So, Luke Moore, where did it all go wrong?

Perhaps we can trace this question back to March 2008. About 35 minutes into his first start at The Hawthorns if we're being exact - his fifth outing for Albion.

Moore threw himself into a two-footed lunge on Leicester's Richard Stearman. Out came the red card.

And here we are two-and-a-half years later. Just 63 outings for Albion in total, five goals - three of those against one club, Peterborough - and two managers.

To know what makes Luke Moore tick would take some doing.

Tony Mowbray tried, and failed. Roberto Di Matteo also tried.

Yet Moore has ended these previous two seasons identically - starting each campaign with expectation, ending each campaign spending his Saturdays at home, while others were playing football in his place.

Contrary to popular myth, Moore wasn't part of the Curtis Davies deal during August 07, although he was discussed as a possible makeweight during those negotiations. Villa simply didn't wish to sell.

Instead it needed a bust-up between Moore and Martin O'Neill - during a 4-4 draw at White Hart Lane in October 07 - to end his Villa career. By the time Villa were ready to sell, in February 2008, his value had dropped.

And it's continued to decline since.

Moore is now starting the third month of a loan spell at Derby. Nigel Clough has managed to take a lost cause and re-energise it. Perhaps he's cracked it.

It's not that Mowbray or Di Matteo failed as such. It's just that the transfer didn't work out. It was probably destined never to. Albion should have taken the hint during those protracted discussions with Villa over the Davies deal.

Mowbray wanted and needed a striker during Spring 2008. Moore was offered to Albion and a decent gamble. And it seemed a good fit at the time, although the Albion boss seemed to um and ah at the time as to whether it was the right thing to do - even up until the signing was completed.

Di Matteo offered opportunities when he arrived in July 09. Moore started the season up front with Simon Cox and the early signs were encouraging. But, gradually, it fell away.

The same old rumblings came back - mainly about his ability to turn it on during training, only to lose interest. The ability has always been there. The application hasn't.

On a personal level, Luke is a shy lad who doesn't give the impression of being in love with football. Indeed a lot of his time outside of football is taken up with business interests elsewhere. He needed a move to restore his love for football. Clearly it isn't, wasn't, going to happen at B71.

He gave three interviews to me during his time at Albion. Each time he was polite, but always uncomfortable. On one occasion he told a colleague that he 'couldn't be bothered' to speak. If he was, as I expect, being shy, his turn of phrase wasn't doing him many favours.

Moore's current deal expires next summer, although Albion have the option of an extra 12 months. We have to assume he will either leave permanently in January or be granted a free exit next summer. If Robert Koren couldn't earn the 'option', then you can't imagine the ex-Villa striker will either.

In the meantime, Derby continue trying to piece together the career of a man who overshadowed Wayne Rooney during Villa's FA Youth Cup win against Everton in 2002. He can learn a lot from Clough while he is there.

Moore scored a hat-trick for Villa against Middlesbrough. He was a player capable of representing his country at under-21 level during the Spring of 2008 - these days that would make him a serious contender for the senior squad.

Let's hope, for all concerned, his spell in the East Midlands can restore his footballing mojo. He's scored twice in eight outings so far. It might prompt Derby to sign him permanently in January.

From Albion's point of view, that would be the best outcome.

Sometimes it just isn't meant to be.