The third in a series of articles looking at what went wrong for Port Vale during the 2025-26 season.
Read all our 2025-26 relegation explainers
Relegation explainer #1 – Port Vale’s forward failings
MOORE OR LESS Why too much faith in a flawed manager doomed the Vale
As part of this site’s “Explainer” series we will examine some of the issues that we feel played a big part in Port Vale getting relegated. These are not presented in any particular order but we hope the club will address them when trying to recover from what has been a terrible season.
It will come as no surprise that Vale’s manager Darren Moore played a key role in the club’s relegation. Here, in our third article of this series, we look at some of the key issues caused by the boss:
MOORE’S MISDIRECTION
So far in this mini series, we’ve pointed the finger at the forwards and at the owners, but it would be remiss not to focus on the man ultimately responsible for performances on the pitch – former manager Darren Moore.
After all, when it comes to the Shanahans, they were not responsible for decisions on the field of play (such as the endless rotation, bloated squad and bizarre formations – more on all of those to follow) they have to be put at the feet of the then manager.
So, let’s take a look at how he played a significant part in Vale’s downfall.
MANAGING TO STRUGGLE
Darren Moore’s record at Port Vale…
100
Games in charge
36
Games won
36%
Win ratio
NOT LIVING UP TO EXPECTIONS
Take a look at those stats above. Are they the stats you’d expect from a man handed a five year contract and whose first transfer window alone contributed greatly to an annual loss of £6.1m? Call me overly demanding, but I’d expect more from Darren Moore…
One thing struck me towards the end of Moore’s spell and that was – for someone on a five year deal, seemingly committed to the long-term, there was no long-term plan from the manager. No development of the youngsters, no tactical blueprint, no definition of what his side would be, a scattergun approach to signings – in many ways it was the opposite of a long-term approach, it was throw something at it (whether that was a host of signings, mass rotation, formation changes and so on). Strategy and planning seemed to be the last words you’d associate with the manager expensively acquired on a five year deal who said his aim was “putting the foundations in place to create a clear footballing identity.”
SIGNING OFF ON DISASTER
OK, we’ve been here before during the season – but this is a review so we have to tread over the same ground sometimes…
You never knew what you you were getting with Darren Moore’s signings. Admittedly there was the odd gem – Lorent Tolaj, Ryan Croasdale and I’d argue Jayden Stockley… But there were also the baffling – Marko Marosi, Diamond Edwards, Jordan Shipley and perhaps most eyebrow raising of all – the expensive three year-deal for injury prone George Byers.
That covers bringing the players in – but then there’s the ones Moore opted to let leave. Those include Ethan Chislett, ostracised for much of the 2024-25 season and Rico Richards farmed out on loan just two games into a permanent deal. Perhaps the most telling was homegrown cult hero Nathan Smith, who, while not a world beater, had decent League One experience but was allowed to depart weeks after winning promotion.
It would have be excusable if Moore had brought in better players to replace the likes of Smith but the summer 2025 recruitment was frankly disastrous. Did any of the nine permanent and three loan signings really improve the squad. The results on the pitch suggest not.
Then there was the balance of the squad. Due to the seemingly panic purchase of Marosi, Vale ended up with three senior keepers. Meanwhile, (deep breath) Liam Gordon, Jaheim Headley, Jack Shorrock, Kyle John, Mitch Clark and (until his departure on loan) Sam Hart meant there were seven players contending the left wingback slot. In contrast, after the departure of the reliable Smith, Moore had just four recognised centre-halves to play in his favoured back three. The whole balance of the squad was a mess. Furthermore, it meant the Vale had a bloated squad numbering 32 players at the start of the season.
ROTATION SICKNESS
Port Vale are not in the Premier League. So, why the endless rotation under Darren Moore? I couldn’t help but think it was because he had such a massive squad and was trying to keep everyone happy. But it back-fired.
The only successful spell under Moore came when injuries forced him to keep a settled squad. He never learned that the settled side developed partnerships, that players became match sharp through regular games and the side, as a result, improved.
So, on Moore went, rotating personnel and formations to the bitter end…
NO FORWARD THINKING
For a side that struggled to score goals all season (for more on that read through explainer #1) Darren Moore’s forward selections somewhat beggared belief.
I’ve already mentioned the baffling reluctance to play Jayden Stockley. Like Nathan Smith, Stockley is no world beater, but he was a proven League One performer, had played a key role in promotion and worked well in partnership with other forwards. For such a player not to be selected when fit when the side is struggling for goals is just weird.
It was the same with Ruari Paton. The Irishman still divides opinion and that’s at least partially down to Moore’s reluctance to give him a run in the side. Perhaps the obvious time to do so was when Vale won 2-0 at Exeter City. Paton linked up well with recent signing Devante Cole and both men scored. Bafflingly, Paton was dropped for the next game and Cole (no doubt to his bemusement) was paired with a host of other partners. Paton may ultimately have not been the required level but due to Moore’s mis-trust we will probably never know now.
THE (TOO) LONG GOODBYE
Darren Moore appears to be a decent bloke – which makes writing this long criticism of him difficult, but not impossible. That’s because for this fan, the good of the club comes above whether someone is nice. It’s perhaps a lesson that the club hierarchy learnt too late.
So, this last point isn’t a criticism of Moore himself. After all, surely all football managers believe in themselves enough to think they can turn things around – it’s up to the club to pull the plug when needed. And in that respect the club owners were far too slow to show Moore the door.
TO-DO LIST
This is a slightly odd wish-list as rather than being for the club, it’s all for Moore’s successor Jon Brady. We’d hope he’d have this under control anyhow but here goes…
- Produce a manageable squad size
- Bring in players who can improve the side
- Have good reasons for making changes
- Make sure your squad is balanced
- Don’t rotate all the time
- Devise a settled formation and tactics
- Try to develop a squad identity
- Win matches and score goals 🙂
Rob you’re written all that needs to said. History won’t be kind to this manager I just hope that Vale never recruit a manager like him again.
The decision to give Moore a 5 year contract might have been influenced by his management career win ratio at that time, which was 44%.
A detailed and accurate assessment of the reign of Moore who I’d expected to be gone in November. I would only be repeating what the article has documented.
Moores stats are a bit surprising, firstly I can’t believe he was only in charge for 100 games, at the time it was like a never ending nightmare. Also the 36% win ratio is a surprise, that could be because other than just a handful of games you just never felt safe. One thing you haven’t touch on is, Moore not only signed, but also had a number of players who were a lot better than we saw. Yet somehow he destroyed them by either not playing them or playing them out of position. In Chislett, Garrity, Croasdale, Curtis, Tolay, Stockley and Paton. We had over 100 goals in the team from the previous season. But with his muddled team selection their combined goal return was minimal. He’s also set back the careers of 2or3 promising youngsters (Plant for one) by not playing them. The Sheffield Wednesday fans didn’t like him even after winning promotion there, the Huddersfield Town fans loathed him for winning just 2games out of 20 odd. The writing was 10foot tall all over the wall yet the owners ignored it. For me he has been Port Vale’s worst manager in my life time, and possibly Port Vale’s worst manager ever. While his stats and win ratio may not back that up, I’m going on performances and on how he just destroyed so many players confidence.
I consider Dennis Butler, Jim Gannon, and Lee Sinnott, to be worse managers than Moore.
Rob, I know we do have a number of opposing views, but you really do need a pat on the back for the excellent work you put in on onevalefan.co.uk
Thanks Ian, I think we’re broadly in agreement on many things. Even when we don’t I think it’s healthy to disagree agreeably and ultimately what we both want is for the club to be successful (we just diverge sometimes on how to achieve it). I do value and read your comments by the way! Thanks for the comments on the site.
Darren Moore deserved a gold medal to have got Port vale promoted to league 1 with a poor quality of players with a little budget. They were not good enough for league one and will need new players to stay in league two.