Troy Deeney takes aim at Blackburn Rovers over John Eustace, Derby County controversy | OneFootball

Troy Deeney came to the defence of his former teammate and manager

Troy Deeney has leaped to the defence of former manager John Eustace and taken aim at Blackburn Rovers after the head coach quit the play-off hopefuls to join Championship strugglers Derby County.

Eustace is set to take charge of his first Derby County match this evening when the Rams visit Queens Park Rangers in Championship action.

Deeney knows Eustace very well, having played 75 matches alongside the former midfielder at Watford between 2010 and 2013.

Troy Deeney offers explanation for John Eustace’s Blackburn Rovers exit

Alongside sharing the pitch together at Watford, Deeney played under Eustace at Birmingham City during the 2022/23 season.

The 36-year-old scored seven times in 33 Championship appearances for Blues during Eustace’s time at the club, leading Deeney to still refer to his old boss as the ‘gaffer.’

Speaking on talkSPORT, Deeney offered a defence of Eustace after the radio station’s pundit Simon Jordan stated that the head coach should “sod off” if he no longer wanted to manage Blackburn.

He said: “I know the gaffer well.

“He called me earlier on and we had a little chat. I won’t go into all of the details he said, I just wanted to get his take.

“Because I listened to what Simon (Jordan) said this past week, and I think it’s a bit misinformed, is probably the way I would say it.

“I know from when he went in last year, he was promised a certain amount of money in the window if he kept them up, and obviously he did that.

“That wasn’t the case. I think three directors of football going in there as well made things very difficult to get a decision on what type of player, the profile, et cetera.

“I know first-hand that he backed away from that.

“Speaking to him today, I was wishing him well for the game tonight, but it was more to get an understanding of (the situation).

“I don’t think, knowing John and the character he is - he was obviously my captain at Watford - he’s not the person that walks away from a battle.

“He’s not the person you would call someone that jumps ship, he is a true, honest person.

“For him to leave I said ‘It can’t be for home, surely gaffer?’ - I still call him gaffer.

“Living in the Midlands, going to the East Midlands is 30, 40 minutes, as opposed to the two-and-a-half hour drive up to Blackburn.

“He said absolutely not. It's about what the clubs are going to do long term, what the backing will be in the summer, and also the project, in terms of how long he is going to be there.

“He’s got 18 months left on his deal, Blackburn didn’t see any reason to extend not only him, but the players as well.

“I think they’re going to lose 10 in the summer.

“They didn’t extend either of those. So with that situation, he looked at Derby, where they are going to back him.

“It’s a three-year contract, if they go down he’s still going to be able to rebuild, and he’s going to be able to spend.

“So if you’re the manager, and you want to stay at a club and they don’t want to give you a contract, and they don’t want to back you in terms of the players you want to keep, why would you not move?”

Troy Deeney reveals details of summer trip to Blackburn Rovers

Deeney went on to share how he had visited Eustace at Blackburn over the summer, claiming that the training facilities were derelict.

The former Watford striker also highlighted that Blackburn had sold numerous players for big transfer fees in recent seasons, yet that money had not been reinvested into the team.

According to Deeney, after Derby had activated the release clause in Eustace’s contract, the manager had gone to speak to Blackburn about potentially staying.

However, with apparently no change to Blackburn’s approach, Eustace decided to depart for Derby.

“This is 100% not the case, as John never asked to leave,” Deeney replied when asked by host Sam Matterface if it was a case of a manager jumping ship for better things at the first possible opportunity.

“The release clause was triggered, and he also spoke to Blackburn about staying, and what that would look like.

“So he wanted to stay, and he wanted to build. Remember, he was unceremoniously thrown out of Birmingham City after doing a fantastic job over an 18-month period.

“So he’s not the person that gets up and leaves, if you look at his playing career, his managerial career.

“I think we get confused with managers. Managers are not like players, they don’t have agents that are shopping them out.

“What we don’t see as people is the stuff that goes on in the background.

“I went up to Blackburn last summer, to have a look and see how things were.

“The training ground is really poor, it’s falling apart. They were just trying to survive, their wage bill would have been cut.