In defence of Paul Warne.

[Rev]

I like Paul Warne and his staff, as people. 

 

From what I can tell, they're a decent, honest and principled bunch. 

 

I believe that's what attracted David Clowes to them in the first instance, alongside their record of success in League One. 

 

I'll also add that they saw those principles reflected in David Clowes, hence their decision to come on board.

 

From the start it was referenced by all parties the entire ethos of the club needed changing, and rebuilding work was needed from top to bottom, which is not the work of a moment, or indeed a few months. 

 

The backroom staff had been hollowed out to the bare minimum, across multiple departments. 

 

A review of the remaining staff saw several leave, and a new round of recruitment has taken place, building the club back up to operating strength across the board, from the casual staff,offices and the football support and academy roles, a process that is still ongoing.

 

That's not a normal issue that an incoming manager has to grapple with, rebuilding the back room to what it should be, while ensuring his requirements are met. We've seen a level of churn across the Academy management in that time, which must have demanded Warnes attention at various stages, in addition to the normal commitments management brings.

 

We've an owner learning about operating a football club, having taken over in sheer desperation, leaning on the manager he's appointed I presume, there seems to be no other football experts within his team we know of.

 

None of this is normal for a first team football manager, especially in his first job away from a much smaller club with different expectations, so mistakes and stumbles will inevitably happen. 

 

We got close enough last season that there were few grumbles about his position, yet after only two games, one in the league, there's a sizable minority calling for change, and a notable shift in how he's perceived. 

 

I'm not a natural defender of Warne, but will stand up for his work so far.

 

 I'm a self confessed football snob, and don't see him as the man to lead us back to the promised land of the Premier League, probably based around pre conceptions of his football philosophy rather than any evidence, but he's Clowes choice to launch that journey, and some of the criticism on here recently is well out of kilter with the job he's done so far.

 

[Eoghan1884]

Totally agree, they clearly care and want to bring the club success. If results go bad for a decent period of time and we have to part ways so be it. But we should all be behind every coach and player who’s giving there all for the Rams. 

[Brammie Steve]

Paul Warne is an honest man of integrity who sincerely wants what is best for DCFC. He is not infallible and learns from his mistakes.

PS I like the guy!

 

[littleover ram]

To be fair he get more slack last season due to turning up mid season, not signing any of his own players and working under restrictions 

he’s had most of last season and a summer to build for this season. The recruitment seems poor; this could have been planned last season 

whats concerning people is we seem worse and less coherent than the start of last season when we had a thrown together squad 

there’s only so long you can play the ‘days from going out of business’ card, football moves on quickly. Look how Leicester sacked a title winning manager  

[nottingram]

I do largely agree and think the idea of a wholescale rebuild is good.

However almost every decision around on field matters has been horribly short term. If we don’t go up this year the playing squad will have 0 saleable assets. There’s £3-£4m worth of young players out of contract in a year who we seem to have no thought or intention of selling. In three windows we’ve signed one player with resale potential and that’s only on a 2 year deal. Of course there’s pressure when every decision seems to be centred on promotion ASAP

So to me the on field stuff just doesn’t mesh with the off field stuff. Not really Warne’s fault I guess, more of a general rant, albeit I do think we are probably a bit too “all in” on him.

[Tamworthram]

6 minutes ago, littleover ram said:

To be fair he get more slack last season due to turning up mid season, not signing any of his own players and working under restrictions 

he’s had most of last season and a summer to build for this season. The recruitment seems poor; this could have been planned last season 

whats concerning people is we seem worse and less coherent than the start of last season when we had a thrown together squad 

there’s only so long you can play the ‘days from going out of business’ card, football moves on quickly. Look how Leicester sacked a title winning manager  

How could he build a team last season? He only had one recruitment window - the notoriously difficult January window whilst still under severe restrictions. How could recruitment have been planned last season when we didn’t know what restrictions we’d be under? Maybe it was planned based on different scenarios but he’s not been able to get the players in he wanted due to lack of funds/restrictions. 
 

This season hasn’t started as any of us had hoped but I’d rather judge how coherent the squad is after a few more than one league and one EFL cup game.

Most of us stopped playing the “days from going out of business” card a while ago and I’m not sure what relevance Leicester sacking a title winning manager has to do with our current position.

As far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on PW but they need a little more evidence (I.e. more games this season) before reaching a verdict.

[Tyler Durden]

Some of the comments last night about Warne on the matchday thread were pretty sad and pathetic quite honestly.

The latest bandwagon to be jumped on seems to be comparing Warne with David Brent.

Well Brent is portrayed as a supine incompetent in The Office who tries to be everyone's friend, avoids making difficult decisions and believes that in his role as manager the number one measure of success is being popular. He's also portrayed as being totally insecure and absolutely disorganised.

I don't see any of these traits in Warne as a manager. Move on. 

[hintonsboots]

There are no strikers available.

[angieram]

53 minutes ago, Rev said:

I like Paul Warne and his staff, as people. 

 

From what I can tell, they're a decent, honest and principled bunch. 

 

I believe that's what attracted David Clowes to them in the first instance, alongside their record of success in League One. 

 

I'll also add that they saw those principles reflected in David Clowes, hence their decision to come on board.

 

From the start it was referenced by all parties the entire ethos of the club needed changing, and rebuilding work was needed from top to bottom, which is not the work of a moment, or indeed a few months. 

 

The backroom staff had been hollowed out to the bare minimum, across multiple departments. 

 

A review of the remaining staff saw several leave, and a new round of recruitment has taken place, building the club back up to operating strength across the board, from the casual staff,offices and the football support and academy roles, a process that is still ongoing.

 

That's not a normal issue that an incoming manager has to grapple with, rebuilding the back room to what it should be, while ensuring his requirements are met. We've seen a level of churn across the Academy management in that time, which must have demanded Warnes attention at various stages, in addition to the normal commitments management brings.

 

We've an owner learning about operating a football club, having taken over in sheer desperation, leaning on the manager he's appointed I presume, there seems to be no other football experts within his team we know of.

 

None of this is normal for a first team football manager, especially in his first job away from a much smaller club with different expectations, so mistakes and stumbles will inevitably happen. 

 

We got close enough last season that there were few grumbles about his position, yet after only two games, one in the league, there's a sizable minority calling for change, and a notable shift in how he's perceived. 

 

I'm not a natural defender of Warne, but will stand up for his work so far.

 

 I'm a self confessed football snob, and don't see him as the man to lead us back to the promised land of the Premier League, probably based around pre conceptions of his football philosophy rather than any evidence, but he's Clowes choice to launch that journey, and some of the criticism on here recently is well out of kilter with the job he's done so far.

 

They are all good points, Rev,  and you only have to pop into Pride Park to realise how inexperienced some of the staff are.

Everyone seems to be doing three people's jobs at the moment.

Relative to the backroom staff, Warne has the privilege of a good team of people, three other coaches plus numerous medical and support staff.

My advice to Warne would be simple: concentrate on the job you've been given and try and keep wise counsel. If you can't do that, send out Richie Barker to do the press stuff. He's a man of few words.

Put your efforts into what counts, building that team. 

[FlyBritishMidland]

5 minutes ago, angieram said:

They are all good points, Rev,  and you only have to pop into Pride Park to realise how inexperienced some of the staff are.

Everyone seems to be doing three people's jobs at the moment.

Relative to the backroom staff, Warne has the privilege of a good team of people, three other coaches plus numerous medical and support staff.

My advice to Warne would be simple: concentrate on the job you've been given and try and keep wise counsel. If you can't do that, send out Richie Barker to do the press stuff. He's a man of few words.

Put your efforts into what counts, building that team. 

I think there’s something in what you say about letting Ritchie Barker do the interviews.  Warne is wears his heart on his sleeve and by his own admission he needs to apply a filter to the media.  The heart on the sleeve approach will be great for those who work for him as it’ll show he’s genuine and authentic.  The problem with letting someone else do the interviews is that if we lose he’ll then be accused of not having the bottle to face the public.  He can’t win.

We need calm in times of trouble.  I think he is the right man and will get us out of this league.  I also think it may take more than this year as David Clowes is effectively building everything from scratch.  Other clubs of similar stature have not found it easy.

To be honest, I find it a bit disappointing how fractious we seem to have become.  In admin, as a fan base, we had a siege mentality.  It seems we’re becoming very divided at the moment.  It’s OK to have different views and opinions but it seems be turning into a bit of mud slinging - not you I hasten to add, it’s just that I’m replying to your post. 

Let’s get behind PW, his staff and the team.  They aren’t going anywhere in the short-term so let’s all support them to help improve results.   That togetherness nearly helped to pull of a miracle 2 years ago and it can help us get out of L1.  And then have a healthy debate and understand others views and opinions with respect and courtesy.

[Anag Ram]

I guess my feelings are that we were led to believe this was going to be a fit, hungry group of players. 

The friendlies (and yes I know they’re no real barometer) saw us playing some nice stuff to feet. I was a little alarmed at how easy teams found it to create chances, even though (esp Stoke) they missed a lot.

When I saw the team for Saturday I thought we would struggle to score, but I thought we would be well-organised and difficult to break down. With two very experienced central defenders and an upcoming defensive talent, we should have dealt with Wyke and Co without too much trouble.

What I saw was very chaotic and troubling.

Bradley looks like he’s going through a crisis of confidence. Nelson regularly over hits passes. Cashin doesn’t seem to know how to play alongside them.

They aren’t bad players, they are good players playing badly. I think our defending will improve dramatically. I am less confident about what will happen in front of them. In order to get the variety we need in midfield, we need two new players.

We have three hardworking but toothless old forwards and we seldom look like getting on the end of crosses. Collins raised hopes with easy goals when unmarked in friendlies but when he is marked creates no threat at all. Washington might help another score, as might Waghorn, but we haven’t got the pace or guile to make half a yard to score goals. 

I think that will take two more players. That’s four to find, just to become competitive. 

I really hope Warne gets those four, because I don’t think any manager would succeed with what we have. Sibley and Barkhuisen will offer more from the bench, with occasional starts. 

I think we also need to have more faith in Bardell and Rooney who have energy and enthusiasm to play progressive football.

Warne seems to want success, but also wears his heart very much on his sleeve. Good managers should look full of energy to put things right, not dejected, no matter how bad they are feeling.

The players need lifting up, not to be vilified. They have to believe they are good enough to beat Burton. I’ll be rooting for them. Even if they lose, I will settle for passion, positive play and a shape which will be effective over the course of a season.

 

 

 

 

 

[europia]

51 minutes ago, angieram said:

They are all good points, Rev,  and you only have to pop into Pride Park to realise how inexperienced some of the staff are.

Everyone seems to be doing three people's jobs at the moment.

Relative to the backroom staff, Warne has the privilege of a good team of people, three other coaches plus numerous medical and support staff.

My advice to Warne would be simple: concentrate on the job you've been given and try and keep wise counsel. If you can't do that, send out Richie Barker to do the press stuff. He's a man of few words.

Put your efforts into what counts, building that team. 

Since arriving at DCFC, Warne has always been a bit 'over talkative' in media sessions. Could be wrong, but I don't remember anyone being too critical of his interview style when we were on a winning run. I would just add that I don't enjoy his interactions with the media, but that's just my opinion. 

[sage]

1 minute ago, europia said:

Since arriving at DCFC, Warne has always been a bit 'over talkative' in media sessions. Could be wrong, but I don't remember anyone being too critical of his interview style when we were on a winning run. I would just add that I don't enjoy his interactions with the media, but that's just my opinion. 

There were some. @i-Ram has been very consistent on this. The Brent comments first came last season. 

[sage]

1 hour ago, Brammie Steve said:

Paul Warne is an honest man of integrity who sincerely wants what is best for DCFC. He is not infallible and learns from his mistakes.

PS I like the guy!

 

Any evidence of this?

[McMuffin]

[Ambitious]

Paul Warne is clearly a good manager and when the opportunity to hire came up, it would’ve been difficult to turn him away. He’s a manager with a proven track record on a small budget and is an impressive character - he’s very assured on what he wants and I think that translates quite well. 

I think the problem is that football management is in itself an enigma so what works at one place doesn’t at another - you’re essentially trying to row a paddle boat in the ocean where any number of things can go in your favour or against you. I find it funny that so many people believe they have so much influence, but ultimately the best laid plans can go to wreck and ruin. Don’t get me wrong, some managers don’t help themselves, Warne hasn’t at times, but the biggest issue in his time at Derby has been situational football. Individual errors in critical situations have plauged his time here - he’s going to take some responsibility for that but it’s not fifa so he’s not controlling every player. Senior players have let themselves down, the important thing now is to try and get everything settled going into the next two league games. We’ve got two teams also yet to win a game - Oxford in particular seem to be in a little bit of a crisis after expected to go well this season. 

[Sheepinthedales]

Don't think anyone questions the off field ongoing clean up from the Morris years but that doesn't really come into why senior players are making elementary errors, why the team is so unbalanced, why the manager is basically saying the players aren't giving 100% for him and why the ones that are look somewhat confused by their role or positions. I think you can distinguish between the two but results clearly take precedent 

[oodledoodle]

Hope it's not our back 3 defending Paul Warne, or he'll have no chance.

[BramcoteRam84]

He didn’t help himself with last night’s interview, it was really clumsy and led to a lot of unnecessary speculation and a Twitter meltdown by a vocal minority who honestly think they’re centre of the universe. It’s not the first time. He did something similar with Didzy last season when he was injured. It all blew over and I think this will to. It’s just Warne being Warne speaking as he’s thinking when he’s in an emotional state post game. It’s an endearing quality but sometimes he just needs to keep it brief. 

I think it was telling him saying we’re short, that’s definitely aimed at Clowes. interesting to see what comes of it. I think we are. Especially midfield which looks one paced. I expected us to be able to re-invest more of the knight money. If we can’t use the Bird money there is no point doing that deal.

New signings will take time to come good, I think they will and we’ll get through this period, the fans are expecting promotion and warne says that’s the task - it should be - we’re at the lowest point in our history, hopefully it happens as if not fear we could be down here for a few years, especially if Clowes is not or can’t  free up money from sales to build a team. 

I like Warne, I still back him. If people do want him out though, if Clowes isn’t providing the budget or the EFL are still restricting us, will anyone else do any better. Teams that have gone up and the teams around us have been able to do more business either this summer or over the past couple of seasons. 

[Rammy03]

What frustrates me is that we have now kicked off the season and as a squad we don't seem much stronger than last season.

We've brought in a load of defensive players but what we actually needed to strengthen was the midfield and the top end of the pitch.

We needed to bring in creativity, pace, goalscorers and we simply have not done it. We have lost two good players in McGoldrick and Knight and have not replaced them.

Clowes said that Warne has been given a budget which is better than our rivals and one that he thinks is good enough to get us out of this league. So there are little excuses.