It seems like the Danish boss left Blackburn Rovers due to budget cuts and a change in the project he initially signed up for. This change made the situation difficult for him, leading to his departure. Following his exit, John Eustace was appointed as the club’s new Head Coach. Eustace’s appointment was logical given his successful track record at Birmingham City, where he demonstrated an ability to work effectively within budget constraints.
Blackburn’s deadline day failure was the final straw for Tomasson
Blackburn Rovers encountered a setback on transfer deadline day when they failed to sign Duncan McGuire from Orlando City. The United States international striker was close to joining Blackburn on loan, but an administrative error on the club’s part prevented the transfer from going through. This mishap was revealed by The Athletic, highlighting an embarrassing oversight on behalf of the club.
It left Tomasson frustrated, but had the board backed him rather than cut the budget, it might have saved him the stress.
This was the final straw for Tomasson, as just over a week later, he walked away.
Eustace did a good job at Birmingham City
Before John Eustace took over at Birmingham City, his predecessor Lee Bowyer faced challenges amidst turmoil at the club. Fans frequently protested against Chairman Zhao Wenqing and Birmingham Sports Holdings Ltd, an entity based in Hong Kong. Eustace navigated through an ownership model that constrained Birmingham’s on-field activities but managed to maintain the team’s stability in the Championship last season despite limited resources.
Last summer marked a turning point for Birmingham City when Shelby Companies Ltd, owned by Knighthead Capital Management, acquired a stake in the club along with NFL star Tom Brady. This investment injected optimism into the club’s future prospects.
Situated in the play-off places in October under Eustace, the ownership decided to replace him with Wayne Rooney, who was sacked back in January.
Blackburn’s owners have been very vociferous in protest at the Venky’s since the day the Indian company bought the Lancashire club back in November 2010.
Relegation from the Premier League followed in 2012, and they haven’t returned to the top flight since.
That’s the aim, and they will be hoping that Eustace can work similarly to how he did at Birmingham against a difficult backdrop prior to the summer’s takeover.
It was clear that Tomasson didn’t want to work after the budget was cut, so Eustace is now taking on the challenge to keep them in the Championship.
Tomasson felt let down by Blackburn ownership
After his first Championship game as Blackburn manager in July 2022 – a 1-0 win at home to QPR, Tomasson faced the media.
One of his first questions aside of the game was to be asked about the transfer situation at Rovers.
He told BBC Radio Lancashire: “From day one, we are dragging all in the same direction. It’s not always like that, but we have good people round the club.
“We are dragging in the same direction, and you need that if you want to be successful and the boys have bought into the things and are working hard. The players we have at the moment have done a good job for the club today.”
This came after Tomasson’s predecessor, Tony Mowbray (ironically Birmingham’s current manager) left, and shortly after his departure to Sunderland he revealed that he needed more reinvestment from the owners at Ewood Park, which didn’t happen.
In the end, not everybody was dragging in the same direction as Tomasson and the owners were on a different page – something he eluded to from the very start, explaining that it wasn’t always the case.He was proven right.
Eustace is more accustomed to the situation that he faces at Blackburn as he kept Birmingham up a year previously in not too dissimilar circumstances.
Blackburn’s fans will be hoping that this counts as the club battle to avoid the drop between now and May.
GET MORE NEWS HERE