Derby County find themselves in a tough spot in the Championship and it could well be that John Eustace will now soon be sacked – with Rob Edwards still available as a free agent and a potential coup for The Rams.

Having missed out on the top six and the play-off places on the final day of last season, Derby supporters would have been forgiven for thinking another promotion challenge was the goal this season.

That is especially the case given the expansion of the play-offs to the top eight teams in the Championship and with some continued investment over the summer transfer window.

The Rams signed former loanee Bobby Clark for a fee of £6 million from Red Bull Salzburg, while also bringing back Sammie Szmodics on loan as well as securing the services of the likes of the returning Eiran Cashin, Ryan Hedges, David Ozoh, Alex Mowatt, Filip Bilbija and Mohamed Fuseini among a few others.

However, rather than kick on, Derby have quite dramatically regressed and writing now appears on the wall for Eustace – and Rob Edwards must be a priority appointment for Derby.

John Eustace is surely now on the verge of departing Derby

A former player, John Eustace has perhaps been given a little bit longer in the Derby dugout than many would have expected but it also understandable given the actual managerial job he has done at Pride Park.

Sacked by Birmingham City when they sat in the top six and the play-offs in the October of a season in which they would eventually be relegated, Eustace departed Blackburn Rovers, again sitting on the cusp of the top six, to go to relegation battling Derby in the second half of the 2024-25 campaign.

Eustace steered County clear of relegation with relative ease, albeit mathematically confirmed on the final day, before building his side into a promotion challenger last year.

There have always been concerns that Eustace sides tend to overperform underlying data and perhaps his premature departures from previous clubs allowed him to avoid a natural regression in terms of results in line with the performances.

Naturally conservative, though, they should still remain difficult to beat but that has not been the case for The Rams this season as they sit firmly in the bottom three and the relegation places with the former midfielder surely now on the verge of the sack.

Rob Edwards would be a bit of a coup for Derby

If that still emotional decision was to be made by the club then Derby must act quickly to pursue former Luton Town manager Rob Edwards.

Having began his coaching career in the academy setup at Wolverhampton Wanderers before gaining further experience at AFC Telford United and with the England U16 side, Edwards took his first steps into the dugout in the EFL at Forest Green Rovers.

A strong squad for the level, FGR still massively overachieved to runaway with the League Two title in the 2021-22 campaign; only eventually stuttering when the title had been wrapped up.

Edwards left the New Lawn for Watford but, as is often the case with Hornets managers, lasted just a couple of months before leading their arch-rivals Luton Town to one of the more unlikely promotions to the Premier League that season.

Relegation from the Premier League was followed by a tough first half to the campaign back in the Championship and Edwards eventually departed mid-way through a season that Luton would plummet further and succumb to back-to-back relegations.

In the summer of 2025, Edwards sought to rebuild his career and began to do so very well at the Riverside Stadium after taking charge of Middlesbrough and having them sat tucked inside the top two and the automatic promotion spots by the November international break.

He then decided to depart, though, to return to Wolves in the Premier League. They showed fleeting moments of improvement before eventually being easily relegated and Edwards was then surprisingly relieved of his duties in the summer when it had appeared as though Wolves had a manager ready to reset and rebuild the club immediately.

By circumstance and perhaps his own errors of judgement, Edwards is now a free agent but that shouldn’t diminish his reputation too much, given what he has shown he is capable of in the past and the recent past at that, too, and he would still remain a coup for Derby.

Rob Edwards would be well-suited to Derby

Aside from simply being a good appointment on paper based on his record, Edwards would also appear as though he suits the setup at Derby well.

First of all, his style of football when gaining Luton promotion to the Premier League would appear quite similarly to the pragmatic and conservative nature of Eustace but with a bit more sophisticated solidity in terms of really understanding a tactical style and system, rather than, as perhaps has been the case for Eustace on occasion, by luck.

Able to implement a similar style and system but more by design should mean the transition into a new manager is a quick one with Derby capable to play the wing-back system that has often been the preference of the former Wales international.

As well as that, there is also actual elements of the squad that resemble that Luton side, none more obvious than striker Carlton Morris – who was the spearhead of Edwards’ promotion-winning Hatters.

Morris joined The Rams from Luton in the summer of 2025 and hit double figures for goals last season but he has, too, been way below par and in need of a spark, and perhaps a reunion with Edwards could be a crucial point of difference for Derby.

A squad that seems stylistically suited well to Edwards as well as having personnel that could adapt to his methods, at least in theory, Edwards has also shown he can come in and improve a side mid-way through the campaign.

Luton had a good foundation in place under Jones but Edwards arrived with The Hatters having won one of six matches and his opening game, a 2-1 loss to ‘Boro, saw them slip into the bottom half of the table in mid-December.

However, they went on to finish third and win promotion via the play-offs – and a surge up the table for Derby could yet still see them perhaps challenge for the top eight but at least comfortably survive relegation for this season.