Former Rovers boss Sam Allardyce has weighed in on John Eustace’s imminent move to Derby County.
Eustace is expected to be announced as the new head coach at Pride Park but, at the time of writing, that has not yet happened.
During the latest episode of his No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, produced by Footy Accumulators, Allardyce addressed the managerial situation at Ewood Park.
“I’ve always said this, it’s something managers can’t do until later in their careers, where whatever the board says determines whether you take the job or not, irrespective of how big the club might be, because you will ultimately fail if that board doesn’t support you,” he said.
“There will definitely be a bigger budget at Derby, and from what I hear from behind the scenes, Blackburn have lived on what money they can generate themselves within the club.
“They kept the money from the sale of Sammie Szmodics, so it’s about the financial structure of the club first, and surviving so it doesn’t fall into debt being more important than the quality of the team on the field, which then affects the fans.
“Blackburn’s recent history, they’ve won the Premier League. Lots of their fans remember that, so it’s big business at Blackburn to try and get back into the Premier League and it’s not happening.
“John Eustace must see his move to Derby as a positive move and believe it’s quicker to get Derby in the Premier League than it is Blackburn.
“Derby have obviously hit the compensation factor that’s in his contract and they have to let him move on.”
The recent developments were branded a “damning indictment of everything that is wrong with our club” by supporter group We Are The Rovers earlier this week.
Allardyce added: “I don’t know why they (Venky’s) don’t sell it. Blackburn was one of the best-run clubs I’ve been at.
“John Williams was the chairman and had everybody in their place, and they’d all know exactly how the football club was run. If you were the manager, you just needed to go and manage the team.
“There were no other distractions, everything they were doing was creating the right opportunity for you as the manager, and making sure Blackburn was doing as well as they possibly could and finished as high as they possibly could in the Premier League.”
Allardyce was then asked by Phil Thompson if he would be available for a potential return to Ewood Park. The 70-year-old did not reply but gave a cheeky wink and smile.
