Confusion as Sheffield Wednesday man snubbed for award nomination

Sheffield Wednesday entered the international break second in the third tier and are now fourth in the table, remaining within striking distance of Sunderland at the top of the table.

Four managers have been nominated for the manager of the month award for August.

And there’s no place for Owls boss Darren Moore, who has spearheaded a remarkable turnaround in fortunes at Hillsborough that has seen the club rise from the abject misery of last season’s relegation to a stellar start to their League One promotion campaign.

Wednesday kicked off the season with a solid goalless draw away at promotion hopefuls Charlton Athletic before impressive South Yorkshire derby wins over Doncaster Rovers and Rotherham United were splintered by a win over Fleetwood Town.

What may have cost Moore a nomination is defeat last time out at Morecambe, losing out to an own goal – the only goal they have conceded all season – in an otherwise dominant outing.

The four nominees are fairly led by top of the league Sunderland boss Lee Johnson, who has overcome the loss of talismanic forward Charlie Wyke to division rivals Wigan Athletic to take four wins from their five matches. That they sit top with a game in hand over second and third place Accrington Stanley and Burton Albion is testament to his effort.

Also nominated is Burton boss Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink, who has shaken off the early tag of relegation candidate to take his side to earn 10 points from five matches.

Leam Richardson has done well, taking Wigan to the same points tally despite having been faced with a gruelling early season fixture list of Sunderland, Rotherham, Wycombe, Charlton and Portsmouth.

Making up the four has been media darling Gareth Ainsworth at Wycombe Wanderers who sit seventh, also on 10 points.

Clearly Moore is operating on a budget far higher than some of these managers and is managing a club where expectations are high.

But the extraordinary turnaround in fortunes at Wednesday, with a brand new team, means Moore’s work in August could and perhaps should have been nominated. Save for that scrappy goal at Morecambe, he probably would have.