“I don’t care as long as we win” - Eustace’s anniversary was marked with throwback to ‘Great Escape’ efficiency

It’s been a tumultuous relationship over the years, but after Valentine’s Day victory, Derby County are flirting with the play-offs once again.

The Rams celebrated the first anniversary of John Eustace’s return to Pride Park with a performance that displayed many of the qualities that have defined his tenure to date. A “team of captains”, as the head coach described them, that were at their most efficient in a 2-0 win over Swansea.

Eustace recently told BBC Sport: "My job as a head coach is to stay virtually emotion-free and make sure that the players are very focused and know their jobs inside out." But even for such a balanced character, there must be a level of vindication that comes from looking at the table.

With Derby in the top six and Blackburn battling to avoid the drop, the Rams and Rovers role-reversal shows that the “huge risk” he took a year ago has paid off.

The initial months were about survival, though recent times have seen the former midfielder’s side thrive. Mostly thanks to exploits on the road, where the increase in quality over the past year is obvious.

Back at Pride Park, this was just their second home win in three months, and it fittingly came with a gutsy performance akin to Eustace’s first home wins.

John Eustace summarised Derby's style of play at a pre-match press conference recently. (Photo: University of Derby).

The former Birmingham and Blackburn boss recently described the way his team have been playing as succinctly as I’ve heard him. He said: “We like to soak up a little bit of pressure, and then it’s important that we play the ball forward quickly.”

When I quizzed him on this, Eustace explained: “It's not always a style that I want to play, but if it makes sure I get the best out of the group of players I've got, that's all I ask for. 

“Last week against Ipswich, we had a lot of possession, and we ended up losing the game. This week, we probably haven't had as much possession as we did last week, and we've ended up winning.

“It's just about adapting and making sure we get the best out of the group of players. As we get better players to improve our team, then our style of play, I'm sure will change.”

Defensive resilience, swift transitions, and deadly dead balls. Scoring at the start of a half and never looking back. The visits of Blackburn, Coventry, and Preston last season come to mind again. In this comparison, Patrick Agyemang is Kane Wilson, as odd as that may sound. The progressive-carrier-in-chief, winning free kicks in dangerous areas with powerful runs.

So, speaking post-match on Valentine’s Day, Eustace should perhaps have professed his love for assistant manager Matt Gardiner’s set-piece plans, from which his side scored twice with just 28 per cent possession.

Though Swansea boss Vítor Matos wasn’t feeling the love for those. Consider that stat and that Derby had only mustered one shot from open play when Brewster prodded home, and it is quite understandable.

The hosts’ start was bright. Patrick Agyemang, who Eustace feels does not “get protected as well as he should”, won two near-identical free kicks in the opening ten minutes.

From 25-yards-out in the inside-left, Callum Elder laid the first off to Sam Szmodics. But his curling shot was blocked. There would be no dream start for the debutant.

Joe Ward curled the second low towards the far post, but Lawrence Vigouroux pushed it away at full-stretch to stop The Rams’ best chance of the half.

From here, it was all Swansea until the break. Maybe their hosts were distracted by the eyesore of an away kit in front of them. The brown and green colour combination was more befitting of the early stages of The Ugly Duckling than the eventual beautiful swan.

 Ji-Sung Eom was a left-sided live-wire, repeatedly weaving through the Derby defence and dragging an often too patient possession-based side up the pitch. As unattractive as The Rams’ game plan was, Swansea’s dependence on holding onto the ball played right into their hands (or should that be hooves in this context?)

Derby’s problem in the first half was that while they held firm at the back, what Eustace diagnosed as a “disconnection from the back to the front” hindered their forward play. Maybe the newer signings just need a bit of time to gel, too?

Half-time tweaks instantly changed the dynamic, though. Derby had fresh impetus from their kick off when Sam Szmodics’ shot was blocked for a corner.

Callum Elder’s delivery from in front of the away fans landed at the feet of Rhian Brewster at the back post, whose initial effort was saved before he turned in the rebound to score in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Here was a prime example of another of Eustace’s great successes in the East Midlands. Taking players who might have lost their way a little in recent times and providing them with a place to thrive once more. The culture around the club and bond among the squad suggest that his regular references to “the Derby County family” are more than a PR line.

Another chance fell Derby’s way when Ward delivered a deep, pinpoint free kick to the back post, where Vigouroux just beat Agyemang to it, to concede a corner. Elder swung the ball to the back post again, where the former Charlotte FC striker headed into the bottom-right corner.

With his tenth goal of the season, Agyemang is justifying the hype that came with his price tag. Among those ten, six headers that have resulted in successful landings in the net.

American Airlines should perhaps take notice. Mauricio Pochettino, likewise. The Rams' number seven is certainly doing his chances of a place on the plane back to a home World Cup this summer no harm.

Swansea’s best chance to get back into the game came when Gustavo Nunes shot across goal, but he was denied by the diving Vickers. The 30-year-old had little to do throughout but was alert when called upon in just his second game back following a broken thumb.

That all three of Derby’s goalkeepers have now kept a league clean sheet this season is a rare feat. Admittedly, in part due to an injury crisis in net. But that Jacob Widell Zetterström, Vickers, and Richard O’Donnell can all be trusted by fans, and more importantly, Eustace, is a testament to the work of the head of goalkeeping, Paul Clements.

Elder delivered another corner with six minutes to play, but this time Agyemang headed it straight at Vigouroux. Ben Brereton Díaz then shot high and wide to deny Ward an audacious backheeled assist.

If there was a moment to illustrate how Eustace has improved the players at his disposal, it would have been that. Having suffered seemingly endless injuries, Ward looked destined to be cast off to League One in the summer. A casualty of The Rams' remarkable rebuild. But instead, he has become vital to Derby, showing himself to be one of the Championship's premier creators.

Substitute Jaydon Banel then stung the palms of the Swansea stopper from 20-yards-out, but unlike when he attempted to start the bounce, there was no second chance.

As if a first win on Valentine’s Day in half a century wasn’t enough, there was an extra gift for Rams fans. Carlton Morris, returning from a three-month lay-off to a South Stand serenade.

It is not just the fans who were glad to see Derby’s number nine back, his teammates “love him to bits” too, according to Eustace. “Just to have him in the dressing room, in the warm-up, just to be talking to the players was the reason that we put him on the bench today. I was never going to play him.”

But holding a comfortable lead in the final moments allowed for his reintroduction, his boss explained. “The applause he got when he came on was fantastic. So, I think it just shows how everyone appreciates him, and he won a couple of headers straight away as well, which was good.”

Eustace will now hope that Morris can reignite his goalscoring spark and resume a blossoming relationship with Agyemang, who I maintain is more suited to a role in the channels.

But after a day of celebration for everyone with a love of Derby County, their former midfielder-turned-manager’s evening plans were less romantic – he already had an eye on his side’s next game.

He said: “Me and my wife will probably be watching Watford [who drew 2-2 at Preston] this afternoon. That'll be her decision as well, she said, ‘you'd better watch Watford tonight.’”

After all, motivation is often spurred on by those closest to you. It is that drive that has seen him take Derby from near certainties to go down, to play-off contenders – bringing a real sense of connection between Rams fans and their head coach once again.