Paul Warne has been in charge of Derby County for 5 weeks and in his first 7 games has overseen 2 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. 2 of the defeats were in the EFL trophy.
His tenure started with a 0-2 win away at Cambridge, this saw Derby pick up their first points and first goals on the road this season. This was followed by a draw then loss on penalties to Mansfield in the EFL trophy.
His first game in front of a packed Pride Park stadium saw the Rams lose 1-2 to Port Vale. He bounced back from this loss with a thumping 0-3 win away at Accrington Stanley.
Derby were then eliminated from the EFL trophy after a 1-3 defeat to Man City Un21s. They then lost 1-0 to League 1 title chasing Ipswich at Portman Road before drawing 0-0 to Exeter at home.
It has been a mixed bag for the former Rotherham manager and following lasts nights draw with the Grecians, some fans on social media were calling for Warne to go.
A slight overreaction by some I feel. There was a lot of hype when Warne was appointed as the new man in charge and why not? He guided Rotherham to 3 promotions from League One and although 2 promotions were followed by relegations, when he left The Millers to join The Rams he left them in 8th place in The Championship.
Former interim Boss Liam Rosenior had assembled a squad from next to nothing, bringing in 14 new players during the summer window. He preferred a 4231 system even though it meant midfielder Jason Knight playing at right back.
The first thing fans noticed at Warne’s first game in charge was a change in formation to a 352. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Tom Barkhuizen were utilised as wing backs, Jason Knight moved back into midfield and Lewis Dobbin partnered James Collins up front.
As for style of play, their was a more direct approach with long balls, a higher tempo and almost a refusal to pass backwards. This was almost the polar opposite of what had been seen under Rosenior, who preferred a more possession based style of football.
As for the EFL trophy games, Warne admitted they felt more like training games and it seemed as if he didn’t have much interest if Derby competed in them or not. It was more about getting minutes in the fringe players and those coming back from injuries. His focus was gaining promotion back to the Championship.
In recent games the intensity of the performances has dropped and there has been a struggle to create chances.
Warne will need time as he has inherited a team that lacks any sort of depth. A suspension to James Collins and injuries to Jason Knight Tom Barkhuizen and Curtis Davies have left big holes in the spine of the team.
William Osula replaced the suspended Collins and announced himself to Rams fans with a brace on his first start against Accrington Stanley but in the 3 games following has found chances hard to come by.
The midfield looks unbalanced without Jason Knight. There is no one who is going to do the dirty work. Both Hourihane and Bird are technically very good players but neither is the type of player to really do the defensive dog work. A point which Warne alluded to post Exeter. He said “Nice people don’t win things in football. I have learned more about individuals and I’ve told them my phone is on all night if they want to come back at me.”
With injuries and suspensions it shown that Derby just don’t seem to have the man power to really push for the top 2. James Chester went off injured last night, so that is potentially another player out.
Warne held a meeting with the board last week to discuss getting more players in but nothing has been said about how that went. There is still a business plan in place that needs to be stuck to but a little bit of money might be able to be spent in the January transfer window.
Giving Warne a 4 year deal shows a message of intent about owner David Clowes and where he sees this club going. Squad depth is an issue but the manager might have to look at how he sets out his squad with the current crop of players he has. He switched to a 4231 in the second half against Exeter and whilst there was improvement it still wasn’t enough to get his first victory at Pride Park.
I don’t think there is any need to panic or be calling for his head after 5 league games. Derby are only 5 points adrift of the top six and have games in hand over some of the current teams in the playoff spots. Automatic promotion is now a huge ask but they need to keep digging in and hopefully come January some reinforcements can be brought in.
Simon Long – follow me on twitter @ramswriter
The Rams Writer 