John Eustace back to ‘explore’ Rangers opportunity in ‘no disrespect to Birmingham City’ verdict – BBC pundit
Rangers “should” be interested in John Eustace and the Birmingham City boss “should” equally explore the opportunity to take such a “massive” job, according to Carlton Palmer.
The BBC pundit spoke to Football League World on 6 October and reacted to the reported interest between the two parties by noting that Eustace had already “showed them loyalty” at St. Andrew’s but, amid links between the Championship side and Mark Hughes – sacked this week by Bradford City – the 43-year-old has to make the right decision for himself.
Eustace appeared to rule himself out of contention to succeed Michael Beale at Ibrox earlier this month, but was subsequently reported to have shown interested privately in taking over the Light Blues.
Palmer said: “After a fantastic start to the season, John Eustace and Birmingham have fallen away a little bit, City are mid-table on 15 points after picking up their first win in six games.
“John’s name has again been linked with the Glasgow Rangers job and, in some quarters, John – who has distanced him from the job – is said to be interested.
“My opinion is Rangers are a massive club, and they should be interested. No disrespect to Birmingham City. If the opportunity comes, he can explore the situation and see what is ahead of him before making a final decision, and I think he should do that.
“Whether he should stay at Birmingham or not is always a Catch-22 situation. He showed them loyalty, and then in the summer, Birmingham were taken over by new owners and they were linked with Mark Hughes who is now out of work.
“So who knows what happens in the future. You have to look and make the right decision and make the right decision for you.”
Opportunity knocks
Eustace was the first man linked to the job before Michael Beale had even been let go, with Birmingham reportedly considering Wayne Rooney as a potential replacement.
While he has since been surpassed by the likes of Kevin Muscat, Frank Lampard and Philippe Clement in the running, the door remains open until the post is filled if the apparent interest from either side is legitimate.
There would be more than a few echoes of the Beale appointment if the Ibrox hierarchy did go for Eustace, as an inexperienced manager in the English Championship with more time spent as an assistant in recent years.
The current situation would seem to call for a more established name who can command instant respect at Auchenhowie and spark a badly underperforming squad into life.
Lampard’s presence in the latter stages of the process may signify a hope among the decision-makers to capitalise on his status as a player for an immediate bounce.
But his last two jobs at Everton and back at Chelsea haven’t ended well so it feels, at this stage, like a run at Clement might be the most popular course of action.
In other Rangers news, one of the candidates through to the “final” round of interviews is available for a “knock down compensation package” according to Keith Jackson.