Derby County manager John Eustace emerges on Burnley FC radar - It's caused a 'stir' | OneFootball

FLW's Burnley fan pundit has given his verdict on the potential appointment of John Eustace

Relegated Premier League outfit Burnley are searching for a new manager following the decision to part ways with Scott Parker.

The 45-year-old guided the Clarets to promotion from the Championship last season, but the club have been unable to maintain their place in the Premier League.

Confirmation of their relegation led to his departure, with Mike Jackson taking charge on an interim basis until the end of the campaign.

The Lancashire outfit will be looking to appoint somebody capable of bringing the team back to the top flight straight away in the next campaign.

A number of names have been linked with the role, but no official decision has yet been made, with the Clarets still completing their league season.

It is set to be a busy summer ahead at Turf Moor, with a lot of transfer business potentially ahead of them once a new head coach is appointed.

Potential John Eustace appointment at Burnley questioned

One name that has been linked with the vacancy at Burnley is current Derby County boss John Eustace.

The 46-year-old guided the Rams to an eighth-placed finish in the Championship this season, rising from 19th in the previous campaign and competing for the play-offs up until the final day of the season.

However, when asked about his potential appointment, FLW’s Burnley fan pundit Josh Lucas claimed that his name is only being thrown around to gain some attention for the club.

He believes that the former Blackburn Rovers boss is happy at Pride Park, and that the fact he fell out with the Clarets’ biggest rivals is just being used to garner some space in the news cycle, suggesting he isn’t likely to take over in place of Parker.

“I think the link to Eustace is a way to get people talking a little bit,” Lucas told Football League World.

“Obviously, we’ve been linked with a couple of different managers now, all different styles.

“I think Eustace is more just a thing of he's done well at Derby, got them near the play-offs, and obviously he probably left Blackburn on bad terms, really.

“It’s a link that they're just going to throw out like ‘Oh if he’s fallen out with Blackburn, he wants to be at Burnley’.

“He probably doesn’t, he’s probably quite happy at Derby, a team he played for.

“I just think it’s, for me, trying to create a stir and get people talking about our new manager, potentially.”

Eustace took over at Derby in February 2025, making the controversial decision to jump ship from a Blackburn side that were competing for a play-off place in order to move to a relegation-threatened Rams.

He has previously coached Birmingham City, and has gained a reputation as a smart tactician with the potential to work in the Premier League.

It remains to be seen whether he would be open to a move to Turf Moor after a successful campaign with the Derbyshire outfit.

Eustace’s side missed out on a play-off place by just four points, showing an immense amount of progress on the previous term where they avoided relegation by just one point.

John Eustace’s future is surely at Derby County after promising 2025-26 season

Derby have backed Eustace in the transfer market since he took over, and their impressive results suggest a positive trajectory that will be hard to walk away from.

Burnley are a club with a lot of potential for prospective new coaches as they should have the squad and the resources to compete for automatic promotion next season.

But Eustace is building something exciting at Pride Park, and his connection to the Rams as a player will mean that he will want to see that through all the way.

It would be surprising if he made the switch to Burnley, even if his links to their rivals Blackburn probably aren’t as significant as you’d imagine due to the nature of his exit from Ewood Park last year.