"Why is this guy still at the club?" - Derby County fans are fuming with key figure's latest comments | OneFootball

The Rams CEO spoke to the club's in-house media team about Paul Warne's exit, the January transfer window, investment and more.

Derby County supporters have hit out at Stephen Pearce, the club's CEO, following an in-house interview with RamsTV that detailed more about the January transfer window, Paul Warne's sacking and investment.

The Rams are struggling on the pitch right now, and despite John Eustace's arrival last Thursday, the team slipped back into the relegation zone following their heaviest defeat for nearly four years against QPR at the weekend.

The R's ran out 4-0 winners at Loftus Road, sending the East Midlands outfit back behind Hull City and into the bottom three.

Derby have now suffered eight league defeats in 2025, and they have picked up just two points along the way. Eustace will have his first game as head coach at Pride Park on Saturday against Millwall, as he looks to pick up his new side's first win since Boxing Day.

CEO Pearce speaks out on investment plans

There has been a lot of focus on investment since David Clowes completed his takeover of the Rams in July 2022, and in September it was revealed by The Telegraph that the 55-year-old is looking to sell 80% of the club.

The report also stated that the chairman has been in talks with multiple parties about a deal, but five months later, no progress has been reported to supporters.

Derby's CEO, Pearce, spoke to RamsTV's Owen Bradley about the plans that are in place for outside investment.

He said: "There are still ongoing investment conversations. David has been clear since day one, he was looking for investment into the football club.

"And I think the challenge with appointing a chairman pre that, that is always an appointment that needs to be done in conjunction with your investors, your co-investors.

"So I think for us that has been put on, I wouldn’t say the back burner, that’s probably the wrong terminology, but that is part of the ongoing investment discussions that David’s having at the moment."

When asked if there has been any progress, Pearce explained: "As I said, David has been looking for that, we’ve been having conversations for quite a while. But what David is very, very clear on is his love for this football club. He will not have investors that come in that don’t share his vision, don’t share where he wants to go with this football club.

"By that, he’s talked about stability, integrity, progress. He will not want anything to happen to this football club like that he has seen throughout his lifetime supporting this football club.

"He won’t want that to happen again. And he wants to make sure that any investors coming onboard are aligned with this vision in terms of looking after the football club and it remaining this main pillar in the community. And the family that has been built, both with the supporters and the staff internally.

"It’s a fluid situation," he continued. "There are investment conversations ongoing and there have been for a while, but from David’s perspective when there’s updates to share he will absolutely do that."

Supporters react to Pearce's interview

After being a part of Mel Morris' regime, many Rams supporters have very strong feelings about Pearce and where his future at the club should lie. He was kept on by Clowes in July 2022, and has continued in the same role that he was given by Derby's former owner.

It is the first time that fans have heard from him since the last few days of the summer transfer window, despite the board stating nearly three years ago when the takeover was completed that there would be transparency.

BBC Radio Derby asked for an interview with Pearce. However, it was declined, according to Dominic Dietrich.

Nevertheless, it is clear to see how the majority of supporters feel about the role that the CEO is currently playing at the club.