Former Birmingham City boss John Eustace agrees Derby County deal
The former Blues head coach is set to succeed the recently-sacked Paul Warne in the Pride Park hotseat
John Eustace is set to ink a deal to become the new manager of Derby County tonight, with an official announcement expected tomorrow.
Eustace's back-room team Keith Downing and Matt Gardiner who served with him at Blackburn and Birmingham City, are also believed to have agreed to follow him to Pride Park.
Eustace will step in to fill the shoes of Paul Warne, who was dismissed on Friday following a string of seven consecutive Championship losses.
Since Warne's departure, assistant head coach Matt Hamshaw has been acting as caretaker boss, steering the club to back-to-back draws against Norwich and Oxford, and out of the Championship relegation zone.
Currently, Derby sit just above the bottom three based on goals scored, after a 0-0 draw with Gary Rowett's Oxford last night. Eustace's first match at the helm is anticipated to be against QPR, another of his former clubs, this coming Friday night.
Eustace requested talks with the Rams following an official approach, however, his decision to leave a top-six club for one battling Championship survival has raised eyebrows among observers.
Rovers are set to face West Brom tonight, with Rovers youth coach David Lowe stepping in as caretaker manager for the first team.
Eustace spent 15 months in charge of Blues, keeping an ailing club well clear of relegation in his one full season and steering the team to the play-off places before being replaced by Wayne Rooney in October 2023.
He returned to football with Rovers last February - and also kept them in the league before guiding them to the top-six.