DE.

Eustace won't have as long as Derby as he did with us to start turning things around. He can't afford to wait until the last few games of the season to pick up some surprise wins - they'll be down by then - and there's no Sammie Szmodics in that Derby team to rescue points. Pretty much the worst possible start for him. Transfer window closed as well so no chance of bringing in any reinforcements. Think he's going to realise very quickly the huge drop off in quality when it comes to our squad versus Derby's. We may be lacking in depth, but our first eleven are very solid for this division. No guarantee of coming straight back up from L1 either. Some big clubs (including Derby themselves) have gotten stuck down there for some time. Can't afford to have the mentality of 'we'll take the hit and bounce back'.

I knew things were bad at Derby when I saw them salivating over the thought of getting Siggy and Dolan in the summer. I've stuck up for Dolan more than most and think there's a player there, but he's still far from the finished article and time will tell on whether he gets to where he could be. Siggy meanwhile has injury problems and even when fit is a 15 minute player. If those two are a huge improvement on what Derby have, then little wonder they are getting battered 4-0 by QPR.

Indeed so, I thought it was very telling as to what Eustace is walking into.

I saw a thread on their forum where they were extremely excited at the thought of landing Siggy and Dolan.

Lol, first question "are we going to have to pay any compo to get you here?" "Yes" "Okay, that'll be all. Thanks for coming."

I was really impressed with Big Mak's first few appearances for us. He was a handful and contrary to what was said afterwards, he showed good link up play, some nice passes and a decent touch. He looked a player. That early momentum unfortunately got derailed after the sending off at Burnley, but it's possible that would have happened regardless. New lad trying to settle in, having never played in England before, and came in for a budget price. It was never likely to be smooth sailing. When his confidence was at its lowest he really, really struggled and I have to admit I had some doubts about what I'd seen at the beginning, especially during the games when he couldn't seem to even control the ball or have any idea how to shoot correctly. Thankfully in the past month or so he's really kicked on. Fair play to the big man for persevering, his attitude is infectious and I think it's a huge boost to the lads to have a personality like Big Mak on the pitch. Fingers crossed he's past the initial barrier now and his confidence will continue to grow. He won't hit the heights of WBA every match, but if he can just do what he does best then that will help us in numerous ways, as he brings various things to the table that nobody else in the team has.

Just to confirm all chat goes to the new manager wishlist thread:

I voted for Big Sam, but still think it's pretty sad he's leading the poll tbh.

The problem is not the core first team players, who are of a decent standard (forward positions questionable and inconsistent, but you can't argue with where we are in the league). The issue is with squad depth, which has been a problem for years and was the catalyst for our downturn in form under both JDT and Eustace. Once players start getting injured, tired or suspended, we inevitably struggle because we can't rotate anything close to that same quality into the team. With a lot of players out of contract in the summer with no signs of renewals, and past evidence suggesting little to no money to spend for a rebuild, it's little wonder Eustace was looking for a way out. Now granted, it's extremely debateable whether it's worth the risk of going to Derby versus waiting until the summer to see the lay of the land, but it's a gamble Eustace clearly felt like he had to take. No manager is going from a team in the playoffs to a team in the relegation zone without having a pretty big reason to do so. We should remember that Park also walked after only five months, so clearly Eustace is not the only one with concerns when it comes to our ability to recruit. We'll have to wait until the end of the season to judge our recruitment efforts. If we get a playoff position under a new manager then fair enough, credit where it's due, they (Park included, despite no longer being here) will have done an outstanding job considering the lack of resource available to them. If we slip away and end up in mid-table then it's very much as you were and little has changed.

I mean, he was sacked from Birmingham so what was he supposed to do? Keep taking training and going to the dugout on match day regardless?

Delighted for the big man. Proper cult hero type of player.

This is exactly the type of game you'd expect a Mowbray team to lose tbf. Just glad it's not us dealing with it anymore. Big statement from the players tonight. They aren't giving up. Ball's in your court, Waggott and Suhail.

Who needs Arma when you've got Big Mak on the attack 😎

Bloody love the Mak 😎

One of the six vaunted signings in the club's pathetic statement starting. Nice one. Good backing there.

Would rather start Denis and Kargbo and replace them later if they're tiring. Game could already be gone by the time we bring them on.

I feel like we must already be pretty close to ST holders being the hardcore fans who will go no matter what. You might get a couple of hundred shed here or there, but you'd think after 15 years of Venky's the steep drop off has already happened. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing Chaddy will say he still fully plans on having a season ticket next season. Until those kinds of supporters begin wavering I'm not sure there'll be a significant difference in ST sales. Again, I could be completely wrong, I don't have historical figures to hand to back up my stance!

I'd be surprised if there was much if any toxicity at Ewood. Eustace to Derby was well known before the Wolves match and there wasn't a murmur of discontent during the entire game. Seeing as Eustace was still in the dugout at the time that would have been the perfect opportunity to let the higher ups know how the fanbase felt, if the general desire was to keep Eustace. Most will likely refrain from creating a bad atmosphere at the ground because we're 6th, need to get behind the lads, 15 game push, etc. Groundhog day since 2010 for various reasons, whether it's playoff aspirations or fighting relegation. The only way I see things getting toxic nowadays is if we're marooned to the bottom of the table with no hope. Otherwise there's always a reason not to protest, regardless of the embarrassments continually heaped upon the club and the fans by those at the helm.

Eustace came into the club knowing what had gone on before, I have no doubt of that. I'm sure he saw Rovers as somewhere he could stay visible, and perhaps navigate the situation in a similar way to Mowbray if he played his cards right. If not, the release clause was there as a potential get-out. As it turned out he was never going to get the same opportunities as Mowbray to spend any serious cash. Once he realised this, most likely last summer, he decided it was time to move on. We know JDT offered to resign and was turned down. Paul Mani says Eustace did the same, and was also told to stay. If we believe that to be true, then he did try to do things the right way, much like JDT, but wasn't allowed to move on. At that point I'm sure he and his agent were looking for a way out via his release clause. However, until a club showed any serious interest he was going to need to continue doing what he could here. Throwing in the towel and half-arsing it would have likely caused the team to become demoralised and struggle, which would make it more difficult for him to find a club willing to pay his release clause. Yes, most likely he played the game and continued to promote togetherness, unity, etc with one foot already out the door - but football is a cut-throat business, so it is what it is. You only have to look at the likes of Mark Hughes to see how quickly things can take a downturn. He needed the team to continue playing to the best of their ability to make himself look as attractive as possible to potential suitors. He probably thought he could get better than Derby. If January hadn't been such a shitshow maybe he would have taken his chances and waited until the summer to try and move on. Maybe if our form hadn't been in serious decline he would have stayed longer. We will never know, but evidently he found the situation here so bad that he would rather chance a relegation battle than spend another few months working for Waggott and Suhail. Eustace had no loyalty to us, but unfortunately this is something we'll have to get used to. It isn't the good ol' days where we were a family run club that supported managers as best as we could. We're a club where managers are lied to, given inadequate resources and not rewarded even if there is significant overachievement. We can't expect loyalty in that situation when the manager does not have any inherent reason for it - such as being a local. We'll always be treated as a way to stay visible until something better comes along. The only way that changes is if Venky's and everyone associated with their ownership leaves and the club becomes something worth sticking around for again.

Who knows what goes on behind closed doors. The players know the club is shambolically run as well, so I can't imagine many of them begrudging Eustace getting out before things really go downhill (and this would have happened with or without him, our post-Christmas collapse is as inevitable as the sun setting). I don't think we were getting into the top six with Eustace, nor will we without him. So, at that point I can only be angry if I feel personally slighted by Eustace. I was never that attached to him to begin with - he'd only been here a year - and I loathe what the club has become under Venky's, so it's difficult for me to become emotional in any way over Eustace going. It's just more BS on top of the mountain of BS that's piled up since the day Venky's arrived. I mainly just look upon Eustace's departure with a detached resentment - entirely towards the clowns who have wrecked this club to the point where managers will be desperate to leave even if we're massively overachieving. The only part of this sorry saga that genuinely angered me was that pathetic statement the club put out.

It's a go-to line for a lot of managers who decide to leave. Mowbray said it too. It's an easy sympathy line which sounds somewhat plausible if you don't bother thinking about it beyond surface level. Same as Eustace's lines about family, togetherness, etc. It's just basic manager spiel that almost every manager comes out with. It's hardly unique to him. All I cared about was how he represented the club and the results he got on the pitch. Everything else is just fluff. On the metrics that mattered, Eustace overachieved massively, and so losing him to a team in the relegation zone is a damning indictment on the club and the club alone.

JDT and Eustace both had actual ambitions for the club and themselves. They wanted to actually achieve something. The owners clearly don't. I'm not sure why anyone would be on Venky's side when it comes to either one.

So if it's public that there are no assurances over any investment, with half our team leaving in the summer, what mug/chancer is going to take that on long-term? I could see a very short term decent-ish appointment coming in simply due to our current position in the league, but after that?

That club statement makes my blood boil. A slap in the face to Eustace, the playing squad and the entire fanbase. Significant investment! Fuck off. Just proves Eustace was right to leave.

Hughes did alright at Stoke until the end, when it fell apart quite quickly. He came to Southampton in March 2018 and kept them up, but then they struggled and he was sacked with them in 18th just before the 2019 January transfer window. To be honest it doesn't seem like enough to make him unhirable for three seasons, let alone for him to have to drop to League Two. I can't remember if in the immediate aftermath he refused to drop below the PL for a job, or if something else was going on. Either way a very sharp fall from what had been a solid position.