Birmingham City “paid a very high price” for the manager’s decision, according to Gianfranco Zola.

Gianfranco Zola expressed his belief that Birmingham City faced significant consequences for dismissing John Eustace. Eustace’s departure from St Andrew’s occurred in October following consecutive home wins over Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion, placing the team in the top six of the Championship table at that early stage.

Subsequently, Birmingham City underwent a series of changes in their coaching staff, with Wayne Rooney’s brief tenure followed by Steve Spooner’s interim role in the FA Cup. Tony Mowbray’s arrival brought renewed optimism, but his subsequent leave of absence due to health reasons left Mark Venus in charge. However, the team’s positive momentum couldn’t be sustained under Venus, leading to the appointment of former player and manager Gary Rowett.

Rowett’s previous tenure at Birmingham City ended in December 2016 under different ownership. Similar circumstances surrounded the recent change in management, notably when Eustace was replaced by Rooney at the start of the season. Despite Birmingham’s seventh-place standing at that time, Zola’s managerial stint yielded only two victories in 24 matches before his resignation in 2017.

Having previously worked with Eustace at Watford in the latter part of his playing career, Zola was confused and saddened for his former captain upon hearing that he had been freed of his responsibilities. Since then, Eustace has started working for Blackburn Rovers.

“I felt that the John Eustace situation was unfair, and to be honest, it gutted me,” Zola said to Simon Jordan. I was Watford’s player, by the way, and his name is John Eustace. He was a fantastic captain even though he didn’t play much due to injury. His presence was spectacular even when he wasn’t playing. Superb athlete, so I wasn’t pleased when they fired him because he was deserving of the position and they paid a heavy price for it.”