Former West Bromwich Albion striker Victor Anichebe is disappointed with the club’s dismissal of manager Darren Moore.
Moore, 44, was relieved of his job following the Baggies’ 1-1 stalemate with Ipswich Town on Saturday –their fourth game without a win.
Moore is one of the few black coaches in England and his performances since taking charge of West Brom has earned rave reviews.
Following their relegation from the English top-flight last season, he has set them up for a return to the Premier League, guiding them to a top-four spot in the Championship log.
The decision to sack the former Portsmouth central defender came as a shock to the 30-year-old who believes it could have been motivated by racism.
“It actually made me sick, seeing it,” Anichebe told Football League World.
“I just thought it was a joke. A lot of people talk about the fact he’s black. And I honestly believe that if it were somebody else, he would not have been sacked.
“I just thought it was a joke. A lot of people talk about the fact he’s black. And I honestly believe that if it were somebody else, he would not have been sacked.
“He won eight out of 10 away games. Tony Pulis was horrendous and they kept him. Look at what happened with Pardew. He won one [Premier League] game and wasn’t sacked.
“Somebody said to me that [Darren’s] fortunate West Brom gave him a chance. People say ‘oh, he was just there at the right time’.
“So, they’re talking about opportunity, but he’s one of the only black ones who’s been given a chance. Are all other managers fortunate to get an opportunity? No.
“A lot of people will come out and say ‘no, it’s not like that, it’s not like that’, but it is. It’s as simple as that.
“It seemed like they didn’t want to give him the job anyway. But they had to because he did so well. And then, at the first run of bad results, they get rid of him. But that’s just football.”
14 Comments
There is no other reason but racism. Seem very likely they have been begging for an opportunity to sack him instead of support him. These people don’t want to see a black person succeed in anything.
In a league of 92 clubs (premier, championship, 1st, 2nd and 3rd division). 25% of retired football players are black, but only four managers are black.
One in the Premier League; Chris Houghton of Brighton, Colin Powell of Southend and Dino Maamria of Stevenage, Sol Campbell of Macclesfield. One in the premier league, one in the Championship, one in League 1 and one in League 2.
Last to be hired, first to be sacked with only one being in the job for more than a year plus
It’s not only in football, guys. Even in the workplace in the so called western countries, if you are black, you have to go the extra mile to prove yourself deserving of your job. Mediocre performance that is tolerated from a white person will never, ever be accepted from a black person. If a white man needs to fetch 5 buckets of water to succeed in life, his black counterpart must be ready to fetch between 10 and 15 buckets. It’s just the reality of the world we live in, folks. It’s unfortunate.
Very true bro, I went for a career course and one of the white instructors shamefully, albeit with that their satanic smile on his face and a decieving soft voice just to cover up their hate for black man, said, why don’t u go for a lesser course. They, these racist white people enjoy when black people look up to them as superior even when they are a bunch of idiots.
My brother, the only way forward for us blacks is to keep outperforming them. Beat them hands down at any endeavor. Granted, not all of them are evil. There are many whites out there who are completely color blind. Fact is though, most whites in positions of authority are racist. And the only way to keep them at bay is to keep defeating them, hands down.
Why accuse them of racism when we, the blacks, do not value other blacks? For example, the NFF has NEVER hired a black foreign coach. Are all foreign coaches white?
If the most populous black nation in the world refuses to hire blacks, why should the ‘Oyibo’ man be expected to hire them?
l am waiting to know how folks answer your prudent question. Olisah was given the opportunity to manage the Nigeria super eagle, you all saw how that turned out. Everything is not just about White or Black but, competency.
I think some blacks do appreciate other blacks. Afterall, Togo and Mali hired Keshi. Recently, another black country Tanzania hired Amunike. Even if it is true that blacks in general do not appreciate and value other blacks, is that an excuse for white folks to be racist towards blacks? Does that justify the obvious disadvantages that come with being black in a white dominated employment environment? To deny that these obvious disadvantages exist is akin to being like the proverbial ostrich who sticks his head in the sand, in a bid to escape reality.
I agree though that hiring and firing decisions should be about competence and performance, not skin colour, or political correctness, or any other nonprofessional parameter.
Togo hired Keahi, but after he qualified them for the World Cup, they hired an Oyibo man amd asked Keshi to be his assistant. Je resigned in anger. Havee you forgotten that sad episode? It further proves my point!
Mind you, I am not denying that they are racist, I just want us to look inward for our salvation
You are spot on. Just a shame some of us black are getting us to look d way of these idiots white for help by are very sick n corrupt values whereby we sacrifice competence at d altar of material gain.
To prove your point even further, Amodu Shuaibu qualified us for at least 2 world cups, but was not allowed to take us there. However, the unfortunate fact that we blacks mistreat ourselves does not give whites the justification to mistreat us. In the U.S., black people continue to kill themselves daily as gangs fight each other for drug turf. Imagine a white man grabbing his shotgun and saying he’s going out to “shoot up some nigg@#s”, because they are killing themselves anyway? In the same vein, it does not hold true that it’s ok for whites to mistreat blacks because we are mistreating ourselves.
I do understand your point. And I believe you have pointed out the way forward for the black race in a statement u made much earlier: “the only way forward for us blacks is to keep outperforming them. Beat them hands down at any endeavor”. Yes, we can!
We treat our own with disdain but get angry when other races do the same to us.
SAme way a man knows if his father is a drunkard. But gets vexed when his neighbour tells him “your father is a drunkard. That our own life and systems are not perfect doesn’t mean we allow people to trample all over us without complainjng