Former Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore has broken his silence on the circumstances around his shock exit from the Hillsborough club back in June.
The departure of the 47-year-old was announced just three weeks after Wednesday had sealed a dramatic promotion from League One via the play-offs.
Having initially been clear he intended to keep the details of the club’s parting of ways confidential, Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri released a statement in the weeks after Moore’s exit suggesting he had had his hand forced by a salary demand of four times Moore’s previous deal with the club.
Chansiri said he “to be realistic and protect the club.”
Speaking to Sky Sports, Moore has ended his own vow of silence on the matter, denying that contractual talks were at the heart of the parting of ways and that he wishes all the best for Wednesday.
“The time I had at Sheffield Wednesday I look upon with wonderful, fond memories,” he said. “It was a successful time, a time when a club that had lost its way a little bit came back together as one. We achieved something incredible in promotion in the manner that we did.
“That success was built over the two-and-a-bit seasons I was there.
“Coming to Sheffield Wednesday, you live it. It’s a huge club, a fantastic club and you live it. I purposefully moved to Sheffield because I wanted to feel the energy of the supporters, I wanted to feel the energy of the club. It was the best thing I could have done.
“To be sitting here having left the club, I had a dream and an aspiration. Where the club is now was part one, part two was moving them onto the next level. It was a difficult time to leave the football club.
“I wish the club evry success going forward. It’s one of the first results I look for on a Saturday.”
Asked what his view was on the reasons behind his bombshell exit, Moore’s view seems in stark contrast to that of Chansiri.
The Star reported in the days after the news that a difference the direction of the club’s recruitment vision was a central issue.
In his Sky Sports interview, Moore stated there was a difference in terms of targets and how ambitious the club was looking to set their sights on their return to the Championship.
At a fan forum the day after Moore’s exit, Chansiri said that a top six finish was his ambition for the club in what he accepted was a difficult league.
“After Wembley had been and the dust had settled and everything else, I had a meeting with the chairman as you do, just to continue what had been discussed in the build-up to it,” Moore said.
“I’m clearly on record saying that irrespective of the division the club was in, our targets were set in mind in terms of what was going.
“When we had the meeting, what has happened is that the vision that was set and that timescale was a little bit out of line.
“So amicably we both keep to an agreement at the time and decided it wasn’t right at the time.
“The decision was made for me to step away and for the club to continue. A lot of noise was made around at the time and I never said anything because my emphasis was to allow Sheffield Wednesday to move forward, at to allow the chairman to bring in another manager of his choise, that he felt could take the club forward.
“I have no grievances with that decision. It was a private conversation between me and him and the conversation even now will remain private.
“I know there was a lot of stuff said about the salary and everything else, but honestly, it was never about the money side of it. It was purely and strictly about the football.
“Anybody who knows me knows I’m all about the football, I’m energised by the football, I love the competition of the football.
“Ever since I’ve become a manager, I’ve been energised by the job and I was really energised about Sheffield Wednesday. I didn;t expect to be sitting here but I understand football is football.
“I wish the club well and the next adventure is the next adventure.”
What next then for Moore? Much was made of his appearance at a Derby County game earlier this month, though it was made clear this was purely on a watching brief and that his friend, Rams boss Paul Warne, had secured him tickets himself.
He said: “The club is in the rightful position, back in the Championship where it can kick on, and certainly for myself and my staff in terms of what I was asked to do when I arrived at the football club, we delivered on that.
“We feel a sense of job done, we’re not totally happy that we’ve left but that’s football. We understand it and that’s how we reflect on it. There’s a feelgood taste in the mouth that it’s job done on what we came to do.
“It’s onto the next one and we’ll wait to see what that brings.”
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