"Complete turmoil behind the scenes" - Claim made as Derby County sack Paul Warne | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit has given his reaction to the sacking of manager Paul Warne.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County have announced the sacking of manager Paul Warne after just under two-and-a-half years in charge.

Warne made the move from Rotherham United to take over at Pride Park in September 2022, and he led Derby to automatic promotion from League One last season as they finished in second place behind champions Portsmouth.

The Rams made a decent start to life back in the Championship, but their form has declined significantly in recent months, and they suffered their seventh consecutive defeat as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Sheffield United on Saturday.

That has prompted owner David Clowes to take action, and Warne departs with the club sitting 22nd in the table, two points from safety.

In a statement, Clowes described Warne as a "man of great integrity" and said that "no fan should ever forget his contribution in securing promotion", but he admitted that "to give us the best chance of retaining our Championship status, the time was right to make a change".

Given Derby's poor recent form, the decision to part company with Warne is not a surprise, but the timing of his dismissal a day before the trip to Norwich City has raised eyebrows, as well as the fact that he was allowed to bring in four new players - Matt Clarke, Sondre Langas, Harrison Armstrong and Lars-Jorgen Salvesen - during the January transfer window.

Derby County fan pundit reacts to Paul Warne sacking

When asked for his thoughts on Warne's exit, FLW's Derby County fan pundit Shaun Woodward said that he was in favour of a managerial change at the start of January, but he criticised Clowes for making the decision after the closure of the transfer window.

"This is not a good decision in my opinion," Shaun said.

"I've said before that I do believe Paul Warne had taken us as far as he could, and I do believe he should have been released from his role at the beginning of January to give someone a whole month to implement their ideas and bring in their own players.

"Now we've sold Cashin and spent some of that money on new players for Warne, and those players have come in and have a couple of days training with the manager, but now they will have someone completely different tomorrow against Norwich and then someone different in probably a week's time when we bring in a new manager.

"It just reeks of mismanagement and desperation, it's like the blind leading the blind really.

"Like I said, I do think Warne should have gone, but the timing of it is appalling.

"A day before a game and after the window shuts, it just reeks of a club that is unfortunately going down, it's just complete turmoil behind the scenes.

"I do think Warne did a great job getting us up, but to get rid of him after the window shuts is a terrible decision in my opinion.

"We should have just seen it through and re-evaluate at the end of the season."

Paul Warne's Derby County departure was inevitable

Warne did an outstanding job to lead Derby back to the Championship last season, and that achievement should not be forgotten, but after a run of seven straight defeats, a change was needed to give the club the best possible chance of staying in the division.

It was not only results that were damaging for Warne, with his style of play also attracting plenty of criticism in recent weeks, and after supporters turned on him during the defeat against Sheffield United on Saturday, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

However, you do have to question why Clowes waited until the day before a tough trip to Norwich to part company with Warne, and after giving him strong backing in January, it is a slightly strange move to dismiss him less than a week after end of the window.