JUST IN: Birmingham City Has Given John Eustace Clear Evidence

In the end, John Eustace did the job that Blackburn Rovers brought him in to do in the second-half of last season.

The 44-year-old was appointed at the start of February, replacing the departing Jon Dahl Tomasson, after a run of one win in 11 Championship games.

At the time, the Ewood Park club sat 18th in the second-tier standings, five points clear of the relegation zone.

Under Eustace, the club would never actually drop into the bottom three between the time of his appointment and the end of the campaign.

However, it was only a 2-0 win away at already crowned champions Leicester City on the final day of the season, that secured safety for another season for Blackburn Rovers.

That ensured they finished the campaign 19th in the final standings, three points clear of the bottom three, having taken 20 points from 17 league games following the appointment of Eustace.

As a result, there is a sense that the Blackburn head coach still has some work to do, if he is to win over the whole of the Ewood Park fanbase.

Questions remain for some over John Eustace

While he may have done his job in keeping the club in the Championship last season, there are some who remain unconvinced that Eustace is the man to take them forward.

There can be no denying that he did improve them defensively. After the appointment of the former Birmingham manager, Rovers conceded 1.12 goals per game in the league.

In contrast, prior to his arrival at Ewood Park, they had been shipping an average of 1.83 goals per game in the Championship last season.

Going forward though was a different story. Blackburn scored 1.06 goals per game in the league under Eustace, a drop from 1.4 before he took over.

Indeed, arguably the two decisive wins in the club securing survival, away victories against promotion contenders Leeds United and then Leicester on the final day, were built on Eustace’s ability to set a side up defensively, and then strike on the counter-attack.

By contrast, in matches such as those at home against other teams who found themselves struggling against relegation, things did not go as many hoped.

Two 1-1 draws against Millwall and Plymouth Argyle at Ewood Park were prime examples of matches where Blackburn fans were left questioning why Eustace elected to stick with a defensive setup rather than going for the win.

It is moments like those that have led to some fans wondering whether the Rovers boss can play an attacking game that will be expected to win against teams who they may be expected to beat, and who are unlikely to look to dominate the ball in the way Leeds and Leicester did in those games.

However, there is an argument to be made that Eustace, if given the right players, will be capable of setting a team up to play that attacking football that he has already shown at Ewood Park, prior to his appointment as Blackburn head coach.

John Eustace’s Birmingham City side gave Blackburn Rovers a scare

Back in October 2022, shortly after his appointment as the Midlands club’s manager, Eustace took his Birmingham side to Ewood Park to face Blackburn.

On the face of it, it was a game that went well for Rovers, certainly to begin with, as goals from Sam Gallagher and Adam Wharton put them 2-0 up by half-time.

Although Scott Hogan pulled one back with ten minutes remaining, the hosts were able to hang on to claim all three points from that encounter.

However, that feels like very little of the full story, the rest of which may offer more encouragement for Blackburn fans who are concerned about whether Eustace can set up a team to attack.

While the home side may have taken the win from that encounter with the Blues, the man they mostly had to thank for their victory was their goalkeeper on the day, Thomas Kaminski.

The two goals that Blackburn scored in that win, came from the only two shots on target they mustered during the first half of the match.

In contrast, Birmingham, who saw Tahith Chong hit the post with the score at 0-0, then went on to create a whole string of chances throughout the 90 minutes.

Although they did make that aforementioned breakthrough courtesy of Hogan late on, they were otherwise left frustrated by a string of stunning saves from Kaminski.

The Belgian produced a number of excellent stops to keep out the likes of Juninho Bacuna and Lukas Jutkiewicz, as the Blues pushed for a way back to level terms.

But with Kaminski in almost unbeatable form, and other chances not being put on target when they should have been, Birmingham were left with nothing in a game where a point was probably the least they deserved.

With his team either not taking their opportunities, or more often being denied by a goalkeeper in simply inspired form, there was little more that Eustace could have done to secure a result for his side on the day.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine anyone of a Blackburn persuasion could have felt hard done by had their side lost that game on the basis of the performances on the day.

Consequently, Eustace did prove to those watching on at Ewood Park during that match, that when given the right players – something he seemingly did not feel he always had with Rovers last season – and in the necessary circumstances, he can set up a team to play an attacking style of football that should pick up the points that could lift Rovers up the table next season.

That, at least, should give Blackburn fans hope that Eustace can get this side playing in the way they want him to, if he is given the right options to do that with.

The big question now, though, may be whether he is backed in the transfer window in a way that allows him to put such a squad together.