Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[RevidgeBlue]

7 minutes ago, StHelensRover said:

I agree with what he's saying, even stinking, doomed teams like Wolves and Sheff Weds this season will get the odd result (an unexpected draw or better), it's just the law of averages, it will happen. Our one win in thirteen was against an in form Millwall team, a result we didn't expect. We will continue to pick up occasional wins between now and the end of the season, because that's just football. The problem is that each one of these results will be held aloft by the club as a sign we're about to change our fortunes, but I'm not convinced we are. I think we'll finish 21st by the skin of our teeth.

The timing of these one-off wins depending on when they fall act like a pressure valve which will probably keep him in the job. Especially if they're home wins. I'm not happy about this, I want him out, but we're probably stuck with him if he isn't getting sacked this week.

Normally I'd agree, but it's a bit difficult to get these occasional pressure cooker type wins when you're generally not even registering a shot on target!

[Dreams of 1995]

They will never sack Ismael. For one, it would mean Rudy Gestede has to admit he has made a mistake.

Nothing about Rudy's character tells you that is possible. By all accounts he is a bit of a bully and is the direct cause of plenty of long standing staff members leaving. His interactions on social media and his interviews with other media really do portray a man weak of confidence - unable to be criticised, learn a lesson or be questioned. It is the very worst type of person to be in management. You often find with these type of managers that nothing is dealt with proactively as confronting the possibility of their own mistakes is more uncomfortable than being judged by others.

Rudy is a symptom of a disease, for sure, but he is a killer. He will take this club down with him and be paid all the way. His character has been questioned many times. Neil Warnock being one of them, after Gestede refused to play and commit for Boro. He had his attitude questioned here and at Villa.

Rudy will go down as one of the worst things to happen to this club during the Venky reign. First, fans will point to his less than impressive success ratio in the transfer market - a man who is wedded to a data driven approach, constrained by a model of low wages, low spend but ultimately completely unable to generate a successful and functional team. More importantly the fans will point to his divisiveness - Rudy has followed a period of relative success for Rovers and has been the 'director' (loosely) responsible for dismantling a competitive Championship side. More than any that has come before him, he has had room within the FFP window to develop a squad capable of that extra mile. Instead it appears Rudy has sought revenge - first, with the sale of players who have supported staff members over himself, and then with the effective freezing out of other players, such as Pickering or Tyjon. To me, Rudy comes across as resentful. He has then hired a head coach which completely went against the style of play our squad has developed since Mowbray, delivered that head coach a series of players not good enough and now shows an unwillingness to act, instead pointing to data and perceived future success which comes across arrogant and stupid in equal measure. All of this is divisive in nature and his contempt for the fans has been very clear. Rudy Gestede is not, and has never been, here for the success of Blackburn Rovers; Rudy Gestede is here for the success of Rudy Gestede. He has been told that if he absorbs the pressure and is a good boy who does not try too hard to be ambitious then he will continue to earn a 6 figure salary here.

All of the above is why Ismael will not be sacked. And if he is, it will be too late. Gestede will not accept he has made a mistake; the mistake will be the fault of the fans, the pitch, the weather. It will not be and never will be Rudy Gestede's mistake to make.

 

[JHRover]

I very much doubt Gestede has the authority to sack Ismael. At the very least he will need the approval of Pasha, and I'm not even sure Pasha has that authority, he'd probably need approval from India or the money men in Pune to terminate such a contract.

Too many cooks spoiling the broth again and too much of a long chain back to a decision, too many arses to protect and jobs on the gravy train to maintain. Too many boats risk being rocked and nobody wants to draw attention onto the comfy setup they've got going for themselves down at Ewood.

Oh no, they want to keep things as they are. If anything the increasing pressure and focus on results and Ismael's performance helps divert attention away from their mismanagement and destruction from the boardroom. They'll probably be enjoying everyone talking about 1 win in 13 and abysmal performances rather than them.

Even if a decision was made to sack him, we aren't capable of sourcing a replacement in a week, and any competent manager would rightly expect latitude to operate in the January window to address this squad as a precondition to joining. All sounds like a lot of hard work, hassle and cost to me. Let's just leave Ismael to it and hope we have enough to preserve the gravy train for another year.

If we go down? Oh well, make a few excuses about referees, injuries and the weather, and then look forward to another revolving door summer and %%%s on trading. 

[Tomphil2]

Not sure if Gestede came from money or not but hes always had the air of an entitled brat.

I think though primarily he's all about the money and nothing else looking at his career and the fact he seems to be hated by fans of both Boro and Villa.

Hes now managed to add probably the only remaining fans who liked him for his brief playing spell here although not sure how Cardiff fans feel.

I seriously get Steve Kean era vibes from this lot now in charge though and this geezer would be the first person i'd boot through the door.

[lraC]

1 hour ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

They will never sack Ismael. For one, it would mean Rudy Gestede has to admit he has made a mistake.

Nothing about Rudy's character tells you that is possible. By all accounts he is a bit of a bully and is the direct cause of plenty of long standing staff members leaving. His interactions on social media and his interviews with other media really do portray a man weak of confidence - unable to be criticised, learn a lesson or be questioned. It is the very worst type of person to be in management. You often find with these type of managers that nothing is dealt with proactively as confronting the possibility of their own mistakes is more uncomfortable than being judged by others.

Rudy is a symptom of a disease, for sure, but he is a killer. He will take this club down with him and be paid all the way. His character has been questioned many times. Neil Warnock being one of them, after Gestede refused to play and commit for Boro. He had his attitude questioned here and at Villa.

Rudy will go down as one of the worst things to happen to this club during the Venky reign. First, fans will point to his less than impressive success ratio in the transfer market - a man who is wedded to a data driven approach, constrained by a model of low wages, low spend but ultimately completely unable to generate a successful and functional team. More importantly the fans will point to his divisiveness - Rudy has followed a period of relative success for Rovers and has been the 'director' (loosely) responsible for dismantling a competitive Championship side. More than any that has come before him, he has had room within the FFP window to develop a squad capable of that extra mile. Instead it appears Rudy has sought revenge - first, with the sale of players who have supported staff members over himself, and then with the effective freezing out of other players, such as Pickering or Tyjon. To me, Rudy comes across as resentful. He has then hired a head coach which completely went against the style of play our squad has developed since Mowbray, delivered that head coach a series of players not good enough and now shows an unwillingness to act, instead pointing to data and perceived future success which comes across arrogant and stupid in equal measure. All of this is divisive in nature and his contempt for the fans has been very clear. Rudy Gestede is not, and has never been, here for the success of Blackburn Rovers; Rudy Gestede is here for the success of Rudy Gestede. He has been told that if he absorbs the pressure and is a good boy who does not try too hard to be ambitious then he will continue to earn a 6 figure salary here.

All of the above is why Ismael will not be sacked. And if he is, it will be too late. Gestede will not accept he has made a mistake; the mistake will be the fault of the fans, the pitch, the weather. It will not be and never will be Rudy Gestede's mistake to make.

 

One thing to add to this, is one of our prominent posters on here, has been threatened with legal action by him, for fighting the cause against him.

I will let him decide if he elaborates or not, but he called me one nights several weeks ago pretty distressed by it. I did reassure him that it was just hot air and idle threats, which would not see the light of day, but what you highlight in your post is confirmed by those threats.

The guy is a bully and a coward, who will not admit to his mistakes. 

[Leonard Venkhater]

9 minutes ago, lraC said:

One thing to add to this, is one of our prominent posters on here, has been threatened with legal action by him, for fighting the cause against him.

I will let him decide if he elaborates or not, but he called me one nights several weeks ago pretty distressed by it. I did reassure him that it was just hot air and idle threats, which would not see the light of day, but what you highlight in your post is confirmed by those threats.

The guy is a bully and a coward, who will not admit to his mistakes. 

Awful. I think we should find a way to get this out there without mentioning the poster's name.

Actually, I have wondered about this, myself, as I have really been going for him on line.

[lraC]

7 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

Awful. I think we should find a way to get this out there without mentioning the poster's name.

Actually, I have wondered about this, myself, as I have really been going for him on line.

Im sure that can be done. 

[Leonard Venkhater]

Just now, lraC said:

Im sure that can be done. 

Very stressful for him...I assume he hasn't done anything criminal etc. Also, I think we could probably get together to raise funds to help him defend his case? We should expect them to target individuals like previous times.

Anyway, I think the Gaslight Gobshite has got off very lightly.

[Mercer]

7 hours ago, Tom said:

Seems some Carlisle fans want Hughes out there; could genuinely see him back here.

How we’ve both fallen!

It's remarkable how Hughes seems to have lost so much of his 'touch'.

In reality, done nothing remarkable since leaving Rovers (how he must rue the day) and some would say he has 'bombed' in a number of his jobs.

Would take him over Ismael but feel he's very much yesterday's man.

[RevidgeBlue]

16 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

Very stressful for him...I assume he hasn't done anything criminal etc. Also, I think we could probably get together to raise funds to help him defend his case? We should expect them to target individuals like previous times.

Anyway, I think the Gaslight Gobshite has got off very lightly.

Can't imagine the person in question would have any sort of case to defend.

Why would RG be picking on this one particular individual?  He certainly wouldn't be spoilt for choice!

[DE.]

3 hours ago, sharpysharps86 said:

If Ismael does leave, a thought has just crossed my mind that the club might go for Ruben Selles. Sheffield United did after all hire him as their head coach because he supposedly aligned with their AI-led data driven approach to signing players.

Selles is in employment so highly unlikely I'd say. Who was the last manager we paid compensation for? Appleton? And even that was peanuts. 

[Leonard Venkhater]

15 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Can't imagine the person in question would have any sort of case to defend.

Why would RG be picking on this one particular individual?  He certainly wouldn't be spoilt for choice!

Quite...but it is a standard, defensive tactic to pick off individuals out of a protest group. 

[Dreams of 1995]

If it is the case that Rudy has threatened legal action then it tells you all you need to know about the person. A scared individual with an inferiority complex. He won’t work in football again that’s for sure 

[Dreams of 1995]

1 hour ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

Awful. I think we should find a way to get this out there without mentioning the poster's name.

Actually, I have wondered about this, myself, as I have really been going for him on line.

There would be nothing really to stop the individual from just saying it. I understand there are trepidations about action. I don’t know the details of what was said to trigger it but it would have to be serious for me to be worried

It is a bully boy attitude. He probably wouldn’t like it being put back on him - best way to do that is to out him 

[John]

1 minute ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

If it is the case that Rudy has threatened legal action then it tells you all you need to know about the person. A scared individual with an inferiority complex. He won’t work in football again that’s for sure 

Sums up our depressing situation. Gestede (and VI) would massively struggle to find their next roles when they do leave. Perhaps a (very) desperate low-level European club might take a punt on VI, but Gestede has no chance.

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, Tomphil2 said:

Not sure if Gestede came from money or not but hes always had the air of an entitled brat.

I think though primarily he's all about the money and nothing else looking at his career and the fact he seems to be hated by fans of both Boro and Villa.

Hes now managed to add probably the only remaining fans who liked him for his brief playing spell here although not sure how Cardiff fans feel.

I seriously get Steve Kean era vibes from this lot now in charge though and this geezer would be the first person i'd boot through the door.

I much prefer this incarnation of the regime to what it was previously. 

Under Swag, who was an odious piece of shit, there was the veneer of this being a real football club. With him gone though, venkys and their pathetic lap dogs are left to their own devices. They are all the perfect combination of thick and arrogant in equal measures and their lack of ability is clearly on display for all to see, along with the plain as day bullshit transfers that are clearly made to satisfy agents lining their pockets.

I am actually quite enjoying watching this all crash and burn. All we can do is just sit back and watch.

This is all so obvious now that nobody can pretend that venkys are anything other than a complete disaster and need removing.

Don't give them your money, if you do then you are letting these people take the piss out of you.

Edited 55 minutes ago by Upside Down

[lraC]

1 hour ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

Very stressful for him...I assume he hasn't done anything criminal etc. Also, I think we could probably get together to raise funds to help him defend his case? We should expect them to target individuals like previous times.

Anyway, I think the Gaslight Gobshite has got off very lightly.

No he has done nothing wrong, other than quote a few people who had stated certain things, that Gestede took exception too. 

[lraC]

28 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

There would be nothing really to stop the individual from just saying it. I understand there are trepidations about action. I don’t know the details of what was said to trigger it but it would have to be serious for me to be worried

It is a bully boy attitude. He probably wouldn’t like it being put back on him - best way to do that is to out him 

Exactly what I said.

I advised him to say bring it on, let’s get it out in the open and face the consequences. Gestede wouldn’t dare, in my opinion.

[lraC]

34 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

If it is the case that Rudy has threatened legal action then it tells you all you need to know about the person. A scared individual with an inferiority complex. He won’t work in football again that’s for sure 

It is 100% the case.

[RevidgeBlue]

22 minutes ago, lraC said:

No he has done nothing wrong, other than quote a few people who had stated certain things, that Gestede took exception too. 

If he did that without expressing any form of opinion of his own then not sure that's actionable at all and Gestede's legal advisors will know that.

Bit of sabre rattling.

[lraC]

1 minute ago, RevidgeBlue said:

If he did that without expressing any form of opinion of his own then not sure that's actionable at all and Gestede's legal advisors will know that.

Bit of sabre rattling.

Agree with you entirely.

[sharpysharps86]

1 hour ago, DE. said:

Selles is in employment so highly unlikely I'd say. Who was the last manager we paid compensation for? Appleton? And even that was peanuts. 

My bad, didn't check to see if he was in a job.