"We don't live in an ideal world": Hart defends length of Warne hunt

Neil Hart defended the length of time it took for MK Dons to find a replacement for Scott Lindsey.

The side went six weeks without a permanent successor following the sacking of Lindsey after a run of just two wins in 16 games.

Ex-Rotherham United and Derby County manager Paul Warne was installed as Dons head coach on Tuesday night, 43 days after Lindsey’s departure, leaving interim head coach Ben Gladwin in charge for nine games.

But after losing four in a row, the latest of them the 95th minute heartbreak against Gillingham last Saturday, cries grew even louder for the club to appoint a permanent head coach.

Hart, Dons’ CEO, admitted the courtship of Warne took a long time, and longer than he would have liked, but he felt getting the decision, made alongside sporting director Liam Sweeting and owner Fahad Al Ghanim, right was the biggest factor.

“It feels a very long time, but it was important to get it right,” said Hart. “Liam and I have seen lots of people over the last six weeks, and we’ve landed on Paul who was our first choice. In an ideal world, we’d have done it sooner, but we don’t live in an ideal world.

“Fahad and the owners are busy people, we had to wait for them to come into the country last week to finish off this process. When we called Fahad to tell him we’d got Paul, it was greeted with a cheer over in Kuwait. He was absolutely delighted.”

After speaking with several candidates over the course of the six weeks, the owner Mr Al Ghanim flew in for the final interviews last week before they prepared a contract with Warne.

Discussing the process, Sweeting said: “We ran a comprehensive process, which I recognise took some time. Paul was overwhelmingly our first choice. We were aligned on a lot of things. He puts the environment first, the culture first, those are things which are really prominent for us. It’s an appointment for the long-term, an ambitious statement.

“I’ve seen what happens when you get it right here, when it’s right in the dressing room, how it connects with the fans, and it can be powerful. If we can get that going, we’re in for an exciting journey.”