Derby County: Paul Warne says first home game as Rams boss 'surreal and an honour'
- Published
Managing Derby 'is another level' - Warne
Paul Warne admits he is still not used to being Derby County boss.
The 49-year-old ex-Rotherham manager will oversee his first Rams home game on Saturday against Port Vale.
His tenure began with a 2-0 victory at Cambridge a week ago.
When asked what it would feel like to lead the Rams at home, emulating the likes of the late Brian Clough who guided the club to their first English title 50 years ago, Warne said: "It'll be pretty surreal and a real honour."
Warne, who took Rotherham to promotion to the Championship from League One in each of his three seasons managing in the division, said he appreciates how far he has come in the game.
As a player, he did not sign his first professional deal until the age of 23, when he joined Wigan Athletic in 1997.
He went on to play for the next 16 years in the English Football League, including two spells with Rotherham, where he got his chance to move into management when he was initially handed the reins on an interim basis as the club was slipping towards relegation from the Championship in 2016.
Warne took the Millers back to the second tier in his first full season as permanent boss, and they have yo-yoed between League One and the Championship since.
Warne decided to leave the Millers after almost six years to drop a division and take the helm of a Derby side that is rebuilding after spending nine months in administration.
"I've always been really grateful of professional football," Warne told BBC East Midlands Today.
"My football background is quite humble - I played non-league until I was 23 and was really fortunate to turn professional, then I worked really hard on my game and manged to play until I was 39.
"I joke when I drive in and 'beep, beep', the gates come up and I'm like 'what are they doing employing us?'
"So I'm really proud of what me and my friends have done, but to manage this great club is another level."