Venky’s issue at Blackburn Rovers may harm potential John Eustace hunt | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers have let a good thing go with John Eustace's departure for Derby County

Blackburn Rovers’ pursuit of a replacement for John Eustace will surely be hampered by the nature of his switch to Derby County.

According to Alan Nixon, the Lancashire outfit have shortlisted an ambitious set of names as a possible next manager, including Gary O’Neil, Aitor Karanka, and Carlos Carvalhal.

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens has also been named as a candidate for the Rovers job, which is vacant following Eustace’s departure for Derby – having left Ewood Park to take charge of his former club.

While there is likely an emotional element to the 45-year-old’s decision to move back to Pride Park, where he ended his playing career, it is very damaging for Blackburn to lose such an influential figure at this stage of the campaign.

Eustace has swapped a promotion battle for a relegation fight, meaning there has to be more to this than just the emotion of going back to a former side.

John Eustace exit will hurt Blackburn manager pursuit

It was reported earlier this week by Alex Crook that Eustace’s decision has also been driven by a feeling that he hasn’t been properly backed by the owners.

Venky's are already unpopular figures at Ewood Park but this will only hurt that reputation even further.

Blackburn are in the mix for a play-off place but struggled to make any improvements to their first-team squad during the January transfer window and it seems that has greased the wheels to Eustace's exit.

He is not the first to leave under such circumstances either as his departure comes 12 months after Jon Dahl Tomasson departed in a similar manner.

The Dane did not wait around after the embarrassing failure to get a deal for Duncan McGuire over the line last January, which saw the deal for the player fall through because of an error in submitting official documents, a debacle that further highlighted the organisational issues behind the scenes at the club.

While the team may be performing well on the pitch, these behind the scenes issues will be noticed by prospective new coaches, and it could very easily put them off wanting to take on the manager’s role.

Nothing will hurt a club's ability to attract any kind of talent, whether it is coaching or playing, than a reputation for a lack of ambition and investment, but that's exactly what has been cultivated under the Venky's ownership.

Championship promotion will remain just a dream unless things change

The thought of hiring someone like O’Neil or Carvalhal might excite supporters for the time being, but the simple truth is things need to change behind the scenes for real progress to be made.

It would be surprising if O’Neil did take the step down to the Championship at this point in his career given his recent Premier League experience.

However, it would be especially surprising if he agreed to move to Blackburn given the nature of Eustace’s departure.

O’Neil is a fiery figure, and will not be afraid to make any issues known if they arise, which is perhaps not someone that should be thrown into the situation at Ewood Park.

Meanwhile, Carvalhal has solid Championship experience, but it came years ago and his more recent work hasn’t done much to inspire.

Eustace’s departure is a real blow for Rovers’ promotion hopes this year, but their long-term ambition of a Premier League return has perhaps taken the bigger dent.

The club cannot sustain this lack of investment if they genuinely want to compete at the top of the Championship.