Blackburn Rovers are bracing themselves for an approach from Derby County for manager John Eustace.
Eustace’s odds shortened in the hours following Paul Warne’s sacking on Friday and the former Derby midfielder is believed to have keen admirers at Pride Park.
It is understood there has been no contact between the Championship clubs and Derby would have to pay compensation for Eustace, who is contracted to Ewood Park until 2026.
If Blackburn grant permission, Derby would want Eustace in place before Tuesday night’s vital league game at home against Oxford United.
Derby will have to pay compensation to land Eustace, after sacking Warne 24 hours before the game at Norwich.
Warne’s 2½-year reign is over after a torrid run of results which includes seven league defeats in a row, the club’s worst sequence for 17 years.
Derby have also won just three of the past 21 league matches, with owner and lifelong fan David Clowes – who saved the club from oblivion in 2022 – reluctantly making the decision amid fears of relegation.
Warne’s tenure was ended in a meeting after training on Friday. The decision came after days of talks between Clowes and Stephen Pearce, the club’s chief executive.
With a trip to Warne’s hometown club Norwich this weekend, it was felt unfair to keep the 51-year-old in charge and then face potentially sacking him later in the event of a defeat.
If Derby do lose at Carrow Road, it will be their eighth defeat in a row to equal their worst ever run in the league, which stretches back to 1888.
Many Derby fans have vented their frustration over results and performances in recent weeks. There have been complaints over a perceived lack of entertainment, and accusations that Warne does not have a ‘Plan B’.
Some have insisted that the club’s rescue from potentially going bust cannot be constantly used as an excuse for underachievement.
Warne will point to a litany of injuries and how he was still building a squad capable of competing in the unforgiving environment that is the Championship.
Derby feel they have backed Warne with transfer funds, and given him enough time to mount a revival. The threat of relegation back to League One was also at the forefront of their minds.
One source recently put it to Telegraph Sport that Derby have three crucial objectives this season: “stay in the Championship, stay in the Championship and stay in the Championship”.
Frustrating transfer window added to club’s problems
Derby do not possess a budget to rival many other clubs in the league but have still backed Warne significantly. However, the January transfer window was a frustrating experience, particularly towards the end of the month.
Though they spent over £4 million on defender Sondre Langås and forward Lars-Jørgen Salvesen, other targets slipped through their fingers.
Louie Barry, the Aston Villa forward, had held detailed talks with Warne and was understood to be attracted by the incentive of regular football.
Yet Hull City agreed a huge deal with Villa in which they will pay Barry’s £25,000-a-week wages plus a £1 million loan fee.
Deals to sign Middlesbrough’s Dan Barlaser, Levante’s Dani Gómez and West Bromwich Albion’s John Swift also collapsed, the latter two in the final hours of deadline day.
There was also the disruption of Eiran Cashin’s £9 million sale to Brighton, following months of negotiations between the two clubs.
Patience ran out with ‘king of League One’
Throughout the poor run, Clowes was determined to stick with Warne and hope for an upturn in results. After appointing him in September 2022, Clowes described him as “the king of League One”. Regardless of the recent results, Warne’s place in Derby’s history is assured and his part in the great rebuild cannot be overestimated.
When he succeeded Liam Rosenior, Derby were a shell of a club after Clowes’s takeover. The after-effects of nine months in administration were everywhere. There was no recruitment department and no scouts. The academy had been decimated, picked apart by clubs like a carcass.
Warne felt many of the staff were suffering a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. Yet in his first season he guided Derby to the brink of the play-offs, cruelly missing out on the final day with defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
He was determined to go again and with the benefit of a full pre-season Derby went on to secure their first promotion in 17 years [his fourth from League One].
They also secured their highest points total in a season (92), most away wins (13), and scored a league-high 24 goals from set-pieces. This season was always going to be difficult, yet results since November have badly tailed off.
Fear of relegation prompted owner to act
Derby were keen to maintain stability, but the prospect of returning to the third tier – in front of a fanbase which includes more than 20,000 season ticket holders – was impossible to ignore.
In a statement, Clowes said: “Paul is a man of great integrity and embodies the values we hold important at Derby County. No fan should ever forget his contribution in securing promotion to the Championship. I certainly won’t.
“However, results in football dictate decisions and we felt that to give us the best chance of retaining our Championship status, the time was right to make a change.”
With Derby two points from safety, the club believe Eustace is the right man to lead the club away from the dreaded dotted line.
