After 132 games, a League One promotion, countless ‘honest truths,’ and many pieces of club-branded headwear, Derby County’s head coach Paul Warne has been relieved of his duties.
Despite Warne guiding The Rams to their first promotion in a generation, a losing run which equalled the worst of Derby’s infamous 2007-08 Premier League season, has seen the former Rotherham boss pay the price.
The 51-year-old joined The Rams as the first permanent manager of the David Clowes era in September 2022. He inherited a squad of free agents and loanees which interim manager Liam Rosenior had put together as the club began its rise from a position which had been dangerously close to the edge.
Nicknamed ‘The League One Guardiola’ for his remarkable record of winning promotion in each of his three seasons in the third tier with Rotherham, the task for Warne was simple in the first phase, do as they had done before.
And while the first season ended in what the head coach himself said was a failure to him, as his side fell out of the play-off places on the final day of the season, the next campaign saw Warne succeed in what he had been brought in to do. Alongside his trusted coaching staff of Richie Barker, Matt Hamshaw and Andy Warrington, he guided Derby to a second-place finish in League One, sparking a wild weekend of celebrations which started with thousands of fans flooding the Pride Park pitch and even included the playing squad’s rendition of Wonderwall – evidence of the excellent culture Paul Warne built at the club.
But as happened in each of his full Championship seasons with The Millers, the second tier proved to be an altogether different beast.
While Derby won three of their first five league games, the following 25 saw them win just four more, including only one on their travels, at Coventry City.
At Elland Road on December 7, Warne called his side ‘a League One team with sugar on top’ and effectively admitted that his side had gone to South Yorkshire with a mentality of damage limitation. But as had happened after anti-Warne chants away to Stevenage 14 months prior, the bobble-hat-sporting coach appeared to have ridden out the wave of discontent, with seven points from the next four games leaving Derby 14th at the half-way stage following a Boxing Day victory over then-managerless West Brom.
But in the difficult weeks that followed, failure to pick up a single point from seven league games saw Derby fall into the bottom three. This, and an FA Cup defeat to League One Leyton Orient, resulted in renditions of the same chants that travelling fans had sung at Stevenage being heard as The Rams lost to Sheffield United. A “frustrating” Deadline Day in which three deals fell through compounded fans’ concerns, while Warne himself cut an increasingly dejected figure, but still conducted himself with grace and a humanity that is unusual in modern football.
Warne could point to the unusually large injury list, those failed deals and that fine margins often cost his side this season – though goals from open play were severely lacking.
As David Clowes acknowledged to the club website, it’s a results business. In that respect, the three early wins perhaps papered over the cracks at times – though the timing is bizarre, the substance of the news is less so.
What’s Warne’s legacy?
Love him or loathe him, Paul Warne has had a significant impact on Derby County Football Club.
He has embodied the values of integrity and transparency that Clowes pledged when he bought the club. At times, he was probably too honest if anything, not least at Elland Road. Paul Warne is, by all accounts, a unique character – and one of football’s good ones.
The style of play wasn’t always the most attractive, but he built a team fans were proud of as they returned to the Championship at the second time of asking. It has taken teams in stronger financial positions considerably longer, and this was perhaps a factor in his ‘downfall’.
Likewise, the failure to get the necessary additions over the line: once a struggling team cannot strengthen their playing squad, the manager is the obvious thing to change.
But now comes another big decision for David Clowes, as he must quickly decide who he will hand the managerial baton. Just two points from safety with 16 games to play, Derby have time to turn things round. Does Clowes go for a firefighter, someone who will get Derby over the line by any means, or opt for a young, progressive coach, who can build a philosophy for the long-term?
One thing is certain though: with a reputation as a League One promotion expert, Paul Warne will be of interest to clubs in the division before long.
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