Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri has insisted Darren Moore’s departure as manager was not due to disagreement over the club’s recruitment.
Moore left Hillsborough on Monday just three weeks after guiding Wednesday back into the Championship via the play-offs after a two-year absence.
The club said the 49-year-old left by mutual consent but reports have hinted at tension between the chairman and former manager over a lack of backing in the January transfer window.
Wednesday were second at the start of the month and unbeaten since early October, but made only one addition during the window – defender Aden Flint arrived on loan from Stoke – despite Moore’s desire for reinforcements.
A six-game winless run in March and April saw them fall away and miss out on automatic promotion.
Responding via the club’s website to questions put forward by supporters, Chansiri said: “Let me make it clear that Darren’s departure had nothing to do with our recruitment process.
“That applies to the January transfer window and the process we will follow in the summer window. It was also nothing to do with budgets for the season ahead.
“Regarding January, the recruitment team – which the manager has always been a part of since I was here – identified targets.
“My belief was that we had a Championship squad playing in League One but of course if the manager wishes to add to the squad, I offer my full support as much as I can, which has always been the case.
“Our main recruitment drive was last summer and I believe the squad was good enough for promotion.”
Wednesday made 10 permanent first-team signings and brought in three loan players following the completion of the 2021-22 season, after their bid to escape League One at the first attempt was ended by Sunderland in the play-off semi-final.
Those memories were banished by a stunning fightback at the same stage in May as they recovered from a 4-0 first-leg defeat to Peterborough to reach the final, before Josh Windass struck in added time at the end of extra time to defeat Barnsley at Wembley.
Chansiri hinted at undisclosed reasons for Moore’s abrupt departure.
“I was asked the question on Tuesday – ‘do you think fans would agree with Darren leaving if I clarified more?’ I said some fans may, some may not, it would depend on personal opinion.
“I said I do not like to talk too much about personal situations and I stand by that. The only thing I can add is that if I revealed the reasons, I am sure the majority would agree why we mutually agreed to go our separate ways.”
The chairman said he hoped to have a manager in place by the time the squad returns for pre-season training but added that the appointment “will not be rushed”.
Wednesday will bring the curtain up on the Championship season at home to Southampton on the evening of Friday August 4.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
Campbell gives Sheffield United victory in Steel City derby, Rodriguez strikes late for Burnley
Sheffield United joined leaders Sunderland at the top of the Championship table after a hard-fought 1-0 win against local rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
After a goalless first half, Tyrese Campbell latched onto a pass from Callum O'Hare and slotted past Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle for the winner five minutes into the second period.
This was the Blades' sixth consecutive clean sheet at Bramall Lane and their fourth straight win home or away, and sees them go level with Sunderland on 31 points from 15 matches.
Meanwhile, Burnley are four points behind the top two after they snatched a last-gasp 1-0 victory against visitors Swansea City.
Jay Rodriguez's stoppage-time penalty secured the points for the Clarets at Turf Moor, ending their four-match winless run and climbing to fourth in the table.
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