Adrian Durham tore into West Bromwich Albion chiefs over the sacking of Darren Moore and claimed the club never wanted to appoint him as manager.
The talkSPORT host issued a lengthy verdict on Moore’s dismissal and pointed out the Baggies were forced to hire him as manager due to how well he did last season, and that they that jumped at the chance to get rid of him when fans started moaning.
Durham also boldly suggested that he thought unconscious racism needed discussing in light of Moore leaving the Hawthorns and dismissed the official statement the club issued on their decision to part company with the manager.
“Do those blood thirsty disrespectful fools who made this decision know how the Championship works? QPR lost seven in a row then beat Leeds, it’s the Championship you have no divine right to win any game, never mind finish top two,” said Durham on talkSPORT (Monday March 11th, 18:21).
“Did the board not see the utter mess Darren Moore had to put right from last season? West Brom are the highest placed of the three relegated sides, do they not realise how difficult it is to come straight back? Swansea 15th, Stoke 16th and West Brom fourth.
“Did they not see how brilliantly Moore was doing? The bad run for West Brom is one point from three games, that’s all it is and the defeats were against two sides above them.
“And let me introduce you to the elephant in the room, the one you’re all avoiding, the one John Barnes has spoken so intelligently about in recent weeks, the unconscious racism.
“Let’s get this clear, I’m definitely not saying anyone involved in the decision is a racist it’s more nuance than that, it doesn’t deserve knee-jerk nonsense, you’ll probably too scared to have the discussion and if that’s the case then okay for now just listen, don’t talk educate yourself.
“I believe in their minds eye nobody at West Brom could picture Darren Moore being successful as there are so few black managers that have been successful, as so few black managers in English football.
“All they see are white managers lifting trophies after trophies in this countries so therefore is a subliminal unconscious mindset that only white is successful, this is going to be a hard thing for a lot take on board and let me prove it, in the last 10 years only two black managers have been successful in terms of promotion in the Championship, from 30 promoted clubs only two have been managed by black managers.
“Did anyone at West Brom ever feel genuinely confident in Darren Moore? The analysis gets even more damning the West Brom board statement said Moore had failed to achieve “consistency of form and results”, West Brom have won eight of their last ten games, how can he be sacked? They’re talking rubbish.
“So here’s my opinion, they didn’t want to appoint him in the first place but he was so good last season they had to, so at first sign of anyone moaning, they couldn’t wait to sack him.”
OPINION
Durham didn’t hold back when it came to blasting the powers that be at West Brom and his remarks are sure to raise a few eyebrows. The broadcaster brought up the issue of race which was a bold stance to take, before even more boldly claiming the Baggies never wanted him. While Moore’s success as interim manager was a surprise last season, it’s a very controversial to claim that he forced the club to hire him and they were just waiting to pull the trigger. While Moore’s dismal was a shock, it’s hardly unlike the board weren’t rooting for the manager to succeed. They clearly must be aware that changing manager is unsettling for a team and there’s no way they would have hired him in the summer if they had any doubts. They clearly put Moore in the hotseat because they had faith in him, and just simply changed their minds as they thought they’d be on course for automatic promotion at this stage. While Durham is clearly fuming at the decision, it’s not like the West Brom chiefs can turn back time and change their minds.