Exclusive: Don Goodman sends warning to John Eustace and Derby County | OneFootball

Eustace achieved his short-term remit of survival on the final day

Don Goodman has praised the Derby County hierarchy for their appointment of John Eustace which ended in the club's survival in the Championship.

Despite enjoying two years at Pride Park as a player, it was still very much a shock to many outsiders when the 45-year-old swiftly departed play-off-chasing Blackburn Rovers to return to the East Midlands on February 13th, with the Rams residing outside the Championship relegation zone on goal difference at the time of his appointment.

Paul Warne had navigated the club out of League One at the second attempt following a spell of potential oblivion and a 21-point deduction during the 2021/22 season, but was dismissed after a run of eight consecutive defeats in all competitions at the turn of the new year.

However, whilst Eustace's decision raised plenty of eyebrows, it has proven to be a stroke of genius for the likes of owner, David Clowes and CEO, Stephen Pearce, with Derby's second-tier status remaining intact, with all the previous six newly-promoted sides all surviving in the second-tier as a goalless draw against Stoke City in DE24 proved enough for both sides in their respective bids against the drop.

And, whilst Goodman does have some reservations regarding Derby's long-term outlook, he has heaped praise on those who made the brave call that saw the former Birmingham City boss drop 16 places in the table when he was installed in the hotseat.

Don Goodman issues John Eustace praise but warns there is work to do for Derby County

In truth, the aforementioned question marks only grew larger when the East Midlands side lost all three of Eustace's first games in charge with an aggregate score of 6-0, including a 4-0 thumping at QPR to kick-off proceedings.

However, the former midfielder was able to mastermind four victories on the bounce, starting against his old side, Blackburn, on March 8th, before seeing off Coventry City, Plymouth Argyle in a dramatic last-gasp victory in a relegation six-pointer at Home Park and Preston North End.

Despite picking up form themselves, Argyle and Luton Town's resurgence meant that the Rams were far from over the finish line, although a run of two defeats in seven - including monumental away victories over West Bromwich Albion and Hull City - would eventually see them to safety, finishing one point and three places above the Hatters, who were consigned to League One football alongside Plymouth and Cardiff.

After an accumulation of 21 points in 14 games, which would have Derby sitting 10th, the aforementioned Goodman couldn't speak highly enough of the decision which transformed fortunes and the outlook at Pride Park.

"It was a brilliant decision by Derby County in the end," the 58-year-old exclusively told Football League World. "And, after the first three games which they lost under John Eustace, it would've been easy for people to question had they made the right choice.

"But no, safety. Did it by making them resilient and dogmatic," Goodman explained. "But, he will know that there are challenges still ahead.

"He's ambitious to do well, and that's why he left Blackburn and went to Derby County," he added. "But, if they want to be a club towards the top end of the table, they're going to have to find a way of scoring more goals.

"Just 48 in 46 Championship games. Just about half of them were set-pieces as well.

"There's lots of work still to be done. John Eustace will be plotting and planning that as we speak. But, it turned out to be a brilliant decision by Derby County," the pundit concluded.

Derby County need more firepower to progress in the Championship

With survival always the key objective for Derby this term, the main way to achieve such a feat was to make themselves hard to beat, which was achieved as they conceded just 1.2 goals per game and had a strong performer between the sticks in Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

However, as Goodman alluded to, goalscoring was a major issue, despite having plenty of quality and Championship experience to call upon in the form of Marcus Harness, Jerry Yates, Kayden Jackson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

After being the man who initially brought Jay Stansfield to Birmingham City on a loan basis, Eustace clearly has a strong eye for talent, and another Premier League loan for a player who can bleed fresh, young blood into the squad with the highest average age in the division could prove key if his team are to progress towards the levels which many associate a club of Derby's stature of competing at, which is towards the play-off places.