"A sleeping giant" - Derby County backed to complete "masterstroke" Blackburn Rovers raid for John Eustace | OneFootball

FLW's Rams fan pundit is all in on Eustace to return to Pride Park

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…

Derby County's ambitious pursuit of Blackburn Rovers manager John Eustace has captured the imagination of supporters, with the Rams moving quickly to secure their top target following Paul Warne's departure.

The former Pride Park favourite, who ended his playing career with Derby in 2015, has emerged as the leading candidate to take the helm, despite currently guiding Rovers towards potentially finishing in the Championship play-offs.

John Eustace to Derby County would be a "masterstroke" from David Clowes

Derby County's approach for Blackburn Rovers manager Eustace has sent ripples through the Championship, with the Rams looking to bring their former player back to Pride Park in a managerial capacity.

Following Paul Warne's dismissal after seven consecutive league defeats, Derby have moved swiftly to target Eustace, triggering a compensation clause in his contract with Rovers which means that they can now officially talk to their former midfield general.

FLW's Rams fan pundit Shaun Woodward believes the potential appointment could be transformative for the club's fortunes, and it would be a huge coup for owner David Clowes to get over the line.

"I don't think many people saw this one coming, and if [Derby County owner] David Clowes can pull this one out of the bag then I think he's done an amazing job," Shaun told Football League World.

"Let's be honest, Eustace is doing a great job at Blackburn, he's got them on the verge of the play-offs potentially with the chance of promotion to the Premier League, so a lot of people would be questioning why he wants to leave there.

"But if you look at it from our perspective, he's been at the club before, he's played for us, he was a bit of a hero at Derby - the fans loved him, so he knows what he's getting, he's going to get 30,000 fans every week that will adore him, he could really ignite the club.

"We're a bit of a sleeping giant at the moment. Even if the worst happened and we did go down, he could start again, he's going to have 27,000-30,000 fans there every week, backing him on."

"Our ambition, I think, even if Blackburn are doing well right now, our ambition in the long run is bigger than Blackburn's, with all due respect to them. They average probably 17,000, so he'd be getting a full house to play in front of and manage in front of which I think would excite him.

"It would be a masterstroke if we get him. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this develops over the next few days, and watch this space.”

John Eustace to Derby County would be a shock but Blackburn Rovers can't be surprised if he wants to leave

The timing of Derby's interest is particularly intriguing, with Eustace currently guiding Blackburn toward a potential play-off spot and Premier League promotion push.

However, when you take into account that things behind the scenes at Ewood Park have not been very rosy for years, then it may make a bit more sense as to why Eustace would be keen to trade his current job in for a Championship relegation battle.

There is of course the family aspect of moving closer to his West Midlands base and the fact he used to play for Derby, but Eustace has showed recent frustrations of Blackburn's late January transfer business, which on the whole looks underwhelming.

Current Blackburn owners the Venky's have been no-shows at Ewood Park for 14 years now and their current court dealings in India that keep on being pushed back are clearly affecting what kind of funds managers have to play with, and exactly a year ago we saw Jon Dahl Tomasson depart in a blaze of glory after calling out the hierarchy.

Without Eustace going that far though, we look to be entering similar territory, and whilst nothing is confirmed yet, the most surprising Championship manager move this season looks to be edging closer.