Blackburn Rovers urged to appoint ex-Norwich City manager to replace John Eustace | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer has told FLW his verdict on Blackburn Rovers' manager choices

Carlton Palmer has named ex-Norwich City manager David Wagner as his preferred option to take over at Blackburn Rovers.

According to Alan Nixon, the search for John Eustace’s replacement at Ewood Park is down to two final candidates.

Valerien Ismael and Wagner are both in contention after the latest round of interviews, although it’s understood that the former is seen as the front-runner for the position.

Ismael previously worked in the Championship with Barnsley, West Brom and Barnsley, while Wagner earned promotion at Huddersfield Town in 2017, and led Norwich City to a top six finish last season.

Palmer tips David Wagner for Blackburn

Palmer believes that Wagner is the better option of the two candidates at the forefront of the Blackburn manager search.

He has claimed the German’s previous promotion experience gives him the edge over Ismael at this stage.

“Reports are coming out of Blackburn Rovers that they’re close to making an appointment,” Palmer told Football League World.

“Apparently they are down to two candidates, David Wagner, Valerien Ismael.

“They got two decent results, they beat West Brom and then they beat Plymouth Argyle, so it didn’t seem that the hierarchy were in any rush to make an appointment.

“But a 3-0 disappointing defeat away to Swansea has prompted them into action, and they’re now believed to be looking at choosing from the two candidates.

“Who would be the best fit? Well I didn’t think they were going to pay compensation for anybody, that was a given.

“So, who would be the best fit? It’s a really close call, David Wagner has got a promotion at this level to his name.

“If the reports coming out are right, then Val Ismael is the fore-front runner in this two-horse race.

“Val, he did really, really well at Barnsley under limited funds, so I suppose that is what the owners will be looking back at, but then he had a disappointing time at West Brom, didn’t work out for him.

“David Wagner, as I said, has got a promotion to his name.

“I’ve got to be honest with you, if I have to choose one or the other, I would choose David Wagner over Ismael, just because of the fact he’s got a promotion to his name out of this league, and that could be crucial as we go into the final weeks of the season.”

Palmer issues promotion warning to Blackburn

Palmer has warned Blackburn that the cost of failing to get a play-off place will be a disaster for the club, as it will highlight their mistake in not backing John Eustace.

“It’s concertinaing up now with a lot of teams vying to get into the play-offs, Coventry with a really good run, so they need somebody to come in there, hit the ground running and who can pick up the results for them to end up in a play-off position,” he continued.

“Should Blackburn end up in the play-offs, it would be a catastrophic season and they would pay the price for not backing John Eustace in the way that they should’ve done.

“But, as I said, in my opinion David Wagner would be the better fit but it looks like the bookies and everybody are looking at Val Ismael as the next manager.”

It has also been reported by Alex Crook that Rangers are considering an approach for Wagner as their next manager after Philippe Clement’s sacking.

Wagner’s recent Championship experience stands up against Ismael

Ismael did well at Barnsley and over-achieved with the club to get them to the play-offs, but his recent stints at West Brom and Watford left a lot to be desired.

Meanwhile, Wagner also over-achieved by gaining promotion with Huddersfield, and even kept them in the Premier League for a second season.

Norwich didn’t go as well as many hoped, but he still got the Canaries to a top six finish.

Wagner and Ismael also have two very different styles of play, which is a concern when these are supposedly the two options being considered, as it shows a look of proper forward planning.