Blackburn Rovers' John Eustace "fear" underlined | OneFootball

Eustace is yet to be backed in the transfer market this month

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

FLW's Blackburn Rovers fan pundit is concerned that head coach John Eustace could walk away from his job soon if he is not given financial backing in the January window to continue his side's push for a play-off finish this season.

Eustace has been in charge at Ewood Park for just under a year now, after taking over in early February 2024 following Jon Dahl Tomasson's surprise departure by mutual consent just days earlier.

He oversaw Rovers' successful bid to avoid relegation last season, as they finished three points above the drop in 19th place, and they have kicked on massively this time around to be one of the Championship's surprise packages so far this term as they chase a play-off place.

Eustace's recent success has come as a pleasant surprise to Blackburn supporters, after losing Sammie Szmodics in the summer window and adding to his squad with mostly loans and free transfers, but a similar story is coming to fruition this winter, with no money invested into incomings as yet this month, despite a real chance to finish in the top six this season.

Tomasson's departure last year was due to him growing tired of constant cuts being made to transfer budgets, and the project that he signed up for in 2022 not being put into place, and concerns are now growing that Eustace could follow suit this season and move on to pastures new unless things rapidly change.

Blackburn fan pundit issues concerns at lack of backing for John Eustace

For Rovers to lose Eustace anytime soon would be a disaster, as he has taken the club from relegation trouble last May to genuine promotion contenders this season on a shoestring budget, and also amid recent injury issues.

Blackburn have brought in Adam Forshaw on a free transfer from Plymouth Argyle this month, as well as Birmingham City centre-back Dion Sanderson on loan, but Eustace has spoken of his desire to see the club bring in more players to improve his squad, after seeing his squad stretched to its limit in games gone by.

Time is quickly running out in the transfer window though, with just over a week left to complete deals before the deadline, and our Rovers fan pundit, Simon Middlehurst, has insisted that there are genuine concerns around the club that the 45-year-old could leave his role as head-coach if he is not adequately backed with new additions soon.

"There is a real fear among Blackburn fans that John Eustace could potentially leave. It’s happened a few times with managers in the past when it comes to the January window," Simon told FLW.

"Blackburn are notorious for this time of year, where we always have a massive slump due to the fact that there are a lot of games being played, and we never have a big enough squad.

"If you look at the game against Oxford, or after that game, we’ve now got 11 first-team players out injured.

"We’re relying heavily on academy players to fill the bench up. Blackburn have got a great academy, but these players aren’t strong enough or ready enough to play for the first-team.

"We need about three or four players coming in.

"It wouldn’t surprise any of us if John Eustace left and went to a club that have got more promise and a more ambitious board.

"Every season it happens. It comes to January and the Blackburn manager just does not get backed or supported."

Rovers CEO Steve Waggott is set to back Eustace this month

Blackburn are operating on a much tighter budget than the teams around them in the table right now, which is testament to the job that Eustace has done this season, but could easily lose ground on the top six in the weeks and months to come unless new signings are made this month.

Injuries are certainly taking their toll on his squad, with back-to-back losses against Oxford United and Coventry City ahead of a trip to Bristol City this weekend, but Rovers CEO Steve Waggott has recently shared an update to BBC Lancashire on their business this month, which could well relax fears of a Eustace exit if what he has said comes to fruition.

"We all continue to try and improve the squad by securing players during this transfer window who are the right level and who will be a good fit for the current closely knit group of players as John (Eustace) obviously wants to keep intact the togetherness of the squad," a statement from Waggott read.

"The aim has always been to look at improving the attacking threat of the team but with injuries that have been sustained since the turn of the year we are now also looking at other potential positions and available options until our injured players return to full fitness. Hopefully, some of the injured players will become available for selection over the next few weeks.

"As is always the case during this very limited January winter window, most clubs are looking for the same areas of improvement but we will continue to pursue our list of targets in the hope that we can secure players to add strength and depth to this hard-working and honest group of players for the remainder of the season."

Those words can certainly be construed in certain ways, but the reality is that Rovers could well face another head coach exit if Eustace is not given what he wants over the remainder of the window, which would not only be a huge blow to the club, but also to the reputation of Waggott and the club's owners, the Venky's.

It is clear that they need to invest in the playing squad this month, or this season will simply be a rinse and repeat of the last in managerial terms, and any possible chance they had of promotion would likely be gone with the departure of Eustace.