Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Anybody like to name a likely realistic replacement ?

[Andy]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Anybody like to name a likely realistic replacement ?

Unlike when we got JDT and JE, any replacement would be chosen by the megaminds of Pasha, Owen and Gestede.

Take a look at which managers/coaches are aligned to a particular agency and you've whittled your shortlist down to a few.

I think VI needs to go now. But what worries me even more is who these jokers would replace him with.

[RevidgeBlue]

7 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Anybody like to name a likely realistic replacement ?

You seem to like him, what is it that is endearing him to you?

He had a poor overall record before he joined and he certainly seems to be living down to expectations.

[roversfan99]

He did a very good job at Barnsley and that shouldnt be taken away from him.

But that was ages ago and has been followed by repeated failures. Hes a crap manager, hes not the main issue here by a long stretch and he is working with shit (even if he did seemingly endorse it being built) but his record is woeful and hes been here long enough.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

15 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

You seem to like him, what is it that is endearing him to you?

He had a poor overall record before he joined and he certainly seems to be living down to expectations.

The players are still playing for him. I’d be loathe to change horses in mid stream as long as that is the case. Add to that I can’t think of anyone out there that is guaranteed to do better. Can you ?

[Gamst]

On 02/01/2026 at 14:09, chaddyrovers said:

He was behind signings like Morishita and Baradji. He has publicly said why we signed them. 

some signings don't work out as you even said like De Neve or Tavares 

When you are shopping in the bargain basement the chances of a signing being good is greatly reduced. You really need exceptional scouting to yield a high success rate employing this strategy. I think given the money spent the transfers are as expected. Some bad, some mediocre, some serviceable and one unearthed gem. 

[SuperBrfc]

31 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Anybody like to name a likely realistic replacement ?

Lee Bowyer is the prediction I made a few weeks ago based on certain patterns and I'm sticking with that call.

Former Charlton. Former Birmingham. Has Championship experience.

He has not long left Montserrat and is out of work. How desperate is he to get back into club management? That's the question.

Anybody with any ambition has to be desperate to want to work under this setup, IMO.

[Mattyblue]

There’s no point playing the ‘who we gonna get?’ game (I hear enough of that with ‘who would buy us?’ stuff - plenty of decent managers would be interested in a Championship gig for a club that is nowhere near being marooned by the way).

There’s no point as the truism of football - it’s a results business, you don’t get them, so out you go, simple as that… is a truism everywhere else but here.
 

Edited 18 hours ago by Mattyblue

[RevidgeBlue]

20 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

The players are still playing for him. I’d be loathe to change horses in mid stream as long as that is the case. Add to that I can’t think of anyone out there that is guaranteed to do better. Can you ?

There's very few things that are absolutely guaranteed in football - but Id say relegation is as near a certainty as it's possible to get if he's allowed to stay.

He can't win a home game. Does it really matter that the players haven't actually thrown the towel in?

(Yet)

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Has he gone yet?

[chaddyrovers]

17 minutes ago, Gamst said:

When you are shopping in the bargain basement the chances of a signing being good is greatly reduced. You really need exceptional scouting to yield a high success rate employing this strategy. I think given the money spent the transfers are as expected. Some bad, some mediocre, some serviceable and one unearthed gem. 

Even when you have loads of money not every transfer will be successful. 

 

[RevidgeBlue]

2 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Has he gone yet?

Do you need to ask?

Probably still be with us in League 2 at the start of 2027/28 season.

[frosty]

Next opportunity to win a home game will be end of January, so he's on four home wins in 11 months.

By this date in 2017 Coyle, a disgrace of an appointment, had just made it four home wins for the season. We're on two for this term.

Far bigger problems at Rovers but, yeah, dud.

[Gamst]

37 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Even when you have loads of money not every transfer will be successful. 

 

Yes of course, but what I’m saying is the odds of an expensive signing is more likely to be successful than a cheaper less established player. Obviously you can spend what Liverpool did on Isak and not be assured of success. 

[roversfan99]

55 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Even when you have loads of money not every transfer will be successful. 

 

No one has ever said that every transfer needs to be successful.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

48 minutes ago, Gamst said:

Yes of course, but what I’m saying is the odds of an expensive signing is more likely to be successful than a cheaper less established player. Obviously you can spend what Liverpool did on Isak and not be assured of success. 

Or what we spent on Brererton and Gallagher.

[Leonard Venkhater]

1 hour ago, Gamst said:

Yes of course, but what I’m saying is the odds of an expensive signing is more likely to be successful than a cheaper less established player. Obviously you can spend what Liverpool did on Isak and not be assured of success. 

Indeed. And if you shop in Poundshop, you're far more likely to pick up crap.

[Upside Down]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Anybody like to name a likely realistic replacement ?

I'll give it a crack. 

I 'know the club'

[wilsdenrover]

Just now, Upside Down said:

I'll give it a crack. 

I 'know the club'

Would be a nightmare commute for you.

Unless they’d let you work from home…

[Upside Down]

25 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Would be a nightmare commute for you.

Unless they’d let you work from home…

Five year deal and I'm there. 

I promise I won't mention Suhail by name.

[philipl]

10 hours ago, Andy said:

Unlike when we got JDT and JE, any replacement would be chosen by the megaminds of Pasha, Owen and Gestede.

Take a look at which managers/coaches are aligned to a particular agency and you've whittled your shortlist down to a few.

I think VI needs to go now. But what worries me even more is who these jokers would replace him with.

The reason I am not pressing to get rid. 

Having seen is getting sacked by 3 ambitious managers in a decade, it would be impossible to attract the likes of JE and JDT now and indeed Gested and Pasha wouldn't appoint anyone with the personality and clout to do what they did.

Ismael is a least worst option who would undoubtedly be replaced by worse 

[Mattyblue]

We don’t know that last paragraph to be true, plenty of managers would still be interested in a Championship gig in which you get to put your feet under the table, and they could well be able to win more than two home games in half a season

(of course this is all for discussion purposes as he’s going nowhere regardless).

[Upside Down]

Despite what some of our so called fans like to say, Blackburn Rovers is still a huge opportunity for most players and managers out there. 

If the club payed wages that were competitive with the rest of the division (yes I know) we'd have the pick of the bunch, bar a small handful of other clubs.

The championship is the 5th largest league in the world and even after 15 years of being terminally ill with the venky virus Rovers are still one of the biggest clubs in the league. 

That's what makes the venky presence so intolerable. It would take very little to get the club back up there challenging and humming again, yet they take every opportunity to deliberately do the opposite.

This leads back to the point I made when he was appointed. Whether Big Val is a shit manager or not is irrelevant, as long as venkys have anything to do with the club nothing will be achieved.

[LeftWinger]

According to Wiki:

Coyle: P37 W11 D8 L18

Ismael: P37 W11 D9 L17

Scarily similar.

 

[davulsukur]

31 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

According to Wiki:

Coyle: P37 W11 D8 L18

Ismael: P37 W11 D9 L17

Scarily similar.

 

2 shockingly shit managers and the outcome of the season is likely to be scarily similar as well.