Incoming head coach wants to get city’s community behind the team.
The man given the responsibility to lead MK Dons back to glory again has said he’s excited about joining the club and wants to help the team get to ‘where they want to go’.
Paul Warne, who took over as head coach of the Dons yesterday says the road to recovery will be a ‘long journey and not an easy journey’.
But he said the way that everything is set and being developed at Milton Keynes’ football club, and the fact that he has been given free rein to come in and imprint his own style and culture on the squad, were two of the main reasons why he and assistant coach Richie Barker chose to come to MK Dons.
Speaking at his first press conference as Dons’ manager, Warne said he had spent the last few months since his departure from Derby mainly at home.
“I have only been to one football match,” he revealed. “But now I’m really pleased to get back into football.
“Out of the clubs (Richie and I) spoke to, this one was the stand-out. I like a lot of things about it. I love the fact that we were allowed to come in and imprint our culture on it and try to change things and help the club go to where they want to go.”
Warne said the job was not just about getting the team, who currently lie in 19th place in the league, winning games again, but it was a wider role which he has described as a ‘project’.
“I want to get the community, the players, the fanbase, everything together to try and help make this a brilliant place to play football which hopefully people will want to come and watch,” he said.
“I’m loyal and I have come here because I can see what this can be. I know where this club can get to so it’s really exciting for that. If we can get a lot of things right, then we can have a really good future.
“It hasn’t been a good season for the fanbase, I appreciate that, but it does feel like a great time to come in, especially with the end of the season as close as it is, then we can have an effect in the summer to try to have a really exciting campaign next year.”
The ‘project’ involves getting success on the pitch which in turn encourages fans to want to come to games, he explained, and admitted that where the team currently sits in the table and where chairman Fahad Al Ghanim, the club’s board and the players want to be, are ‘two different places’.
“It definitely means putting performances together that get results that fundamentally does get people through the turnstiles,” he explained. “So I’m well aware that successful teams breed excitement and fans, I get that, and our job in this one-club city is to play football that excites people but fundamentally gets the wins.”
Speaking before the press conference start, MK Dons CEO Neil Hart welcomed the new head coach to the club.
“We are absolutely thrilled to confirm and welcome Paul Warne as the new head coach of MK Dons on a long-term, four year deal,” he said. “This is a significant appointment for this football club.
“This is an ambitious appointment and on behalf of our chairman Fahad, the board of directors and everyone at the club we welcome you Paul, we’re delighted to have you with us, and we look forward to the journey.”
