Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[lraC]

58 minutes ago, Jimmy612 said:

To be honest, I don't suspect it is true in reality.  Even if Owen did decide Ismael wasn't right for the job (I have no evidence whatsoever that this is the case), do you really think he'd get it past RG and more importantly, SS?  AO won't have any direct comms with the owners, and I'm pretty sure SS wouldn't be wanting to approach the owners to tell them the manager they selected is a failure. 

There was lots of chatter last April that there was a clause in VI's contract that it could be terminated within something like... 5 or 6 months. I remember Glen Mullan banging that drum quite incessantly.   Is it beyond the realms of possibility that other clauses could have been inserted to protect the club from paying more or less full compensation?  I know lots of people will say, this is Suhail you're talking about, but if nothing else, he doesn't like parting with his bosses money.  I can't imagine VI would have held much negotiating power given his pretty abject managerial record. 

Pretty much as I see it that.

[jim mk2]

So what does Adam Owen actually do? What is the function of a "technical director"? This appears to be a non-job to me, but one for which I'm sure he's well paid

Clubs used to be a simple. There was a manager, who managed the team (obviously), a trainer, and a secretary. They had one of two assistants, but that was about it. 

Now I'm told (usually by Chaddy) the game has changed and the we have to have "directors of coaching", "technical directors", "heads of recruitment", specialist coaches for forwards, defenders, goalkeepers, free kicks, corners and throw-ins, a huge number of people at great expense who, it seems to me, add no value whatsoever 

 

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, Jimmy612 said:

I remember this being included in the last fans forum minutes

DM asked RG that while he had stated he thinks we will have a good season, what if we don’t? Since Steve Waggott left the structure at the club is unclear and if there is a decision to be made on the future of the head coach, who is responsible for that?

SS stated it would be the owners decision, but they would propose it.

DM asked specifically who would propose this as it is unclear where people’s remit starts and ends, and it was unclear who was assessing the performance of RG/SS or VI.

RG stated that AO was responsible for assessing all coaching staff at the club, which extended to ValerienIsmael.

The problem we have here is that Gestede, Owen, Ismael and maybe even Pasha (although I suspect he's chucking the rest under the bus right now) are all in it together. 

The appointment of the Ismael himself, the dross we've signed, the shocking performances all down to these clowns collectively. 

They won't be in any hurry to bin Ismael off, or sell any of the poor signings in desperate hope it all clicks and we suddenly start winning games. 

It's a collective failure and they're coming up with all the excuses as to why it's not working.

[den]

7 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

The problem we have here is that Gestede, Owen, Ismael and maybe even Pasha (although I suspect he's chucking the rest under the bus right now) are all in it together. 

The appointment of the Ismael himself, the dross we've signed, the shocking performances all down to these clowns collectively. 

They won't be in any hurry to bin Ismael off, or sell any of the poor signings in desperate hope it all clicks and we suddenly start winning games. 

It's a collective failure and they're coming up with all the excuses as to why it's not working.

yes. Excusing it rather than dealing with it.

[davulsukur]

22 minutes ago, den said:

yes. Excusing it rather than dealing with it.

Yep.

"We have too many players out injured"

"When they're back, we'll be fine"

"Too many refereeing decisions are going against us"

"We were beating Ipswich when the game was called off"

"We were beating Sheff Wed when the game was called off"

"The data shows we should be higher in the league than we are"

"We're in a period/season (adjust based on length of shambolic performances) of transition"

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

So what does Adam Owen actually do? What is the function of a "technical director"? This appears to be a non-job to me, but one for which I'm sure he's well paid

Clubs used to be a simple. There was a manager, who managed the team (obviously), a trainer, and a secretary. They had one of two assistants, but that was about it. 

Now I'm told (usually by Chaddy) the game has changed and the we have to have "directors of coaching", "technical directors", "heads of recruitment", specialist coaches for forwards, defenders, goalkeepers, free kicks, corners and throw-ins, a huge number of people at great expense who, it seems to me, add no value whatsoever 

 

Football management has become a “ jobs for the boys “ lads club.

[K-Hod]

In layman’s terms- too many Chiefs, not enough Indians’.

Hang on a minute, perhaps not the best analogy 😅.

[London blue]

Seems like it's lack of accountability by design.

No clear accountability means mistakes go unpunished and root causes are not identified.

If your feet are under the table (SS, RG... AO TBC?) then blame is shifted onto the next mug.

Rinse, repeat.

[RevidgeBlue]

3 hours ago, Jimmy612 said:

To be honest, I don't suspect it is true in reality.  Even if Owen did decide Ismael wasn't right for the job (I have no evidence whatsoever that this is the case), do you really think he'd get it past RG and more importantly, SS?  AO won't have any direct comms with the owners, and I'm pretty sure SS wouldn't be wanting to approach the owners to tell them the manager they selected is a failure. 

There was lots of chatter last April that there was a clause in VI's contract that it could be terminated within something like... 5 or 6 months. I remember Glen Mullan banging that drum quite incessantly.   Is it beyond the realms of possibility that other clauses could have been inserted to protect the club from paying more or less full compensation?  I know lots of people will say, this is Suhail you're talking about, but if nothing else, he doesn't like parting with his bosses money.  I can't imagine VI would have held much negotiating power given his pretty abject managerial record. 

If there was a break clause in Vi's contract allowing him to be sacked after 6 months it should have been activated after he blew us almost instantly out of the play off reckoning.

The fact it wasn't activated then doesnt inspire any confidence that they'll act now either.

[RoverDom]

Trouble is football is now an industry worth billions so everyone is looking to get that extra few % out of the teams. Maybe hiring a specialist defensive coach seems like a pointless non-job waste of time but it could be one of those fine margins that make a real difference. The cost relative to the potential reward is decent.

There are clubs were these modern structures work and work well. Then you get clubs trying to copy it...badly. Like us. People employed in roles with fancy titles but all the power is concentrated in one person. 

 

 

[Tomphil2]

Technical Director suggest he's the one who implements the football style throughout the club and focuses maybe on working with the DJ and the coaching staff on improving individual players via their data.

Might be wrong of course but what else would he be doing and Gestede saying AO 'assesses everybody including VI doesn't mean a great deal at Rovers because he'll report to Gestede and Suhail.

So Rudy is slyly passing the buck there the Tech director won't be able to hire or fire or sign or sell anybody he just gives his reports and opinions to those above him.