Former Wolves boss among favourites to replace West Brom hero at Sheffield Wednesday

Former Wolves manager Bruno Lage is among the favourites to be the next Sheffield Wednesday manager after the surprise exit of Darren Moore.

The Owls are looking for a new manager to lead them into the Championship after announcing on Monday evening they had parted company with Moore, the boss who led them to promotion through the play-offs in May.

Former Wolves boss Lage is fourth favourite with bookmakers SkyBet to make a return to English football eight months after he was sacked at Molineux after a 16 month spell.

Lage had led Wolves to a tenth-placed finish in the Premier League in his first full season after taking over from Nuno Espirito Santo but he lost his job after a poor start to last season left the club in relegation trouble.

A 2-0 defeat at West Ham proved to be the last straw for the Wolves owners as they relieved the former Benfica manager of his duties and placed academy coach Steve Davis in interim charge before appointing Julen Lopetegui in November.

Lage has connections at Sheffield Wednesday having been assistant manager to Carlos Carvalhal there before becoming boss at Benfica and then Wolves. He’s rated the 8/1 fourth favourite for the job behind favourite Carvalhal who is priced just 5/4 for a managerial return at Hillsborough.

Former Aston Villa boss Steven Gerard is the second favourite at 9/4 followed by German coach Torsten Lieberknecht, at 6/1, then Lage. Other names in the frame are Nathan Jones, at 10/1, Gary O’Neil, at 14/1 and Dean Smith, at 16/1.

Moore’s exit, along with that of his staff, came less than a month after leading the club to promotion via play-off victories over Peterborough and Barnsley. That came after they achieved 96 points in the regular season to just miss out on automatic promotion behind Plymouth and Ipswich.

Chairman Dejphon Chansiri said: “The journey of Sheffield Wednesday with Darren has been in many ways unique and always as a team. In the football industry, journeys come to an end and now is that time, which we both agree.

“The mutual respect we have for each other is immense on a personal and professional basis and I offer my sincere thanks for the dedication and commitment Darren has given to our club.”

Birmingham born former West Brom player and manager Moore said: “I would like to take this time to acknowledge the chairman, Mr Chansiri, for giving me the opportunity to manage this great football club in Sheffield Wednesday, it’s been a journey in every sense. Both the chairman and myself have been determined to get this club back into the Championship.

“I’m delighted this has been achieved, and I hope the football club continues to develop and will soon fulfil the dream of mine, which was to take them back to the Premier League where they belong.”