Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[KentExile]

47 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Any replacement might have a bit of ability though.

Unfortunately, as being "aligned" is by fat the main prerequisite, any new head coach could just as easily have even less ability (as difficult to believe as that may sound)

Anyone we bring in will tow the line, unless they have a good few months, which sees their stock rise sufficiently enough to start causing a fuss and making demands of Pasha & Gestede for actual investment, which will eventually see them depart for greener pastures

Its a never ending vicious circle

Edited 16 hours ago by KentExile

[RevidgeBlue]

49 minutes ago, islander200 said:

It will be head coaches like Ismael that are in the last chance saloon that will be making up the shortlist 

Or someone who has zero or little experience in senior management. Vignal the under 23 boss and Jordan Rhodes would be in the running is my bet 

Fine. Any of them might work.

The "Desperate Dan" we have at the moment definitely isnt working.

Did you rail against Kean and Coyle being sacked as well? They have very similar records.

[johnradfordsubbuteo2]

Silk purse. Sow's ear. Any manager.

[Tomphil2]

Ismael is aligned with Gestede and Gestede is aligned with Suhail,

He'll be so aligned with these lot and their project he got presented a 3 year plus deal on probably a modest wage but bonus incentives to develop and sell and promote academy players.

Remember him saying he'd be happy to sacrifice transfer money to fix the pitch ?

Any other manager or head coach would be pleading with their owners to dip into their own pockets and sort it for the good of the club, not here though.

[islander200]

11 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Fine. Any of them might work.

The "Desperate Dan" we have at the moment definitely isnt working.

Did you rail against Kean and Coyle being sacked as well? They have very similar records.

I wanted them both out and I wouldn't shed any tears if Ismael was to leave 

My point is imo the removal of Ismael solves very little whilst it's Gestede and Pasha choosing the next manager and while we are in the midst if their project 

Also imo it's totally pointless using Ismaels complicity as a stick to beat him with as any manager appointed Will be complicit.

They are not going to appoint a demanding head coach like JDT or Eustace it will be another yes man with Owen and Gestede being in charge of signings and having a say in our tactics and formation 

[Kjell]

This quote sums up everything that is wrong with Ismael: 

"As I say, Axel (Henriksson) is running 15k today"

Every decision is taken based on statistics. So much that it really doesn't count as a decision anymore.

Everything has gone wrong since he was appointed. Why does he need to go? Because we are in a relegation fight and we need someone who can help us win that.

You say that we won't appoint anybody better? You are right, Gestede and Pasha are horrible.

Can't you be bothered by Rovers anymore? I totally get it.

You say that the real issues lie elsewhere? You are right. I hate Venkys from the deepest and darkest place in my soul.

But still. Ismael needs to go. He is one of the worst managers we have had in the last 25 years, and I want him and his list of excuses nowhere near the dugout on matchday.

[K-Hod]

'He's playing up front and he couldn't finish his dinner, but look over there at how far he can run!'

[islander200]

23 minutes ago, Kjell said:

This quote sums up everything that is wrong with Ismael: 

"As I say, Axel (Henriksson) is running 15k today"

Every decision is taken based on statistics. So much that it really doesn't count as a decision anymore.

Everything has gone wrong since he was appointed. Why does he need to go? Because we are in a relegation fight and we need someone who can help us win that.

You say that we won't appoint anybody better? You are right, Gestede and Pasha are horrible.

Can't you be bothered by Rovers anymore? I totally get it.

You say that the real issues lie elsewhere? You are right. I hate Venkys from the deepest and darkest place in my soul.

But still. Ismael needs to go. He is one of the worst managers we have had in the last 25 years, and I want him and his list of excuses nowhere near the dugout on matchday.

And the next head coach will also be using data for team selection and signings as that's what Adam Owen and Rudy Gestede want.

So in a few months time you will be saying exactly the same thing about whoever replaces Ismael.

I do not think Ismael is a good manager but did you not expect us to be in a relegation battle when the transfer window ended and we had replaced most our experienced players with cheap signings from abroad?

I did expect us to be in a relegation battle ,and if I could have forseen the injury problems the last couple of months I'd have had us nailed on to be relegated.

Thus far with the exception of a week or 2 we have stayed out of the bottom 3

[Kjell]

I want a fighter in, not a victim. I want someone who can add something to what everyone can do: analysing stats.

And I totally expected us to be in a relegation fight based on our summer dealings. As Ismael stated in his Q&A, he is very much hands-on in the recruitment process. That's one of the reasons why I want him gone. 

I know it is not going to happen. But that does not alter the fact that Ismael is a piss poor manager.

 

[islander200]

8 minutes ago, Kjell said:

I want a fighter in, not a victim. I want someone who can add something to what everyone can do: analysing stats.

And I totally expected us to be in a relegation fight based on our summer dealings. As Ismael stated in his Q&A, he is very much hands-on in the recruitment process. That's one of the reasons why I want him gone. 

I know it is not going to happen. But that does not alter the fact that Ismael is a piss poor manager.

 

Whoever the head coach is recruitment will stay the same some hits and some misses.

We are offering peanuts In transfer fees and wages it's unrealistic to think that there will be much improvement on that side with the way things are by just changing the head coach. 

And all head coaches use excuses even Eustace after he said about no excuse culture did it 

At the moment the players are still playing for him and they haven't downed tools like they did under JDT in the last couple of months of his reign

[roversfan99]

I think it shows how low standards are that I quite regularly see the defence of Ismael that the players at least havent all give up.

[Tomphil2]

1 hour ago, Kjell said:

This quote sums up everything that is wrong with Ismael: 

"As I say, Axel (Henriksson) is running 15k today"

Every decision is taken based on statistics. So much that it really doesn't count as a decision anymore.

Everything has gone wrong since he was appointed. Why does he need to go? Because we are in a relegation fight and we need someone who can help us win that.

You say that we won't appoint anybody better? You are right, Gestede and Pasha are horrible.

Can't you be bothered by Rovers anymore? I totally get it.

You say that the real issues lie elsewhere? You are right. I hate Venkys from the deepest and darkest place in my soul.

But still. Ismael needs to go. He is one of the worst managers we have had in the last 25 years, and I want him and his list of excuses nowhere near the dugout on matchday.

This is the problem now they are clearly being beasted in training and games to the detriment of playing some actual football.

Hence the fatigue and constant massive injury list.

We've gone from JDT trying to play total football from his own penalty area to a guy who just wants to pin opponents in their own box for 95 mins as a form of defending from the front.

We certainly have defensive strikers !

[Kjell]

11 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Whoever the head coach is recruitment will stay the same some hits and some misses.

We are offering peanuts In transfer fees and wages it's unrealistic to think that there will be much improvement on that side with the way things are by just changing the head coach. 

And all head coaches use excuses even Eustace after he said about no excuse culture did it 

At the moment the players are still playing for him and they haven't downed tools like they did under JDT in the last couple of months of his reign

Ok. I want someone in that can save us from being relegated. I know I'll not get it. 

[Dreams of 1995]

Ismael runs his players into the ground.

It is very easy online to sit & blame head coaches or club staff for everything and anything, knowing you never really have to prove it. Lovely to moan isn't it. Yet when you look at our injuries this year, you would be daft not to question exactly what has been going on both during training and within the match day itself.

The way we set up puts a lot of strain on our forward / midfield players. Our defence begins quite deep for a team who is tasked with pressing so high, and we don't seem to push up until a press looks like it may come off. That space between the back 3 and the front 3 is enormous at times, which means that either the wing backs or the attackers have a hell of a lot of ground to cover basically running around like headless chickens

Wrexham found us out with this one. They really drew us on to them, ran us into the ground and then pumped long when the centre halves eventually pushed up to shrink that space. It was amateur really. Parkinson is a shrewd manager but there's no way he does a number on Eustace the way he did on Ismael. We looked amateur that day

Then there is the training. I know quite a few baggies fans and they have all said that Ismael is supposed to be fanatical on running & distance & sprints and recoveries. I am saying this with zero authority here but it would not surprise me if we are running ourselves ragged in a training environment. The amount of muscle injuries point to that for sure

I have to be honest and say that I have never warmed to Val. I always try but we have had some fantastic coaches previously - and yes, I count Mowbray in that - but this chap has come at the wrong time for me. Right at the end of an era that looked like it may result in a play off place; right after the drama with JDT & Eustace and the commencement of the PashaRudy show; and, to top it off, a tired and young squad that he can't appear to get a tune out of

I just don't see our identity which after this long in charge is criminal really. For me we should change head coach and soon. A loss against Ipswich on the weekend would be my tipping point  

Edited 2 hours ago by Dreams of 1995

[islander200]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I think it shows how low standards are that I quite regularly see the defence of Ismael that the players at least havent all give up.

Iv given my other reasons why I don't think a change in head coach is going to change much here.

I have also said i wouldn't shed a tear if he was sacked.I just feel if he was replaced the same things being said now about Ismael would be said about the new guy.

We need the owners out and Gestede and Pasha they go Ismael and managers of his ilk won't be here 

[islander200]

Just now, Kjell said:

Ok. I want someone in that can save us from being relegated. I know I'll not get it. 

And thus far Ismael has kept us out of the bottom 3 with the exception of a week or 2 and he has had a horrendous injury hit squad with multiple key players missing 

 

[Kjell]

1 minute ago, islander200 said:

And thus far Ismael has kept us out of the bottom 3 with the exception of a week or 2 and he has had a horrendous injury hit squad with multiple key players missing 

 

You think he'll keep us safe. I think he'll take us down. 

[islander200]

5 minutes ago, Kjell said:

You think he'll keep us safe. I think he'll take us down. 

I think if we get Gudjohnson back and sign another striker we will be safe yeah 

Iv seen us being competitive enough to believe there are 3 worse teams than us and we have had some good performances this season 

I will say Ismael's home record is a disgrace tho even with a fit squad

[Kjell]

5 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Iv seen us being competitive enough to believe there are 3 worse teams than us and we have had some good performances this season 

I think Norwich will get past us. And then the problem was that away at Portsmouth, we looked no better than them. 

You see the injury situation as something external. In contrast, I see it as something internal, i.e. to do with a) our recruitment b) totally running players down during games and potentially c) our training methods. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Kjell

[MarkBRFC]

26 minutes ago, Kjell said:

You think he'll keep us safe. I think he'll take us down. 

I think he will do, I just don't think it will be this season, but think it will be very close.

As for recruitment in this window, all they are doing is hoping something falls into there laps for minimal outlay in the last few days of the window.

[islander200]

Maybe it is Ismaels training methods that have caused so many injuries.

But did we not have injury hit squads under JDT and Eustace? Was it their methods aswell?

 

[RTM08]

41 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Iv seen us being competitive enough to believe there are 3 worse teams than us and we have had some good performances this season 

We donate far too many points to teams in the bottom half and are completely reliant on turning up against the better teams. Even of our form picked up I have no confidence that this will be against the teams we really need them to be against. Not all 3 points are equal in this kind of position.

[islander200]

1 minute ago, RTM08 said:

We donate far too many points to teams in the bottom half and are completely reliant on turning up against the better teams. Even of our form picked up I have no confidence that this will be against the teams we really need them to be against. Not all 3 points are equal in this kind 

 

The way I see it Is we have stayed out of the bottom 3 the majority of the season with injuries to key players even with dropping points to clubs below and around us.

Scoring goals is an issue but since Gudjohnson has been out we have been playing without a striker.

Even Ohashi I wouldn't describe him as a striker he spends too much time outside the box

If Gudjohnson had been fit or we had another number 9 to replace him I dont think we would have had only 1 win in our last 11

 

[islander200]

We also could be 5 points better off I'm the table if the Ipswich and Wednesday games weren't abandoned which is no fault of Ismael 

[dallydally]

Ismael can be summed up in one word - incompetent