Three wins in a row for new Derby manager John Eustace. I think there’s actually some sense in swapping Blackburn Rovers for Derby…
Should someone remind Blackburn Rovers that it’s been thirty years since they won that iconic title win? As of right now, they look so dejected and questionable whether they have any drop of fuel left in them to strike off a return, back to top division football. That would be some anniversary present to give to the fans.
Yet, it’s just two wins in the last seven games. Both, in which, Valérien Ismaël had no say in the matter as he wasn’t even through the door yet. I wonder if the Venky’s even bothered to introduce themselves to him? Probably not. But, yes, a dismal five opening games in charge. It’s not even Valérien’s team to be fair. It belongs to John Eustace and he welcomed his old side, two weeks ago, to clinch probably the easiest win he’ll ever get with his new Derby County venture – as he looks to replicate safety with The Rams, just as he did at Blackburn. A Stoke City team also have Blackburn to thank for one win in their last six games and not forgetting Cardiff who hadn’t picked up three points on the road in the league since 2024, until, yes you’ve guessed it – along came Blackburn…
To think, the play-offs are always such a competitive race to try and get a day out at Wembley for English football’s biggest money-prize and the club went for a filler-of-time ex-Watford manager Valérien, the same man who also brought West Brom to unbelievably poor form. I won’t discredit him for the fantastic job he did at Barnsley, which proves he knows how to get teams into the play-offs like he did for The Tykes back in 2021. So, perhaps over time the wheels will begin rolling for Mr Ismaël.
In the end, Blackburn was a nuisance for Eustace… In the eyes of the man who used to play for the club, Derby was the best-case scenario for John Eustace. You could’ve simply rolled the dice at Blackburn, John, even if the Venky’s were being as tight as a ducks behind, despite owning a company overseas and having an estimated worth of £1.66billion. Perhaps even landed a bigger job elsewhere, similar to Valérien post-Barnsley. Clubs want managers who can achieve the unthinkable. However, the fact that this doesn’t appetise John, clearly shows the Venky’s are deteriorating the club, from top to bottom. They don’t look to
be moving out of this league in the right direction, anytime soon.
All this in mind, Derby owner David Clowes has a plan and lets his money do the talking – as he shows some proper ambition. He triggered the release-clause for John and wants his boyhood club to achieve survival, with the Rams sitting 22nd, in the Championship right now. They’re edging closer out of that relegation zone, three wins in their last five games. One, as mentioned, against his former side. He did silence Frank Lampard’s return back to Pride Park, ending Coventry’s five game unbeaten run in the league, by beating them. Perhaps, Derby County and John Eustace are starting to blend well together. There’s a reason why clubs say: “Let’s find the next Jack Walker!” That was becoming an echoing-saying, back in the 90s. The late and great Jack Walker, certainly had the means to drive his life-long supporting football club to success.
The exceptional duo of SAS (Shearer and Sutton) was something Eustace would’ve loved to have repeated with Jack, who knew how to steer this ship. Seems The Venky’s haven’t even passed their driving tests, at this point… See, Jack Walker had not just the passion, but also the funds and these two things joined along-side with an understanding of the detrimental factors that the English Football League throws at you, was why he advanced healthily to success. We’ll take in-account, that the whole footballing industry has grown
since then, and rather dramatically too. It’s a completely harder game in the modern day, now. But, credit for where it’s due, Walker employed Kenny Dalglish, an exceptional name to have in what was then called, the Second Division. It was simply one way to accelerate up the league, as he was able to gain promotion in his first season in charge. Along with money to employ, money was splashed out on player signings. Both Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton broke the transfer records for English Football. This, simply, portrays Jack Walker of having an incredible hunger for success. Just imagine The Venky’s taking a page out of Jack Walker’s book, so to speak; employing someone, with the same mind-set like Dalglish did.
These Rovers fans aren’t expecting a Premier League title, anytime soon. But, at least employ someone who has the mind-set to get a football club out of this ever-increasingly, difficult league. When they knew Eustace was out the door, did they even consider contacting Rob Edwards? Or, perhaps tried Steve Cooper? Both of them managers have made it to the play-off final before and have both come
out on top too! But, then again, Edwards and Cooper are probably wise enough not to go anywhere near Rovers, given Eustace’s recent u-turn move. A move to Blackburn right now, would be an incredibly grotesque one, for as good as managers get — like them two. It’s also why any rumours you heard of Gary O’Neil joining the club, passed from sight overnight, when John Eustace had just left. It’s just the despairing reality, these days, for the Lancashire football club; No real-interest from either of the Venky Brothers to show the same means as the previous owner did. Their interests lie with the operations they have, actively in India, with their own poultry business out there, doing particularly well. That’s why we see the owners not wishing to match-up investments with their current competitors in the league like Coventry, or Norwich, or even Sunderland who haven’t spent much more than what Rovers have, but it’s enough to now be fourth in the table.
The main cause of direction, through this whole mess with what feels supported by a miniscule amount of funds, comes from Chief Executive – Steve Waggott. The Venky’s leave him to deal with the day to day operations at the club. But, never forget where their real ammunition comes from, if you can ever call it that! They’ve pretty much given Steve a water pistol and placed him in the centre of a nuclear war zone, at this point… All the hope that Blackburn Rovers had, has now been squeezed out and decreased greatly.
You’d have to go back to 2012 for Blackburn’s last experience of Premier League football. In-fact, it was called the Barclays Premier League back then… Luton were in the National League when Blackburn were
relegated, and since then the Hatters have gone all the way from that 5th tier to the Premier League to now have gone back down to the Championship. And all in that space of time, there’s been no inkling of
hope for a return to top division football for Rovers. Fans have communicated their feelings towards the owners before. In October of 2016, they held what was called the ‘1875 Protest’ at Ewood Park when they welcomed Wolverhampton Wanderers. Fans arrived to the game 18 minutes in and would then leave at the 75th minute, resonating 1875, which was when the club was originally founded. All of this was arranged and directed towards the owners, saying their club should be of their top interest. Former Rovers manager – Sam Allardyce – reasoned with John Eustace for gravitating towards Derby, saying he viewed it as a better project and also wishes the Venky’s would just sell-up shop and move on… Seemingly, this is a mutual feeling for many fans. They want this awful feeling of being let-down by the owners, to be replaced by a feeling of hope and optimism. Can Valérien stop the landslide, like Eustace did?
You get an insightful feeling of what it must be like to watch a match at Wimbledon with Rovers — constantly moving your head back and forth with how they move from one end of the table, to another It seems like it’s an extreme long shot for Valérien to restore that play-off territory that Blackburn were accomplishing well at, in the first half of the season. Perhaps this is a repeated classic case of “we’ll try again next season” for many managers who join half way through a campaign. The manager is used to having that familiar feeling of being backed financially. With the season he was at Watford, the club splashed £63 million on player signings, a whole £50 million more than what Blackburn have spent, this season.
You don’t mix water with oil and that may be the outcome here between Ismaël and the Venky’s. We shall be waiting patiently, with this new appointment being the tenth manager to try and dare to dream under despair ownership. Can anyone pull-off the ‘beyond-belief heist’ that is getting Rovers back to the Premier League? I’m not sure anyone can under the Venky’s. But, one thing I am sure of, is that the late Jack Walker did not invest his fortunes, all originating from an incredible working class background, to see the club being wiped out the way it is, right now. It was SAS back in ‘95. Now? Well it’s turned into an SOS call-out for new owners ASAP.
