After Birmingham City’s departure, John Eustace’s chances of securing the open spot at Rangers FC become more apparent

Birmingham City opted to fire their head coach John Eustace this week, a decision that has sharply divided the footballing community.

All weekend long, there had been rumors of a change, and on Monday morning, after 48 hours of stillness, the Blues ownership officially announced their choice.

Birmingham City fired John Eustace for what reason?

Following their takeover in the summer, Birmingham made it clear in a club statement that they desired a manager who shared their same goals and objectives for the team.

Additionally, it was disclosed later in the statement that the board wants to hire a head coach who plays ‘no fear’ attacking football, with Wayne Rooney seemingly the front-runner.

Rooney is expected to be appointed manager of St Andrew’s despite having a relatively low win % record in his tenure as a manager, according to Tom Wagner, the American hedge fund manager who oversaw City’s takeover. Wagner wants a greater name in the dugout at St Andrew’s.

Birmingham is currently in sixth place in the Championship rankings after 11 games played entering the second international break of the season.

Due to their early season play-off position and recent surge into the top six with back-to-back victories, City’s new owners’ choice and timing to break ways with Eustace have become even more puzzling.

However, there was a remote possibility that Eustace may start working again right away. In early September, the Daily Mail reported that Eustace had been linked to the Rangers position in Scotland, where Michael Beale was still employed at the time.

A few weeks later, Beale was fired, and Sky Sports reported that Eustace had stated his interest in transferring to Ibrox if the chance presented itself, possibly anticipating his departure from Birmingham.

However, it appears that the Glasgow company will not take the 43-year-old into account during their decision-making process.

According to Alex Crook of TalkSPORT, Phillippe Clement, 49, has emerged as the front-runner to take Beale’s place in the Ibrox dugout, beating out former Gers defender Kevin Muscat.

That implies that Eustace is not a contender, and Sky Sports also implies that Eustace is not a contender.

Would Rangers have been wise to hire John Eustace?
It would have had a faint Beale vibe to it if Eustace had been given the Ibrox job.

When he transferred from QPR to the Gers, Eustace had a year more experience as a Championship head coach than Beale did, but their coaching philosophies are remarkably similar.

Eustace would not have been a popular choice because Rangers supporters appeared to be eager to avoid having their next manager come from the Championship.

Although that didn’t exactly work when Giovanni van Bronckhorst was hired in 2021, it now appears that the Rangers board will choose to hire a foreign head coach.