Warne, Hurst and why managers need thick skins

Paul Warne – bbc.co.uk

Rotherham United manager Paul Warne did an interview with Chris Dunlavy at The League Paper, in which he was remarkably open about his situation.

He said he feels like a ‘fraudster’, a ‘non-leaguer who somehow crashed the party’. He said he does not feel like he belongs in the dugout at big grounds like St James’s Park, that his players might see him to be ‘a bit tactically inept’. He admits himself that those feelings come from paranoia.

The widespread response to this interview has been praise for Warne’s honesty and openness. While this blog would say those things make him one of the most likeable figures in football, they also make his position at Rotherham untenable.

Football management is a brutal business. When results go badly, a manager must often take the reactive wrath of supporters who hold him responsible, even if the situation is more complex. Success in such a role requires a thick skin that is not always compatible with natural human emotions such as honesty, sensitivity and insecurity.

A legendary figure at Rotherham was Paul Hurst, who spent 15 years at the club as a player between 1993 and 2008. It is fair to say not everyone has liked him in his managerial career and his exit from Grimsby Town was somewhat acrimonious. He faced criticism from Mariners fans last season and, after guiding them to promotion, he had a dig at those who doubted him. Perhaps he should have drawn a line under the conflict and celebrated the club’s achievement of getting back into the Football League.

And yet, it was partly his confidence, which bordered on unsavoury arrogance, that got Grimsby over the line. The team showed self-belief to overturn a first leg deficit against Braintree in the play-off semi-finals to win the second leg away from home, then beat Forest Green in the final. A lot of that spirit came from Hurst.

This season, he took over a Shrewsbury Town side that was bottom of League One in October, six points adrift of safety. Nine wins from his 21 games in charge however has seen them move six points clear of the drop zone and to relative safety. Only a big character could have that type of impact and striker Freddie Ladapo, who has scored four goals in 10 appearances, praised his manager for frequent advice and for instilling confidence in him.

Hurst has proven to be a leader of men, one who gets players believing in themselves in times of adversity. Warne is an honourable man, but his side are losing every week and almost guaranteed relegation to League One. Next season, Rotherham will need a true leader at the helm to rekindle some confidence. If Warne does not back himself to do the job, how can he expect his club to?