Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[Waggy76]

2 minutes ago, Tom said:

He’s a bigger man than I if he resigns on a 3 year contract - wait for the pay off surely 

If he resigns soon it will show Venkys up to the national press, 3 managers walked out in 30 months 

[JHRover]

Average tenure across his previous 8 clubs - less than 30 games.

Our lot give him a 3.5 year deal. 

It's either rank stupidity or something dodgy going on.

[StHelensRover]

23 minutes ago, Waggy76 said:

VI is a dead man walking, he will be the first to cop it off the fans, I feel sorry for him in a way. He is poor manager and should never have been appointed, a good six months at Barnsley during Covid is best effort in England.. 

Gestede will follow next summer, leaving poor old Pasha alone again.. 

VI resigning in the first month of the new season, might be the best for all concerned! 

 

I agree with all of that but he's never going to resign. He'll wait for the golden handshake.

I don't feel sorry for him either, he'll get a huge payout. His reputation (which isn't great anyway) won't be in any way tarnished because the wider footballing world knows we're a managerial basket case (like Watford, but with absolutely no ambition)

[SuperBrfc]

He won't be here for long. I think most of us can see where this is heading. He looked aghast on the touchline towards the end tonight. I think he has been sold an illusion just like Lambert, JDT and Eustace were.

In terms of actual management, he showed promise at the back end of last season, but he has just seen his squad dismantled by a numbers man with something else in mind.

It must be deflating seeing a squad you were happy with, seeing players who you wanted to stay on and who weren't difficult to keep hold of, let go and be replaced by random shite.

I think Ismael realises he's on to a loser. In my opinion, he will be gone before the Jan window when he hears there will be little activity.

I'm fully expecting it. Like I said earlier, IMO, all of these managers are part of a 'normal' camp that wants to win, but there appears to be an opposing camp that doesn't seem arsed about that, and at times looks like it doesn't want to. That camp is the root of all our problems, IMO.

[Waggy76]

13 minutes ago, StHelensRover said:

I agree with all of that but he's never going to resign. He'll wait for the golden handshake.

I don't feel sorry for him either, he'll get a huge payout. His reputation (which isn't great anyway) won't be in any way tarnished because the wider footballing world knows we're a managerial basket case (like Watford, but with absolutely no ambition)

Whatever, I think he will be gone by February 2026... 

[Upside Down]

23 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Average tenure across his previous 8 clubs - less than 30 games.

Our lot give him a 3.5 year deal. 

It's either rank stupidity or something dodgy going on.

Both? That's usually how everything has gone over the last 15 years. 

It doesn't have to be either or. Both things are true at the same time.

[roversfan99]

Ive been told many times that everything is aligned and all of the signings are exactly tailored to what he wants.

He seemed seriously pissed off post match, again. He also cant be happy with the business we are doing. 

[Roverthechimp]

For all we know he may have tried resigning already and been told that his release clause is x

Wouldn’t be the first one

If not: he needs to either step up and work with what he has or quit (or at least make it known that he wants to quit) as he clearly isn’t happy and the team look lost

[RevidgeBlue]

2 hours ago, Roverthechimp said:

For all we know he may have tried resigning already and been told that his release clause is x

Wouldn’t be the first one

If not: he needs to either step up and work with what he has or quit (or at least make it known that he wants to quit) as he clearly isn’t happy and the team look lost

Is he unhappy?

He's been quite blasé about the impending departures of Brittain and Travis as though they're only to be expected and he's known about them for some time.

[lraC]

Whether he stays or goes remains to be seen, but whatever happens, it won’t be the clubs fault. Some feeble excuse will be rolled out and as usual, most will see it as bullshit and a small element will accept it.

Rinse and repeat. 

[Kjell]

I've seen the argument made that it's a good thing the head coach is aligned with the board, and while I understand why some might claim that, I would still argue that being aligned with stupidity is not automatically a good thing. 

JDT left because of that stupidity.

Eustace left because of that stupidity.

Ismael? Who knows what he thinks and will do?

[Tomphil2]

I don't think guys like Ismael need selling an illusion i'm pretty certain that in his case he's been told look we need to sell/let go half the squad and replace with cheaper to develop quickly.

We think you are the man for the job and you can decide the profile of the replacements if not the actual player. Here is the contract, here is the bonus structure, insert some release clauses to protect us both. The last 3 head coaches have relaunched their careers here and gone on to big jobs afterwards despite the challenges here. We won't stand in your way if you wish to leave for a club that will pay compensation, do you want to sign ?

No brainer.

[K-Hod]

As much as the main problems at the club involve those above him, I'm very concerned about this guy.

2-0 down in under 5 minutes last night. Not the sign of a happy camp.

It's happened that many times under these owners though, that it doesn't even surprise me any more tbh.

[arbitro]

Last night was disappointing from Ismael. I really thought we should have made changes at half time (despite scoring just before) along with a change of shape. I felt we should have gone to a back three and got our wing backs really pushing forward as we just didn't hurt them from wide positions. Pickering and Montgomery hardly got forward at all.

The disappointment for me was that Ismael didn't do anything and when he did later on we looked all over the place with too many square pegs in round holes. 

Last season when we went a goal in front his changes invariably were to make us more solid defensively to hold on for the win. Going behind presents him with a situation I really think he struggles with.

At 2-0 down yesterday he was bringing everyone back for Bradford's corners and set pieces. I found that infuriating but in fairness the last four Rovers managers have done this.

It's almost like he is conditioned and finds a reluctance to do something different during the actual game.

[47er]

On 11/08/2025 at 01:40, roversfan99 said:

Do you see the likes of Hedges, De Neve and Kargbo as capable of providing chances for the strikers?

I don't see the strikers taking them if they do. Some of the approach play last night was good but the finishing was crap.

[47er]

11 hours ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

He has no game plan.. or if this it, it's shite. 

Taking us down is Ismael. 

  

Venkys taking us down, Ismael is just the useful idiot. (as he's probably beginning to realise).

[JHRover]

4 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Is he unhappy?

He's been quite blasé about the impending departures of Brittain and Travis as though they're only to be expected and he's known about them for some time.

I think he's still getting used to this. Remember Lambert was quite blasé about losing Jordan Rhodes seemingly because he was led to believe that in return he would get all of the £10 million+ to spend in the following window.

I think Ismael is probably still operating under such a pretence - offload the 'big' earners and bring in a few million from the 'troublesome want away' players and then we will be able to get out there and spend before the window closes. We know how this one goes, always room for an admin error or two on deadline day if all else fails. 

By the time he realises he's been had it will be too late.

I heard that Eustace had offered to resign last summer when it became clear to him what they were up to, that he wasn't getting any of the Szmodics money to spend and that they were going down the Gestede route and signing unheard of randomers on low money. 

It was only after they backed down and allowed him to sign Weimann, Batth and McFadzean that he agreed to stay on, however the damage had already been done by then and it appears he had one eye on the exit door after that point. 

I'm expecting a similar process to unfold here this season. What we don't want however is the deluded mob thinking that all our problems are just the result of a poor manager,

[Mattyblue]

Early days, of course, but at the end of the day to keep the show on the road at this level with constant budget cuts you need a manager that does the basics well and has a good relationship with the players - I.e Eustace.

It doesn’t look like this fella can/will do that so it’s looking like this may well be the year the music stops… ah well, we can be sustainable at a lower level instead, like the women.

[roverblue]

I don't think he cared about the cup to be honest, it was more a run out for some of the players on the fringes. I don't rate him as a manager but I genuinely think anyone would be struggling with the squad standard and likely morale around the place at the moment.

Birmingham on Saturday is the first proper test of the season.

If we go a goal or two down early in true Ismael style then it could get toxic pretty quickly this season at Ewood. 

[StHelensRover]

17 minutes ago, roverblue said:

I don't think he cared about the cup to be honest, it was more a run out for some of the players on the fringes. I don't rate him as a manager but I genuinely think anyone would be struggling with the squad standard and likely morale around the place at the moment.

Birmingham on Saturday is the first proper test of the season.

If we go a goal or two down early in true Ismael style then it could get toxic pretty quickly this season at Ewood.

I think West Brom was the first proper test - a game against a fairly average squad with a brand new, untested at this level manager, at a club where there is always pressure to deliver and be in the promotion mix. We should have been licking our lips at going there and getting something. Instead, we were awful and wouldn't have scored against them if we were still playing now.

Birmingham will be watching the highlights from last night and Saturday and be thinking this game can't come soon enough for them. We concede early again on Saturday and it's gonna get sour at Ewood, exactly as you are saying. Worrying!

Edited 2 hours ago by StHelensRover

[StHelensRover]

I can't remember exactly, but wasn't it something like '150 applicants' and we picked VI as the most suitable? 

I wonder if we interviewed other candidates who then walked out when we told them "we'll get to the summer and get rid of every player who has scored or assisted a goal this season and replace them with £200k players from European lower divisions that no one has heard of on League One salaries and hope for the best"

[Hasta]

I can't help thinking Ismael is in on this. I think when he took the job he knew they would spend minimal and have to buy cheapies or promote from the academy. They needed a manager who would accept such a scenario, and he need a route back into football at a decent level.