Why John Eustace changed his mind at the last minute ?
Monday, 26th Jul 2021 12:00 by Keith Haynes

He was almost certain to be the next manager at the Liberty, and most certainly not too many swans fans were surprised yet another left field appointment had been made. Right up until late morning on Sunday Eustace was expected to be in Swansea for his unveiling on Monday.

We all knew he was staying to oversee the QPR friendly against Manchester United on Saturday, as the swans had their game against Bristol Rovers cancelled due to a Covid outbreak in the swans training group. It seemed sensible, it gave Eustace the opportunity to say his goodbyes, and Swansea could prepare for his arrival. Then via a close allie at the Telegraph it was announced Eustace was not coming. No reasons were given apart from it was a reluctant choice.

It is without doubt QPR had access to Eustace over the weekend. Obviously. He seemed to be quite well admired at Loftus Road, and with Mark Warburton seemingly not far away from the bullet last season, Eustace could well find himself again in the hot seat. Was that in his thinking ?

Or maybe the continued speculation that QPR had approached him with a new contract rated far more than Swansea City had offered him was the reason ? Steve Cooper’s £154,000 a year contract would most certainly been improved upon in Eustace’s case, even so it wouldn’t take much to tempt him to stay at QPR. We do know Swansea City had all his logistics in place over the weekend, so it will come as a huge surprise to them as much as it has to swans fans.

John Eustace had it clearly explained to him the clubs direction both player wise and financially for the coming season, he would have no doubt of his remit. Having some knowledge of the Swansea City recruiting process via Andy Scott would maybe too appealed to him. It takes the pressure off a bit but also takes away some of the managers decision making. It is without doubt the USA loans of last season were from the majority owners and not Steve Coopers choice. A loss of control could well have featured in his thinking. The lure of success at QPR, albeit one of the smaller London sides could well affect him too. He is settled, comfortable and not under any pressure whatsoever regardless of what Mark Warburton does this season, in fact failure would almost certainly reward him.

John Eustace still to state why he changed his mind

Rumours of his failure to secure the managers job at Doncaster Rovers recently have been dismissed by some, however Eustace does have a somewhat chequered career when it comes to decision making in his choice of clubs. Protracted negotiations have plagued his career as much as his injuries, at Stoke he cited personal reasons for certain issues in the press. That aside this morning swans fans should maybe take a deep breath and be thankful this saga didn’t go on any longer. It could well be the club have inadvertently dodged a bullet. No club wants a half cocked manager not sure of where he wants to be and his heart not in the job. So to John Eustace we say “ Best of luck for the future” You made the decision that was right for you, and somehow today I’m thinking it was right for Swansea too.

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