Derby County fans will not appreciate Stephen Pearce’s latest comments on John Eustace, his motives are obvious
Derby County are settling in ready for an extremely busy summer transfer window following their great escape in the Championship in the 2024/25 campaign, with plenty of work to be done.
John Eustace and his coaching team let go of eight permanent players at the end of their contracts, while the five loanees that saw out the season have all returned to their parent clubs, and replacements will be needed quickly.
On Sunday, EFL Analysis exclusively revealed that Derby have a good chance of re-signing Nat Phillips in the summer transfer window following his loan from Liverpool, and excitement will be building across the city as more moves are planned out.
However, this summer could have been so different had Eustace not arrived at the club in February and the Rams’ CEO, Stephen Pearce, has spoken out on the timing around the decision.
Stephen Pearce makes claim on his role in bringing John Eustace to Derby County
After seven defeats in seven games over winter, Paul Warne was sacked by Derby ahead of their trip to Norwich City. Matt Hamshaw took charge on an interim basis, picking up two points from his two matches in charge before a new head coach was brought in.
Eustace left Blackburn Rovers for Derby shortly after, and after a tough start, 21 points in the last 11 games of the season saw the Rams survive.
Now Pearce has explained his role in bringing the 45-year-old to the club in February.
He said (via: Rams Daily Podcast): “Would we have liked to do it earlier? If we had to, yes, but all of the signs told us John would not have come if we’d done it earlier and we wouldn’t have got the same calibre of manager as we got in John Eustace.”
“The results speak for themselves.
“I’m accountable to the board and to David [Clowes] but ultimately I would also say that when we made that decision with regard to making that change and appointing John Eustace, I have to be accountable for that.
“I was the one that put him forward, that said to David ‘Let’s go and get him’ and that got him over the line.”
When asked if he could be held accountable for the club’s struggles under Warne at the end, Pearce explained: “In terms of something going wrong, Paul got us promoted. We missed out on the last game of the season in the first season to Sheffield Wednesday to get into the play-offs.
“Second season we were promoted with our record points total. Paul wasn’t a failure.”
Supporters will continue to be wary of Stephen Pearce
While it is clear to see the club is progressing, Derby supporters have had mixed feelings about Pearce for a number of years since they were placed into administration in September 2021.
The CEO was at Pride Park at the time, and worked with the administrators to help see the Rams into their new era, before owner David Clowes decided to keep him on board going forward.
Supporters will always be wary of Pearce’s presence at the club, but his position looks to be a safe one going forward, with Clowes showing trust in him.
A strong summer transfer window will help boost his reputation with those in the stands in DE24, but it may take more than landing some top targets to help win back the trust of the fanbase at Derby, as fans await new investment.
