Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[aletheia]

25 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Fans Comment from the LET:

"I think most of us understand we are in transition and that the January window will be a part of that process. We are in for a scrap, but I am confident we will stay up, be in better shape next season and that Val is the correct man for the job. Keep the faith true blues. Rome wasn’t built in a day"

Thought this would start up soon. Wrote this on Saturday after the game:-

Said at the start of the season that we will finish in bottom third despite a worse team and even worse (!) hierarchy.

Sadly, if that is the case RG et al will perceive the new 'alignment' as a project in motion and justified. Plus some commentators on here will be at it too -transition, bedding in, kick on next season - we all know the playbook.

[Bronzed A Donis]

2 minutes ago, aletheia said:

Thought this would start up soon. Wrote this on Saturday after the game:-

Said at the start of the season that we will finish in bottom third despite a worse team and even worse (!) hierarchy.

 

Sadly, if that is the case RG et al will perceive the new 'alignment' as a project in motion and justified. Plus some commentators on here will be at it too -transition, bedding in, kick on next season - we all know the playbook.

 

Went on so many Journeys with Mowbray, JDT and now Ismael. Must have been stuck on a roundabout.

[JHRover]

It's all so tiring isn't it?

If I had a pound for every time a Rovers manager has talked about an upcoming transfer window and wanting bodies in the building early etc. only for that not to happen

If I had a pound for every time I'd heard the word 'transition' and that things will be better in a few weeks, months, years.

Ifs, buts, maybes, jam tomorrow not today. The never ending project and cycle. 

We've got a manager that is already beyond his career average for games in charge of a club who has got a 30% win record and delivered 1 home win in 10. We've got a regime in charge whose only interest is in cutting costs and moving players in and out quickly and hoping to turn a quick profit. 

There is no project or plan. It's just excuses from people now starting to feel the pressure as the enormity and severity of our situation becomes clear to even the more deluded bunch out there.

[StHelensRover]

1 hour ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Fans Comment from the LET:

"I think most of us understand we are in transition and that the January window will be a part of that process. We are in for a scrap, but I am confident we will stay up, be in better shape next season and that Val is the correct man for the job. Keep the faith true blues. Rome wasn’t built in a day"

 

😵

Did they just start supporting the club this year? I wish I was as daft as some of these fans. Push my fingers into my ears, forget the previous 14 years and go 'lalala'. Idiotic.

The sort of people you could sell a house to in Ewood with a sea view.

 

[rovers11]

If VI thinks we will move quickly in the transfer market or sign anyone of any quality then he will be in for a big surprise. 

Think the penny has dropped big time for VI about the state of this club and he's struggling to hide his annoyance.

Still, there's not a chance he's quitting. This is his last job in England most probably.

[JPTSwindon]

Oh to have Don Mackay to come and work miracles with the budget / squad...

VI is frustrating - clearly it is a weak squad, and at times he has had positives (but for 2 pitch floods we'd be in a less nervous league position) - but the substitutions, time and time again goals against quickly flow.

Nervous times.

[alcd]

1 hour ago, rovers11 said:

If VI thinks we will move quickly in the transfer market or sign anyone of any quality then he will be in for a big surprise. 

Think the penny has dropped big time for VI about the state of this club and he's struggling to hide his annoyance.

Still, there's not a chance he's quitting. This is his last job in England most probably.

Ismael's comments about the January window are delusion. Not sure whether he's just kidding himself or the fanbase. Players are rarely signed in the first two weeks of the month and certainly not at this club. Also it's nigh on impossible to shift out players that nobody else want. Apart from that a player such as DeNeve will just sit out the remainder of his contract here. 

[Upside Down]

14 hours ago, Elrovers said:

Ismael saying we’ve already identified a list of the players for January. Wants them before we play hull in the fa cup. 

Here's the list:

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Upside Down]

11 hours ago, StHelensRover said:

Did they just start supporting the club this year? I wish I was as daft as some of these fans. Push my fingers into my ears, forget the previous 14 years and go 'lalala'. Idiotic.

The sort of people you could sell a house to in Ewood with a sea view.

 

Bot farm 

[davulsukur]

On 15/12/2025 at 08:41, chaddyrovers said:

Yet again, we are back to this discussion that we had before..

A club management will decide what type of head coach who fits into club strategy/philosophy then go interview and appoint someone. So for example, you wouldn't appoint a head coach who didnt develop young players and bring them through if that's one of key part of your transfer strategy. 

The Forest situation was my point. You had a counter attacking head coach then you got rid and appoint very attacking head coach then with a number of games, you change again for a more pragmatic head coach. That's the sort of head coach that's suit the squad. Also your transfers, some new players have been like Hutchinson, Ndoye, Jesus, etc but they also sign players with a eye on next season and beyond. 

The suggestion that the club has any strategy/philosophy other than to reduce costs year on year is laughable.

The absolutely disgraceful summer business saw them bring in a load of players, only to change the formation after 8 games, which makes the summer window even more inadequate than it already was, as we're now short in defence, wingback and upfront, and over stocked in attacking midfield.

[chaddyrovers]

28 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

The suggestion that the club has any strategy/philosophy other than to reduce costs year on year is laughable.

The absolutely disgraceful summer business saw them bring in a load of players, only to change the formation after 8 games, which makes the summer window even more inadequate than it already was, as we're now short in defence, wingback and upfront, and over stocked in attacking midfield.

sometimes you needed to change formation and pick up results. 

The squad was built for 4-2-3-1 formation and that changes results in good away wins. 

[davulsukur]

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

sometimes you needed to change formation and pick up results. 

The squad was built for 4-2-3-1 formation and that changes results in good away wins. 

The fact that the squad was built for 4-2-3-1, months of planning and a huge squad overhaul only to be totally abandoned after 8 games suggests that there is no real strategy in place.

[Mattyblue]

What’s the strategy of Blackburn Rovers, Chaddy?

[NeilInBristol]

11 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Here's the list:

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

HAHA

he loves a list doesn’t he

what happened as a consequence of his outburst? I recall some managers getting fined for moaning about refs after the game, he went all conspiratorial did he get a fine? Or did they just think “what an absolute twerp “

[chaddyrovers]

42 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

The fact that the squad was built for 4-2-3-1, months of planning and a huge squad overhaul only to be totally abandoned after 8 games suggests that there is no real strategy in place.

sometimes that happens in order to get result. maybe he should have stubborn and stuck to 4-2-3-1 and not change like some previous head coaches have done

[wilsdenrover]

Head coaches who you backed to the hilt whilst they were here.

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

sometimes that happens in order to get result. maybe he should have stubborn and stuck to 4-2-3-1 and not change like some previous head coaches have done

I'm not sure what you're getting at here, having a dig at previous head coaches for doing exactly what VI has just done?

In changing formation he's effectively destroyed months of planning which has left him with an unbalanced squad for the formation that we now play.

[RTM08]

33 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

I'm not sure what you're getting at here, having a dig at previous head coaches for doing exactly what VI has just done?

In changing formation he's effectively destroyed months of planning which has left him with an unbalanced squad for the formation that we now play.

The main takeaway I get from that is that the recruitment team allegedly planned these signings to fit a specific plan and it took 8 games to realise none of them were capable of playing it.

Even if we do make signings in January I have zero faith that they will be what we need.

[davulsukur]

49 minutes ago, RTM08 said:

The main takeaway I get from that is that the recruitment team allegedly planned these signings to fit a specific plan and it took 8 games to realise none of them were capable of playing it.

Even if we do make signings in January I have zero faith that they will be what we need.

No, they won't be anything close to what we need.

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

I'm not sure what you're getting at here, having a dig at previous head coaches for doing exactly what VI has just done?

In changing formation he's effectively destroyed months of planning which has left him with an unbalanced squad for the formation that we now play.

So he should have stubborn and stick to 4-2-3-1 formation and ignore getting results. Playing 3 at back got us results 

I would move back to 4 at back for Saturday game. 

[roversfan99]

We have got 15 points from 12 games since we changed to a back 3/5.

Its hardly been a remarkable change in results.

[chaddyrovers]

1 minute ago, roversfan99 said:

We have got 15 points from 12 games since we changed to a back 3/5.

Its hardly been a remarkable change in results.

So what would you do now? Change formation now back to 4-2-3-1 formation or stick to 3-5-2? 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

46 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

So what would you do now? Change formation now back to 4-2-3-1 formation or stick to 3-5-2? 

None of our strikers are good enough to play up front on their own. I would have thought we’ve already proved that.

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

So what would you do now? Change formation now back to 4-2-3-1 formation or stick to 3-5-2? 

The point was that you was using the formation as a reason to praise Ismael whilst having a dig at previous managers who you at the time also would have defended but now theyve gone you have turned on.

I just was pointing out that its not really been a roaring success. Initially we had Scott Wharton fit and got 9 of those 15 points in 3 games, hes bang average but average is much better than whats left without him. The points have not really followed since.

It wasnt a debate about which formation I would or wouldnt play. To be honest, with the current set of players especially our crap defenders its impossible to build a balanced team out of whats left either way. We dont have 1 competent centre back, never mind 3, but we also dont have any competent wide players.

[Upside Down]

5 hours ago, NeilInBristol said:

HAHA

he loves a list doesn’t he

what happened as a consequence of his outburst? I recall some managers getting fined for moaning about refs after the game, he went all conspiratorial did he get a fine? Or did they just think “what an absolute twerp “

I remember Souness getting a disciplinary of some kind after he asked "what can you do when the referee's a clown?" in a post match interview.

With Val they were probably just completely baffled by how mental that actually was.