John Eustace opens up on Derby County's manager approach as Blackburn 'buyout clause met'
John Eustace plans to discuss his future with the Blackburn Rovers board after Derby County made a formal approach to take him to Pride Park.
Eustace is the manager Derby want to succeed Paul Warne, with reports now emerging that they have met his buyout clause, which reportedly stands between £500k and £750k. Speaking after Rovers’ 2-0 FA Cup loss to Wolves, Eustace acknowledged the official approach and said he would need to sit down with the hierarchy at Ewood Park.
He gave very few clues either way, but did say, as things stand, he will be in charge when Blackburn travel to West Brom on Wednesday to resume their Championship play-off push. He’s keen to understand how the Blackburn board feel before discussing any further.
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“I will have to see exactly what's happened and talk to the owners," Eustace told The Lancashire Telegraph. "At the moment, I will be in charge for West Brom. I have come here to help rebuild it and help push up the league. I have been very happy here.
“It's something where I now need to speak to the owners to see what they think as well. I am away from my family a lot, I am working my socks off, as everyone is, to make sure Blackburn are very competitive and stay in a healthy position.
“When I came here, we were on the way down. Now we're on the way up. We've had some disappointing results but it's something I will have to discuss with the owners and see what happens.
“I have been linked with jobs all season. That's down to the efforts of the group. It's part of the job.
“I have just come off the pitch and realised they have made an official approach. I am sure Steve (Waggott, CEO) and Suhail (Pasha, chief operating officer) will want to sit down and talk to me. I'd be disappointed if they didn't.
"I think if a club makes an official approach, my first conversation has to be with our owners to find out what the situation is. Then we can take it from there. It is about reassurance too.”
It has been suggested that Eustace may swap a play-off push for a relegation battle because of a lack of support from the Blackburn board. But asked if he felt he had been backed, he said: “We asked for some quality additions to help the group in January and the club managed to sign two or three players. It's about a process, building properly and I'm sure we'll now sit down and speak about what's going to happen.”
