Sheffield Wednesday have appointed Darren Moore as their new manager, the 46 year old making the move across South Yorkshire from League One side Doncaster Rovers.
Coach Neil Thompson had overseen the first team since the departure of Tony Pulis on 28 December, and won five of his 11 Championship matches in charge, but owner Dejphon Chansiri has now made a more permanent appointment following a run of four successive defeats, including Saturday’s collapse in a 3-2 reverse at Luton Town.
Moore takes over with Wednesday second from bottom in the Championship and six points adrift of safety, although with a game in hand on most of the sides above them.
It’s been a difficult season for the Owls, who are under a six-point deduction for breaching spending rules, and Moore becomes their third permanent manager of the campaign to try and prevent relegation to League One, following on from Garry Monk and Pulis.
The new man in the hot seat had led Doncaster since July 2019, just missing out on a play-off place when last season was curtailed with 12 games left to play, and he leaves Rovers sixth in League One despite their current five-game winless run, eight points from the automatic promotion places with two games in hand.
Moore had received plaudits for helping to stabilise Doncaster after the departure of Grant McCann to Hull City, and for making adept use of the loan market to guide the club into promotion contention this season.
His prior managerial experience came at West Bromwich Albion, whom he almost led to an improbable escape from relegation in the Premier League after taking over initially on a temporary basis in April 2018 and left fourth in the Championship table at the time of his sacking in March 2019.
As a player, centre-back Moore made over 650 appearances for eight different clubs, including spells in the Premier League with West Brom and Derby County.
He takes over at Hillsborough with immediate effect, and will be in charge for Wednesday night’s vital game at home to Rotherham United, who sit just one place and one point ahead of the Owls.