Former Birmingham City manager tipped for shock move to Wolves
John Eustace is among the bookies’ favourites to replace Gary O’Neil as Wolves manager following a successful start to the new season with Blackburn Rovers.
The 45-year-old’s first full-time managerial role in the English Football League was with Birmingham and he impressed, steering Blues away from relegation in his first season before guiding his team to a spot in the Championship top six at the start of the following campaign.
Birmingham’s decision to sack Eustace in October 2023 stunned the footballing world as the manager had collected a terrific 18 points from the first 11 league matches. His replacement, Wayne Rooney, was a huge failure as he directed Blues towards the bottom of the table before losing his job in January of this year.
Eustace has since gone on to Blackburn, where he has carried on the fine work he showed glimpse of at St Andrew’s. The former Watford and Derby County defender currently has Blackburn fifth in the Championship standings with 37 points from 20 matches.
The Rovers gaffer’s excellent leadership has gained the attention from a host of clubs and Wolves are now being tipped as a potential destination. Al Shabab manager Vitor Pereira is the clear favourite at 2/9 as it stands – with talks already underway – but Eustace could be a dark horse.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (8/1) is the second most likely appointment according to Sky Bet, while Carlos Corberan (10/1), David Moyes and Eustace (both 12/1) aren’t too far behind on the list.
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Wolverhampton in talks with Vitor Pereira after manager Gary O’Neil leaves Molineux
The Premier League club needs a new leader after O’Neil’s departure
Wolves are in talks with Vitor Pereira after parting ways with head coach Gary O’Neil and his staff on Sunday, per CBS Sports sources.
Pereira, a four-time league winner over a two decade managerial career, is currently in charge of Al Shabab in the Saudi Pro League and Wolves would have to pay compensation to extricate him from his deal. However, with the Riyadh club sixth in the top flight, convincing them to part ways with Pereira, who joined in February, may not be a great problem.
The 56-year-old has enjoyed success with the likes of Porto, Olympiacos and Shanghai SIPG and Pereira has also been a candidate for vacancies at Everton on multiple occasions. Pereira speaks good English and is used to working with a squad as cosmopolitan as Wolves’, though that group has so far struggled to drag itself clear of the Premier League relegation zone this season.
That ultimately cost O’Neil his job with Wolves 19th in the Premier League and five points from safety after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Ipswich Town.
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