Moore’s sacking was inevitable, but have Valiants left it too late?

PORT Vale writer CLIVE YOULTON has his say on the departure of manager Darren Moore.

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If we cast our minds back to February 2024, we don’t need the benefit of hindsight to know that Port Vale giving Darren Moore a five-and-a-half year contract was ambitious.

It may have been a statement of intent from owner Carol Shanahan OBE, but there is little evidence in modern-day football to suggest any manager would see out such a lengthy contract in the third and fourth tier.

In the event, Moore fell two months short of two years.

When he came into the job to replace Andy Crosby, with Vale in League One, fans expected a ‘new manager bounce’

Instead, Moore set a record for being the first manager in the history of the club not to win any of his first eight matches.

He couldn't halt the slide down the table and ultimately he added a relegation to his CV.

With a completely new squad - owner Carol Shanahan having given Moore the equivalent of an open cheque book - Vale were always going to be one of the favourites for the League Two title last season.

But they made hard work of promotion, having poor spells on at least two occasions while blowing their title hopes by failing to win any of their last four matches.