Why Rotherham boss Paul Warne is 'not over the moon' with 'brilliant bloke' Darren Moore's appointment at Sheffield Wednesday

The Owls raided local rivals Doncaster to hire Moore on Monday in a move that left everyone shocked.

Moore becomes the third permanent manager of the season at S6 and leaves a promotion challenge at Rovers for a relegation dogfight at Hillsborough.

And his first game in charge is a monumental South Yorkshire derby against the Millers, which has huge connotations in the race for survival.

Warne endorses Moore's switch to Hillsborough but is not thrilled at the timing.

“Great signing for Sheffield Wednesday unfortunately,” he said.

“I think he has done brilliantly. He did brilliantly at West Brom. I thought he was very harshly treated there, how he lost his job.

“He has done really well at Donny, I know they had a blip recently but with games in hand they are in a really good position there, play good attractive passing football.

“I think it is a really good appointment. I spent a bit of time with him last summer, I really like his company, brilliant bloke and this sounds cheesy, but he is just a nice guy.

“Out of their last few appointments I think he is the standout candidate. I am not over the moon with it because I am competing with him for survival but if I was a Sheffield Wednesday fan I would be happy.”

Not only could Moore's arrival give Wednesday a timely boost, it also affects Warne's preparation for a vital game.

“It was a massive shock, and normally in football you hear the lot before it's out there, there is not much we don't know,” Warne added. “When we sat doing the meeting with the analyst and all of a sudden he said Darren got the job, we were like, 'It can't be, we haven't heard'.

“It knocked us a bit because all of a sudden you are preparing a team that you don't know.

“We are normally meticulous in our planning and this time we can't be. It just adds to the cooking pot.”