“A poisoned chalice” – Birmingham City boss John Eustace keen on Rangers manager’s job: The verdict

FLW’s verdict on whether John Eustace should commit his future to Birmingham City amid Rangers speculation

John Eustace has made his interest clear in taking the role of Rangers manager.

According to Sky Sports, the Birmingham City boss has made it clear to the Scottish giants that he would be interested in the managerial vacancy at Ibrox.

Eustace had been linked with potentially replacing Michael Beale when he was under pressure in September.

But Beale has now been dismissed, which has only fuelled speculation surrounding the future of the 43-year-old.

Should John Eustace pursue the Rangers job?

Eustace has earned a lot of plaudits for his work with the Blues over the last year, but it remains to be seen whether the Glasgow side will take an interest in pursuing him as their latest manager.

Here we ask our FLW writers their verdict on whether it would be a mistake for the Birmingham manager to walk away from the project at St. Andrew’s…

Declan Harte

Beale is a warning sign to Eustace that the grass isn’t always greener, as the former Rangers manager jumped ship from QPR to take over at Ibrox last year.

The Rangers job is appealing as it offers managers the chance to compete for major silverware, as well as in Europe.

That is not something Eustace will get by staying at Birmingham in the long or short-run.

However, the project being built at Birmingham is exciting and has the potential to bring the club into the Premier League, which would be a great opportunity for Eustace.

The Rangers position can be a poisoned chalice, as Beale has now found out.

The Scottish giants have one major goal, beating Celtic to the league title, and anything else is seen as a huge failure.

So there is a lot of pressure that comes with the position, which could make or break Eustace’s career.

The former Ireland assistant manager won’t have to handle pressure that extreme at Birmingham, where he is being given the power to build a team to his liking with the aim of eventually gaining Premier League promotion.

There is no way he would be afforded that kind of patience at Rangers, so he should really consider remaining at St. Andrew’s for the time being.

Sam Rourke

Don’t go John!

The appeal and lure of Rangers is undoubtedly a real temptation but Eustace as a lot going for him at Birmingham City right now and you feel like he’s at the start of a real exciting project at St Andrew’s.

The Blues have been reinvigorated ever since the club’s new American owners entered the building and theirs an air of optimism that hasn’t been felt in that part of the Midlands for a considerable amount of time, so I would steer clear of Rangers right now.

Rangers find themselves in a bit of sticky position after a poor run of form under former boss Mick Beale and there’d be considerable pressure on someone like Eustace to hit the ground running immediately.

Eustace is widely valued by the Birmingham faithful right now and he’s managed to build a team that is certainly well in with a chance for a play-off spot this term – he’s got a lot going for him.

You only have to see what happened to the highly regarded Beale after he left QPR for the Gers.. The grass isn’t always greener as they say.