Sheffield Wednesday support will surely love Port Vale developments | OneFootball

Darren Moore's Port Vale side are flying high in League Two which should please Sheffield Wednesday supporters

It's been a difficult 18 months or so for Darren Moore since leaving Sheffield Wednesday in controversial circumstances in the summer of 2023, but he's put that behind him to make an outstanding start to the new campaign.

Moore led the Owls to Championship promotion in May 2023, but the play-off final against Barnsley was to be his final game at the club, and spells with Huddersfield Town and Port Vale followed.

After just three wins in 23 games with the Terriers, a run of form which ultimately set them on their way to relegation, he was sacked in January 2024, and joined Port Vale in League One the following month.

He was unable to keep The Valiants in League One as they finished 23rd in the division, and it meant that he was preparing for life in League Two just a year after winning promotion to the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday.

It had been an unfortunate 12 months for Moore, and while that may have left some people doubting themselves, it's had a galvanising effect on the 50-year-old and his side.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will love what Darren Moore is doing at Port Vale

The Valiants are flying high in League Two

Moore was a popular figure at Hillsborough thanks to leading the club back to the Championship in 2023, finishing with 96 points, the most in the club's history, and the highest number of clean sheets.

This meant it was a bombshell the following month when it was announced Moore would depart the club, with Owls' owner Dejphon Chansiri claiming that Moore wanted a minimum of four times his current salary, but Moore claimed it wasn't down to money and instead down to transfer targets.

It was a bitter end to what had been a really fruitful spell at the club, and made even worse for Wednesday following Xisco Munoz's arrival.

Given what he did for the club, the Hillsborough faithful will be delighted to see Moore thriving in League Two with Port Vale, and he currently has the club top of the table after 13 games.

They actually made a shaky start to the season, perhaps understandable given the number of players brought in, but they've built a bit of momentum and have flown to the summit of the table.

Moore won the League Two Manager of the Month award for September, and after a difficult year or so, Wednesday supporters will be glad to see him thriving.

However, it won't be a surprise to see him doing so well, as Wednesday supporters know what he's capable of, and it looked inevitable that his side would do well as soon as they built some momentum.

Sticking with Moore despite being relegated from League One last season looked like a wise decision from the Port Vale hierarchy, and their run of form which hasn't seen them lose since the end of August proves that it was the right call.

Darren Moore is perhaps proving that he is too good to be managing in League Two

Will Moore return to the Championship in the near future?

Moore, a man who once won Premier League Manager of the Month and has a wealth of experience in both the Championship and League One, is too good to be managing in League Two, and certainly wouldn't struggle to find a job in a higher division.

Port Vale are undoubtedly pleased that he's their manager, and anything less than leading them back to League One at the first time of asking would probably be a failure for Moore.

Had circumstances been slightly different, Moore could still be at Hillsborough managing Wednesday in the Championship, but he won't dwell on that now, and he's as hungry as ever for success.

As shown by joining League One Doncaster after leaving West Brom in 2019, Moore isn't afraid to drop a league or two to work, an admirable trait that shows how much he loves his job.

Moore has deserved some good fortune after the last year or so, and the job he's doing at Port Vale will surely please Sheffield Wednesday supporters too.