League One outfit Derby County first set their sights on Rotherham United boss Paul Warne back in July, according to a claim on Twitter from journalist Alan Biggs.

The Rams are now on the verge of appointing the 49-year-old, with The Telegraph's John Percy revealing yesterday evening that only small details needed to be dealt with before he could be unveiled as their new boss.

This comes after the news that Liam Rosenior had been relieved of his managerial duties at Pride Park, though he has been offered a role within the third-tier side's coaching setup and could potentially remain at the club despite his removal from the head coach role.

Rosenior had taken temporary charge of the East Midlands outfit in the summer following Wayne Rooney's departure, stepping up from being the Manchester United legend's assistant to oversee a rebuild at Pride Park following their takeover.

He was also given the time to take charge of their opening nine league games, with the club currently sitting in seventh place with four wins, two draws and three losses under their belt.

But the former Brighton and Hove Albion defender may not have been given any time at all if the Rams had pushed harder for Warne in the summer, with the 49-year-old seemingly of interest to Derby even back then.

The Verdict:

This is a very interesting claim - and you have to feel the Rams would have been better served pursuing this deal at the start of the summer considering the fact David Clowes officially took charge of the club at the start of July.

If he had appointed Warne at that point, the Rotherham United boss would have had most of pre-season to build his squad and work with the players, even though he would have been in a race against time to get a sufficient number of players through the door.

The Millers may have also preferred to see him leave at that point to allow a new manager to come in and put his own stamp on the second-tier side's first-team squad, though they may not have had such a good starter under a different man.

And from the Rams' perspective, you have to wonder whether they were worried about the amount of time it may have taken for them to conclude a deal for Warne, potentially putting Derby at risk of not being fully prepared for the season with less time for him to make signings.

Rosenior was already in the building and had a plan, so it made sense for him to take the club forward at that point.

Results in the early stages of this season have been mixed - but you just feel this decision to make a switch isn't because of where they are in the table - because they would have been expecting a mixed start to the campaign with a new squad.