John Eustace suffers nightmare start to life at Derby after thrashing

Eustace endured a nightmare return to the dugout with the Rams as they suffered a 4-0 defeat at Loftus Road.

On a nightmare night, it was Marti Cifuentes' side who ran riot against their former assistant manager and interim boss.

It's not the first time either, with QPR winning 2-1 against Blackburn in what turned out to be his final league match in charge of the Lancashire side.

For Derby, the 4-0 defeat wasn't just their worst result of the season so far.

It was also their worst defeat since losing 4-0 away at Cardiff in March 2021 - almost four years ago.

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By contrast, Blackburn's first game without Eustace ended in a 2-0 victory away at promotion-chasing West Brom on Wednesday night.

That result left Rovers in fifth position in the table.

Eustace completed his return to Derby earlier this week following his controversial decision to leave Blackburn Rovers.

Having led Blackburn to sixth place in the Championship, Eustace willingly dropped 16 places in the table in order to join the Rams who are battling relegation.

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Based on their result in west London, Eustace perhaps knows why.

Defeat to QPR leaves Derby in 22nd place in the table.

It means that they currently sit in the relegation zone with Hull City above them on goal difference.

Derby have also currently played two games more than the rest of the Championship's bottom six.

Eustace spent the last two years of his professional playing career at Derby, making 63 appearances in all competitions.

His coaching career commenced the year after his retirement in 2016 when he joined Kidderminster Harriers as manager.

After two years with the National League North side he moved to Queens Park Rangers as an assistant to Steve McClaren.

Eustace then had a brief spell as their caretaker manager before he returned to assistant duties upon the arrival of Mark Warburton.

In 2022 he joined the Republic of Ireland national team within the same role, this time with Stephen Kenny, alongside his QPR work.

Eustace became the head coach at Birmingham City in July that year but was dismissed in October 2023 and replaced by Wayne Rooney - a decision which ultimately led to the Blues getting relegated.

Blackburn came calling last February and he guided them to safety in the Championship, before seeing them defy expectations this term.

Now with Derby, Eustace must use every ounce of his managerial ability to help the Rams to avoid relegation back to League One.

After all, his decision to leave Blackburn would prove to be a disaster if Eustace found himself two divisions below his promotion-chasing former employers next term.