Chris Kamara hails West Brom boss Darren Moore
Chris Kamara admits he is surprised by Darren Moore’s early success as a manager – but says he is willing the Baggies boss all the way to promotion.
The Sky Sports pundit signed Moore as a promising defender when he was manager of Bradford City in 1997, and says he feared his ‘gentle giant’ would be too nice to make the step up into management.
But Kamara says his former charge is well on the way to proving his doubters wrong – just as he did as a player. Kamara also hailed the galvanising effect Moore has had on the Albion dressing room, which has seen the team build on impressive results at the end of last season with a strong start to their Championship campaign.
He told the Express & Star: “I’m especially pleased for Darren Moore, because when I was Bradford City manager I bought him from Doncaster Rovers. I set him on his way.
“A lot of people said to me, ‘he’s no good with his feet’, ‘he’s strong and he’s quick, but that’s all he’s got’, but we worked on him. And he became a Premier League player in his own right.
“He had a wonderful career as a player. He is the nicest fella you could ever wish meet. To see him doing well as a manager is just fantastic.
“When I was a player and starting off in the game as a 16-year-old at Portsmouth, I played alongside George Graham, and I never in a million years thought George would go on to be a manager.”
Kamara added: “He was carefree – he wasn’t a student of the game, but he went into management and he was successful.
“Darren Moore, because he’s such a nice chap, I thought maybe, nice chaps can’t be successful as managers. But he’s gone in there, the players love him, they play for him, and he’s done tremendously.
“I want to see him do well.”
Kamara, who spent just over two years at the helm at Bradford, recalled how he leapt to Moore’s defence during a fiery game against Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
“Their physio, Neil Sillett, knocked him [Moore] over,” he said. “I actually ran onto the pitch – when I think about it now it was absolutely crazy – and confronted Neil Sillett for knocking over my gentle giant!
“I got sent to the stands. I got a three game ban and a £500 fine, and my wife still talks about it to this day!”
