Birmingham City's American owners must hold John Eustace fear if Chris Davies project fails | OneFootball

Promotion would finally put the John Eustace noise to rest, but a return to the Championship isn't guaranteed yet.

Tom Wagner and his consortium have done plenty of good things for Birmingham City since their arrival at St Andrew’s.

For ending the BSHL era alone, they were welcomed as heroes by many Blues fans, who were relishing a new era.

Even now, Wagner and his team continue to be a real positive for Birmingham supporters.

Spending big during the summer transfer window, the Midlands side are in a great position to secure a Championship return at the first time of asking.

More fans than ever have bought season tickets - and are finally excited about watching their team in action again.

They may be in a lower division, but their wins are bringing joy to supporters, who are arguably enjoying their most exciting season in many years.

Everyone associated with the club will be hoping that their success lasts, having made such a good start to the 2024/25 campaign.

But they didn’t have to be in League One in the first place.

John Eustace exit was a turning point for Birmingham City

The Wagner era got off to an excellent start, with then-manager John Eustace able to guide the club to a top-six position heading into the October international break.

They were particularly buzzing at that point because they had secured a 3-1 win against local rivals West Bromwich Albion in that last game before the break.

But just a few days after that win, Eustace was dismissed and replaced by Wayne Rooney, who was brought in to implement the style that the board wanted.

Unfortunately, his tenure at St Andrew’s turned out to be a disaster, winning just two league games during his short spell before being dismissed in January this year.

He was replaced by Tony Mowbray, who had to take a period of absence after receiving a bowel cancer diagnosis. His assistant Mark Venus was unable to get the team back on track, before Blues made a last-ditch attempt to climb to safety by recruiting Gary Rowett for the remainder of last term back in mid-March.

Despite going unbeaten in their final four games of the campaign, even winning their last match of the season against Norwich City, they were relegated in the end with results not going their way.

Clearly, the decision to sack Eustace was a turning point, and it was a dreadful choice that the board didn’t have to make.

Birmingham City board will still hold John Eustace fear

Davies and his men are doing extremely well so far this season.

Losing just one league game so far this term, they are on course to secure a second-tier return at the first time of asking.

Wrexham’s draw against Cambridge United last Saturday was a further boost to Blues in their automatic promotion quest - and even though he has a very strong squad at his disposal - you have to say that current boss Chris Davies has done a good job to cope with expectations and get his new-look team playing.

With so many signings being made during the summer, it would have been understandable if it had taken them a while to click into gear.

But they made a fairly strong start to the season following an average 1-1 draw against Reading on the opening day of the campaign.

Promotion isn’t guaranteed though - and the Eustace sacking may be in some Birmingham fans’ minds until they win promotion back to the second tier.

The board may still be thinking about that decision too, praying that a second-tier return is secured at the end of the season.

If promotion is secured, everyone will forget about it. But if they fail in their promotion quest, many Blues fans will rue the board’s decision to dismiss Eustace even more than they already do now.