He’s perfect for Mendez-Laing: Derby pushing to hire "excellent" new boss
da brwin： Derby County supporters would have been equal amounts of sad but optimistic for the future when news filtered through of Paul Warne’s dismissal from the Pride Park hot seat.
da esport bet： Warne exited his job post with seven straight defeats to his name and the Rams looking to be heading straight back down to League One, leaving the Derby hierarchy in a sticky situation to sack the still popular 51-year-old, considering Warne was the man to get the Midlands side back into the Championship.
Unfortunately for the ex-Rotherham United boss, there was no time for sentimental feelings with Derby engulfed in a battle against relegation, with an ambitious replacement in the form of John Eustace now reportedly in the pipeline.
What John Eustace has said about links to Derby
As per various different reports, Derby have allegedly now made an approach to try and poach Eustace away from play-off chasing Blackburn Rovers to be Warne’s immediate replacement.
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It has been revealed that Derby have triggered the manager’s £500k buy-out clause at Ewood Park and the boss is aware of interest in his services.
There is a method to Derby’s madness here, considering Eustace is formerly a Rams player and has connections to the Midlands courtesy of Birmingham City, meaning he could be tempted by relocating to Pride Park.
Whilst Warne has proven himself to be a serial promotion expert in getting teams up to the Championship, Eustace could be the best possible predecessor when you take into account his transformative roles at both the Riversiders and the Blues at the level.
Why Eustace is being targeted by Derby
Before his shock dismissal from Birmingham last year, Eustace had the St. Andrew’s outfit all the way up in a dizzy sixth spot in the league.
After sacking Eustace, the Blues did end up dramatically slipping down to League One, whilst the ex-Birmingham boss managed to rebuild his reputation as a solid second-tier option for struggling clubs at Ewood Park.
In the here and now, the in-demand 45-year-old has managed to pick up 19 wins from 53 games in charge of Blackburn, with an early patch of form this season during November and December even seeing his side pick up five Championship wins on the trot without shipping a single goal.
He could be just what Derby needs to stabilise, therefore, with Warne very much sending the Rams down on their current trajectory, which would have ended up being his staggering fourth relegation from the division.
Away from Eustace’s numbers at Blackburn in terms of wins, draws and losses, his track record with getting more out of the group he has at his disposal could also be music to the ears of a struggling Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
After all, in Lancashire to date, the Solihull-born boss has managed to get an experienced Andreas Weimann firing on all cylinders again, with the ageing Austrian up to eight goals and one assist from 30 appearances this season.
Mendez-Laing G/A record at Derby
Season
Games
Goals scored
Assists
24/25
34
2
4
23/24
50
10
18
22/23
51
8
11
Sourced by Transfermarkt
It’s been quite the drop-off for the former Cardiff City winger, in contrast, who has just a measly six goal contributions next to his name from 34 contests, compared to his bumper 28 goal contributions during Derby’s promotion heroics.
The Derby captain’s trickery and eye for a goal could be key to the Rams attempting to leap away from their current lowly predicament, and with Eustace notably getting more out of a 33-year-old Weimann at Blackburn, he could well be just what Mendez-Laing needs too, who is just one year shy of his ex-Bristol City counterpart.
Derby fans won’t have been revelling in delight about Warne leaving, but if the relegation-threatened Rams were able to win the services of the “excellent” Eustace – as he was once labelled by journalist Alan Biggs – to replace their out-going manager, survival might well be on the cards.
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