Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[Andy]

30 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

I've been in the he's had a tough hand camp, but the lads on the Blackburn End podcast today made some great points about VI and I'm edging towards the he needs to go camp.

It's quickly become my favourite Rovers pod - I think they both come across well and talk sense most of the time.

And agreed on VI.
But, as I mentioned the other day, my confidence in the current regime picking up / convincing an even half-decent manager to replace him is non-existent.

[Upside Down]

9 hours ago, lraC said:

We are also top of the sabotaging seasons league too, have managed that for 3 out of the last 5.

You mean 15 out of the last 15.

Edited Wednesday at 00:58 by Upside Down

[Kjell]

Who's going tonight?

[Waggy76]

12 minutes ago, Kjell said:

Who's going tonight?

I cannot believe,  there is any demand for this non event !

[MarkBRFC]

Postponed due to the weather warnings is my guess, to hide the fact that no bugger is going.

[JCRovers]

Game management: 3/10

Team has struggled for years to 'see games out' from a winning position. Always susceptible to conceding a late goal. Feels like we panic at times and don't know how to slow the tempo down or do proper time wasting during set pieces. Hasn't really improved under Ismael either; late goals conceded vs Birmingham (home) and Wrexham (away) comes to mind.

Man management: 4/10

Ismael doesn't exactly come across as a motivator. Throwing Gueye under the bus and publicly bashing him and Carter isn't really helpful for the team's morale. Standards need to bet set, yes, but it could've been handled better and preferably behind closed doors.

Tactics: 4/10

Has a clear idea regarding type of player he wants but fails to incorporate that into a winning team. Switched formation early in the season from 4-2-3-1 to 5-3-2 for the Coventry game due to a number of poor results. Defence has stabilised somewhat since then but attacking-wise there's a lack of ideas and purpose. We struggle to defend set-pieces at times as well as scoring from them (throw-ins in final third included). Threat from transitions / counter-attacks is pretty much non-existent due to poor movement and athleticism up front. Our build-up from the back is poor as well as we struggle severely with beating first line of press and end up booting it long to one of the strikers (who can't keep hold of the ball anyway). Only bright side has been our threat on the right hand side when Alebiosu has been playing.

End result is we try to keep ourselves in the matches for as long as possible but will need a bit of luck to win them.

Summary: fail to see how the team will progress and climb the table under his tenure despite there being a lot of inconsistent sides in the Championship right now.

[Mattyblue]

Only time you’d be happy to get a ban from the ground for asking a question they don’t like.

[47er]

7 minutes ago, JCRovers said:

Game management: 3/10

Team has struggled for years to 'see games out' from a winning position. Always susceptible to conceding a late goal. Feels like we panic at times and don't know how to slow the tempo down or do proper time wasting during set pieces. Hasn't really improved under Ismael either; late goals conceded vs Birmingham (home) and Wrexham (away) comes to mind.

Man management: 4/10

Ismael doesn't exactly come across as a motivator. Throwing Gueye under the bus and publicly bashing him and Carter isn't really helpful for the team's morale. Standards need to bet set, yes, but it could've been handled better and preferably behind closed doors.

Tactics: 4/10

Has a clear idea regarding type of player he wants but fails to incorporate that into a winning team. Switched formation early in the season from 4-2-3-1 to 5-3-2 for the Coventry game due to a number of poor results. Defence has stabilised somewhat since then but attacking-wise there's a lack of ideas and purpose. We struggle to defend set-pieces at times as well as scoring from them (throw-ins in final third included). Threat from transitions / counter-attacks is pretty much non-existent due to poor movement and athleticism up front. Our build-up from the back is poor as well as we struggle severely with beating first line of press and end up booting it long to one of the strikers (who can't keep hold of the ball anyway). Only bright side has been our threat on the right hand side when Alebiosu has been playing.

End result is we try to keep ourselves in the matches for as long as possible but will need a bit of luck to win them.

Summary: fail to see how the team will progress and climb the table under his tenure despite there being a lot of inconsistent sides in the Championship right now.

In the end its a results game and the results are shocking.

[Jimmy612]

2 hours ago, Kjell said:

Who's going tonight?

I've just realised that this starts at 5pm... why would they do that on a work day?  Particularly in the first working week of January when everyone has just had two-weeks off.  Surely 7 - 9 would have been better, forget a bloody two-course buffet and price the tickets at a reasonable amount, say £15.00, and chuck in a free pint for everyone. 

[Mattyblue]

Can only think it’s tied in with that Business Club thing they do with local firms, as yes, who the bloody hell else is shelling our 35 quid in early January and rushing round from work to attend that!

[rigger]

57 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Can only think it’s tied in with that Business Club thing they do with local firms, as yes, who the bloody hell else is shelling our 35 quid in early January and rushing round from work to attend that!

I wouldn't go if it was free.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

5 hours ago, Kjell said:

Who's going tonight?

You couldn't pay me to attend.

[Mike E]

I’d have attended if I could, just to ask some difficult questions.

[KentExile]

I hope Elliott Jackson paid for a ticket, just to see the reaction

Edited 14 hours ago by KentExile

[MarkBRFC]

6 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I’d have attended if I could, just to ask some difficult questions.

I don't think it will be an open Q&A unfortunately! 

[Tomphil2]

3 hours ago, Jimmy612 said:

I've just realised that this starts at 5pm... why would they do that on a work day?  Particularly in the first working week of January when everyone has just had two-weeks off.  Surely 7 - 9 would have been better, forget a bloody two-course buffet and price the tickets at a reasonable amount, say £15.00, and chuck in a free pint for everyone. 

Because they only want the corporate types there it's all this club is interested in.

[Leonard Venkhater]

48 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

I don't think it will be an open Q&A unfortunately! 

"Chaired" by Andy Bayes? lol

[G Somerset Rover]

More fool the folk attending this waffle-fest. Far from our biggest issue but an awful manager.

[RoversClitheroe]

5-7pm is a ridiculous time to host a Q&A.

Would love to hear from anyone that did attend.

[RoversClitheroe]

Any update from anyone who was there able to give a breakdown 

[rigger]

2 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

Any update from anyone who was there able to give a breakdown 

Anyone willing to admit they were there ?

[roversfan99]

It will have been an absolute non-entity of an event. Business people watching a sanitised set of questions. 

[RevidgeBlue]

11 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

It will have been an absolute non-entity of an event. Business people watching a sanitised set of questions. 

Can you imagine:

1) How did you manage to completely derail last season's play off push before ten minutes of your second match had even expired?

2) What does it feel like to have the worst home record in the Club's 150 year history this time round?

3) Why was Hyam sold in the last few hours of the summer transfer window without a replacement?

4) Why did you say the Club could fix the pitch in lieu of spending money in the January window?

5) Do you regret producing "the list" of perceived grievances against officials?

6) As you've been quite adamant that this season's squad is at least comparable to last season's - how do you explain the dip in position from 6th to 20th?

etc etc.......

Lol.

[Leonard Venkhater]

On 06/01/2026 at 20:31, Andy said:

It's quickly become my favourite Rovers pod - I think they both come across well and talk sense most of the time.

And agreed on VI.
But, as I mentioned the other day, my confidence in the current regime picking up / convincing an even half-decent manager to replace him is non-existent.

Waggott is gone and he did have contacts in the English game. 

Since Mowbray, we had JDT and Eustace under Waggott's watch.

Before then, the awful ownership and various cronies gave us SK, Appleton, Berg, Bowyer, Lambert and Coyle. A pretty poor bunch, I am sure most will agree. Indeed, Mowbray was the only exception.

After Ismael I shudder...

Edited 7 hours ago by Leonard Venkhater