Former Derby County captain Shaun Barker believes there isn't anyone better suited to the job than new Head Coach Paul Warne.
Barker played with Warne during their time together at Rotherham United in the early 2000s and was full of praise for the new man in the dugout, hailing his character and his all round 'unique' persona.
The former Rams defender sat down with RamsTV to discuss the appointment of Warne, what Derby fans can expect from him and plenty more...
On Paul Warne’s appointment…
I am absolutely delighted. I'm delighted for Paul, for his staff and the football club but I have to go on record and say first that I think Liam Rosenior has done a wonderful job here. I’m sure there’s a few people that will be disappointed that he’s not the one leading the club forward because of the last year or so and what he’s put in in terms of coaching the team and taking over at a really difficult period.
He’s brought in lots of great players and there’s a style of football he’s wanted to play as well, so he has to have huge credit and what Paul has taken over is a club that is looking to move forward, that is in a good place and a lot of that is down to Liam. So first off, you’ve got to credit Liam but secondly, to have Warney at the football club is a huge plus. He is a wonderful, wonderful guy and a great character.
Everything you see - whether it be on podcasts, interviews behind the scenes and the footage you see - it’s real and there’s no gimmicks to it. He’s a genuinely lovely guy who has energy and enthusiasm; a real kind of quality to him. There’s a vulnerability to him as well which is really endearing. You see times where he can get emotional and he can get a little bit carried away but it’s always about the players, it’s about the staff, it’s about the fans, it’s about the club. It’s never about him. Even when he’s had success, he diverts it away from him to put it onto those others.
We’ve got someone that is truly unique in football and I think that it marries to what David Clowes wants, what he wants the club to stand for and obviously Paul has a great track record of getting from League One to the Championship. Three promotions in five seasons so that speaks for itself. The character and manager we will get is unique and something wonderful.
On what he was like as a team-mate…
As a team-mate, he was exactly as you see as a manager. He was always willing to do the bit that maybe didn’t help himself, but helped the team. He was a wonderful footballer, he won’t tell you that - but he was a wonderful footballer. His strength was his character, his drive, his energy and his enthusiasm to get around the pitch to make it hard for the opposition and to help out his team-mates.
He often played on the right-hand side of midfield when I was playing right-back and it was so much easier when he was there because he’d do all the dogged work, he’d do all the hard-work for me.
Paul was a loveable, fun and energetic person to work with so nothing’s changed, nothing’s changed at all with him. We’ve all seen the interviews with him. We’ve all heard the podcasts and watched the behind the scenes footage. There’s no sort of other gain apart from those people that work around him – they want to show you what kind of guy this person is and what he means to the players and what he means to the staff.
Paul is an endearing guy that always wants the best for those around him. There’s a saying: 'be the best version of yourself' - and that’s all he wants. He wants that for his players players and he wants the engagement. Everyone I’ve spoken to that has been around Rotherham United said that every single person at that football club, fans, staff, owners, players were all engaged and all part of what he wanted for the football club and that will undoubtedly happen here too.
On his successes…
I think there will be two reasons why David Clowes has made the decision to bring Warney in and the first will undoubtedly be his character and what he stands for and his morals, all those things that have really highlighted himself as a manager over the last five or six years.
And secondly will be his track-record in League One. Three promotions in five seasons is quite remarkable and for a team like Rotherham who are not a big side in the Championship and have almost established themselves as a good League One side but to get three promotions on the trot from that division into the Championship is superb. In my opinion, I think it would have been the highest that Rotherham would have finished in the Championship had Paul stayed this year so the progressions they’ve seen over the last few years have been outstanding.
He knows League One both as a player and as a manager and part of the staff – he’s been around it for a long time. In terms of history and experience at League One, trying to get from League One to the Championship – there’s probably nobody better suited at the moment.
On Richie Barker…
Richie is another great guy. There was probably a handful of guys that I was close to when I was at Rotherham. I was a young boy coming through. It was probably an older kind of dressing room at tha tpoint and there were a few players that I always thought were professional, good characters, loyal and honest to work with – Richie was one of those players.
I think with Paul Warne, Richie Barker and Paul Hurst, you’ve seen those characters be dominant in football over the last few years. Hursty has done well at the few clubs he’s been at and I know Richie is a massive part of how Paul wants to set-up, how he wants to play, how he wants to integrate between how he wants to be a manager, a man-manager and the coaching side. Richie is an excellent coach with all the values that Warney wants. He tries to replicate that with the football as well.
There’s a good relationship between the two of them, they’ve known each other for so many years and have had real success together.
On the challenge of swapping Rotherham for Derby…
I think you have to adjust in terms of the size of the club. There’s no doubt when Paul came through the Rotherham environment and their philosophy was based on hard-work, being physical and getting results.
Derby County is a different environment. The fans want to see some football, they want to see a style of play, they want to see progression and I think what he’s got is a set of players that are probably footballing players that want to keep the ball down. Liam has obviously coached them that way.
That transition from maybe being a little bit more direct at Rotherham and flipping that to hopefully try and create a bit of both going forward, when they need to, and obviously playing a bit of football as well will be interesting. Marrying the two with the squad he’s got will be a little bit of transition but I have no doubt he’ll be able to do that comfortably.
On the busy October schedule ahead….
He’s the kind of manager and person that will relish that. I have no problem in saying I think Warney will be able to get results away from home. I think he understands how to get results and get teams performing.
It’s going to be frantic but it’s something he’ll be looking forward to. It’s a bit of baptism of fire; you just go straight into it. There’s no kind of talking about it and leading up to stuff, you’re right in the mix straightaway.
It won’t take long for the players to endear to him, it won’t take long for the fans to endear to him but shifting that focus of how they want to play, what he wants to get from the players, that will be a little transition that may take a couple of weeks but I’ve no doubt he will get results and get them quickly.
