job at Hillsborough, then a Championship club.
Despite the best efforts of the former West Bromwich Albion boss since his arrival, Moore was unable to keep Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, with their relegation being confirmed following an entertaining 3-3 draw at Derby County, with the club sitting three points adrift of safety.
In their first season in League One, Sheffield Wednesday finished fourth in the league and would cement their place in the playoffs after missing out on automatic promotion to Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United, with the club agonising losing to Sunderland in the semi-finals as they went on to beat Wycombe Wanderers in the final to regain their Championship status.
The Playoffs it is
In the current campaign and their second season in England’s third division, Sheffield Wednesday have had a strong season, which has included the club going on a 23-match unbeaten run with very few signs they were slowing down as they steamed towards automatic promotion.
However, following a 4-2 defeat to Yorkshire rivals Barnsley at Oakwell, the Owls then went on a run of only one victory in their next six league matches in a run that has ultimately cost them a place in the top two, with Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town going on to claim an automatic promotion place and in the process, condemning Darren Moore’s side to fight for promotion via the playoffs.
Despite winning 27 matches in the league and tallying a total of 93 points this season which would have been enough for the club to win the league last season, Sheffield Wednesday now have to look forward to the playoffs in which they will either be playing Bolton Wanderers, Derby County or Peterborough United over two legs in the semi-finals.
Our fixture dates for the play-off semi-finals have been confirmed! #swfc
🗓️ Friday 12 May | Away | 8:00pm
🗓️ Thursday 18 May | Home | 8:00pm
— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) May 2, 2023
What’s been said?
Speaking on TalkSport about Darren Moore’s future at the club, pundit Simon Jordan believes if Sheffield Wednesday fail to win the upcoming League One playoffs, next season should be the 49-year-olds final opportunity to help return the club to the Championship if he is to remain as manager.
“You have to be realistic. My question to him (Darren Moore) would be yes we’ve missed the automatic spots but we now have to win the play-offs,” explained Jordan.
“If the agreement between me and a manager was ‘if you give me this, then I’ll get you that’ and then you give this and they haven’t got you that, then there would be a frank exchange of views.
“Nobody should be looking to fire a manager because they can, they should be doing it because that manager can’t. You have to evaluate why they can’t. But if I still believe in the guy and something adverse happened like a missed penalty in the final, then I could find dispensation in there.
“If there’s none of that and you’ve lost belief in the guy then it becomes a discussion. If you get another spin of the wheel then it has to be made clear this is last chance saloon.”
Writers View
Going into the season as favourites for promotion with the squad and the quality that Sheffield Wednesday possesses, the fact that they’ve managed to finish third is disappointing for their standards.
Don’t get me wrong, 93 points on the board with one game left to play is really impressive, but the club have also had to deal with the rise of both Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town, in which both have had an excellent season and rightly promoted.
In terms of the argument, I agree with the fact that a club like Sheffield Wednesday have to get out of League One as soon as they possibly can. Otherwise, more and more pressure will be placed on both Darren Moore and the board, mainly because of the size of the club and the rich history the club possesses and that a club of their stature should not be playing their trade in the English third division.
