Next Derby Manager Odds: After John Eustace

Rob Edwards did spend a short period with Derby as a player during the 2003/04 season but that won’t curry him any favour should the hotseat open up over the next few months. What might though is his record as a manager at Championship level.

His record has recently been blighted by Luton’s collapse from Premier League to League One within a 12-month period, albeit he wasn’t at the helm when the Hatters relegation was confirmed, but that only tells a tiny proportion of Edwards’ coaching story.

The 42-year-old earned his coaching corn starting in the lower leagues – with a nine month detour in the England youth setup – where he steered Forest Green to the League Two title as the highest-scoring side.

He joined Watford after that campaign but was quickly shown the door but, hey, who takes notice of a Watford sacking when weighing up a new hire?

Very quickly, he joined Luton and took them to the Premier League via the playoffs and made a decent fist of survival too considering what his side were up against.

That journey will be the defining part of his Luton legacy and, as such, another decent Championship job unquestionably awaits.

A lot of the candidates we reference here will rely on timing and where the candidate is at in the specific moment, but that is perhaps more true for Miron Muslic than anyone else.

Muslic has just added an unwanted Championship relegation to his CV, but context is everything. It is in the detail as to why a Championship club with ambitions of bigger things would be tempted to get him out of Plymouth.

The former Cercle Brugge manager has only been in the English game for 23 games. During that period, he notably won eight games and drew a further five. That gives him a points per game of 1.26 – more than enough to guide a side to midtable over the course of a 46-game Championship campaign.

Considering what he inherited at Plymouth, both in playing squad and position in the table, that is some performance. He earned plaudits for the way he got the Pilgrims playing, too.

If Plymouth are among the stronger performing sides in League One next season, which we expect them to be, then there is every chance someone comes calling from the league above as vacancies open up. Whether that someone is Derby, time will tell.

It might be too soon to talk about Tom Cleverley’s next steps, given he was only sacked from Watford earlier this week, but, eventually, another job will come his way.

Given the job he did under challenging ownership at Vicarage Road, where most fans have been gutted to see him sacked, we don’t think the former England international will be waiting too long and, unless it’s through the choice of a specific project, there is no chance of him needing to drop down the pyramid.

The 35-year-old has been applauded for his man-management during his blossoming managerial career, and whilst a 34% win ratio and a 14th placed finish isn’t particularly noteworthy, there are green shoots in the style and ethos Cleverley has managed to lay down in his first job. In a more stable environment, the expectation is that he’d oversee better results too.

Yes, Wayne Rooney has become a bit of a laughing stock amongst Championship fans after a couple of notable failures on his CV, but, actually, he did a pretty good job at Derby previously under very difficult circumstances.

Admittedly, we’re not convinced he’d get another crack at the role, but strangers things have happened and his name will almost definitely feature on the bookie's list when the time comes.