Still no Moore

27 August 2001

Interviewed after today's game against Gillingham, Albion manager Gary Megson confirmed that Darren Moore had yet to sign from Portsmouth, with the problem appearing to be Albion's ability to match the money he was being paid at Portsmouth. Unconfirmed rumours suggest that he could be looking for as much as 10,000 a week - perhaps stretching Albion's wage structure rather too far for Megson's taste. The news comes despite rumours that he had signed for Albion this morning and would be paraded in front of the Hawthorns before the game. However, he did confirm that Moore remained one of his transfer targets - and had been since back in May.

Asked about the possibility of making Danny Dichio's signing permanent, Megson refused to be drawn and restated previous comments regarding the need to pay higher salaries in order to attract the kind of players that could improve the team. He also said that Dichio was now attracting attention from other clubs after his performances for Albion, and that it was not his decision as to whether he joined us full-time.

Interesting spot: Paul Gascoine was reckoned to be in the crowd today! Earlier in the day, I'd heard a story that he has said he'd like to play alongside Derek McInnes again after the time they spent together at Rangers. Hmmm.

Megson's comments could be taken as a hint to the Board that they need to pay higher salaries in order to bring in the players he wants to sign and that perhaps this was the reason that Dichio's signature was not his decision. However, from his comments that the kind of players he wanted were the sort that wanted to play for us so much that they had taken wage cuts to do so (McInnes and Fox, for instance), it could equally well be taken to be a swipe at players that expect to pick up Premiership wages at Division One Clubs. Any recently departed ginger strikers spring to mind...?

Previous Stories:

  26 August 2001:  More sweets for the lads

  25 August 2001:  Moore finally on the way?

  25 August 2001:  League Cup R2: Swindon

Back to the News Index