Valérien Ismaël: Former Head Coach

[RevidgeBlue]

Looks like the Mowbray link is a wind up thankfully but that doesn't change the fact we're in a world of trouble.

As you would expect from this shower the whole Ismael situation has been horrendously mismanaged. 

After Eustace was driven out the obvious thing to do then was to appoint a wise old head until the end of the season just to keep their hand on the tiller, and keep things ticking over. Then in summer, reassess. In the meantime, don't change too much and get someone in who would get the players feeling good about themselves. Someone like Warnock.

Instead we got this chump and play off hopes evaporated immediately with a home draw followed by five defeats from his first 6 games. To say that was a disaster would be an understatement but bizarrely we'd given him a 3.5 Yr deal which seems ludicrous given he's barely lasted 50 games anywhere else he's been.

A dire summer of recruitment followed and predictably Ismael has lived down to expectations and then some. Should have been sacked in summer after making such a balls up of the play offs and really with only two home wins on the board you could quite easily have sacked him at any point this season.  Definitely no later than the Wrexham home game on New Year's Day when it was clear there was nothing left in the tank.

Now due to the incompetence of management we're still stuck with the problem that he has 2.5 years still left on his contract and the January transfer window has been and gone.

In my view:

Worst possible case scenario: Ismael stays

2nd worst case scenario: Ismael is sacked and Mowbray is appointed until the end of the season. (In no way an endorsement of Mowbray, but shows how bad Ismael is)

3rd worst case scenario: Sack Ismael and give it someone like Damien Johnson/David Lowe until the end of the season.

Ideal case scenario: Sack Ismael and make a decent appointment. If we were prepared to chuck some money at it, still wouldn't mind an Allardyce or a Warnock type until the end of the season to lift the mood around the place  - possibly with the help of a younger assistant. Longer term if we go down we need to identify an up and coming young manager/Head Coach.

Probably a vain hope but as I said at least a couple of months ago, it's a stark choice in my opinion.

We either stick with Ismael and accept we're going down or we make a change and TRY to do something about it.

Edited 19 hours ago by RevidgeBlue

[philipl]

One thing is certain, unlike Lambert, JDT and Eustace, Ismael isn't going to sack the club.

[Polky]

 

[JHRover]

Lots of out of work managers will be looking at us, expecting us to make an imminent change and will be fancying a crack at it. Mowbray and Bilic two of them, there will be others.

What we have seen in the last 24 hours with these 'links' I would suggest is agents and journalists doing their clients/mates a favour by getting their names out there in the media as they look for a route back into Championship management. 

I don't believe Rovers are seriously contemplating making a change and much less that they are actively looking at options and having discussions with replacements. 

What these people in the media fail to recognise is that this is not a football club in the normal sense of the word. Yes anyone else in our position would have made a change, but that is because everyone else would have owners and a board that reacts to results and performances.

That doesn't happen here, never has, never will. Not normal. So time to drop the belief that there is concern in the upper echelons of the regime. Ismael has gone a great job for them in overseeing their 'project' in the last 12 months without a word of complaint. That will do nicely.

Edited 12 hours ago by JHRover

[BlackburnEnd75]

11 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Lots of out of work managers will be looking at us, expecting us to make an imminent change and will be fancying a crack at it. Mowbray and Bilic two of them, there will be others.

What we have seen in the last 24 hours with these 'links' I would suggest is agents and journalists doing their clients/mates a favour by getting their names out there in the media as they look for a route back into Championship management. 

I don't believe Rovers are seriously contemplating making a change and much less that they are actively looking at options and having discussions with replacements. 

What these people in the media fail to recognise is that this is not a football club in the normal sense of the word. Yes anyone else in our position would have made a change, but that is because everyone else would have owners and a board that reacts to results and performances.

That doesn't happen here, never has, never will. Not normal. So time to drop the belief that there is concern in the upper echelons of the regime. Ismael has gone a great job for them in overseeing their 'project' in the last 12 months without a word of complaint. That will do nicely.

Bang on. Its agent talk to get their clients names out there.

[Hasta]

The question on new managers is who would work with Gestede. Your likes of Warnock wouldn't.

I had a look through out of work managers over the weekend and the three I came up with were Poyet, Bilic and Lee Bowyer. Not in as much as my choice but they are out of work and could apply.

[Hasta]

2 hours ago, JHRover said:

I don't believe Rovers are seriously contemplating making a change and much less that they are actively looking at options and having discussions with replacements. 

 

Fail to beat Wednesday or lose at Norwich and Ismael will be gone. I said all along it would be after the transfer window closes. The heat is rising and Pasha / Rudy will need to make another sacrifice soon.

Edited 9 hours ago by Hasta

[lraC]

8 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Looks like the Mowbray link is a wind up thankfully but that doesn't change the fact we're in a world of trouble.

As you would expect from this shower the whole Ismael situation has been horrendously mismanaged. 

After Eustace was driven out the obvious thing to do then was to appoint a wise old head until the end of the season just to keep their hand on the tiller, and keep things ticking over. Then in summer, reassess. In the meantime, don't change too much and get someone in who would get the players feeling good about themselves. Someone like Warnock.

Instead we got this chump and play off hopes evaporated immediately with a home draw followed by five defeats from his first 6 games. To say that was a disaster would be an understatement but bizarrely we'd given him a 3.5 Yr deal which seems ludicrous given he's barely lasted 50 games anywhere else he's been.

A dire summer of recruitment followed and predictably Ismael has lived down to expectations and then some. Should have been sacked in summer after making such a balls up of the play offs and really with only two home wins on the board you could quite easily have sacked him at any point this season.  Definitely no later than the Wrexham home game on New Year's Day when it was clear there was nothing left in the tank.

Now due to the incompetence of management we're still stuck with the problem that he has 2.5 years still left on his contract and the January transfer window has been and gone.

In my view:

Worst possible case scenario: Ismael stays

2nd worst case scenario: Ismael is sacked and Mowbray is appointed until the end of the season. (In no way an endorsement of Mowbray, but shows how bad Ismael is)

3rd worst case scenario: Sack Ismael and give it someone like Damien Johnson/David Lowe until the end of the season.

Ideal case scenario: Sack Ismael and make a decent appointment. If we were prepared to chuck some money at it, still wouldn't mind an Allardyce or a Warnock type until the end of the season to lift the mood around the place  - possibly with the help of a younger assistant. Longer term if we go down we need to identify an up and coming young manager/Head Coach.

Probably a vain hope but as I said at least a couple of months ago, it's a stark choice in my opinion.

We either stick with Ismael and accept we're going down or we make a change and TRY to do something about it.

Very well summarised that.

I can only think that someone within the corridors of Ewood, or one of our friendly agents form yesteryear, owed Ismael a favour, as it make zero sense, either appointing him in the fist place and even less sense, giving him, that length of contract.

It has certainly backed people into a corner now, as no manager survives this horrendous run, both this season or last. Either the favour from the agents is still in play, or one of the stooges in situ at Ewood, cannot get the permission need to sack him and pay the remainder of the contract up.

We have been here before with Berg, but yet again, no lesson is ever learned. 

[Mattyblue]

It’s just journalism/agent activity by numbers.

Club has won one game since November and has collapsed into the relegation zone = manager sacked.

That’s football (everywhere else).

[JHRover]

3 minutes ago, Hasta said:

The question on new managers is who would work with Gestede. Your likes of Warnock wouldn't.

I had a look through out of work managers over the weekend and the three I came up with were Poyet, Bilic and Lee Bowyer. Not in as much as my choice but they are out of work and could apply.

Under this regime we are going to become similar to Watford - just going through a never ending cycle of players and coaches through a revolving door. No coincidence that both Ismael and Bilic are two that have been through the doors at Watford in recent years and are now here/getting linked here. These foreign coaches are the way we will be operating, the only way that changes is if they remove Gestede which I think will only happen after relegation is confirmed and they need a sacrificial lamb to blame for the relegation. 

There's actually nothing wrong with the foreign coach route - see JDT, Jakirovic, Jokanovic, Farke, Wagner etc. but they also have to be working in a structure under people who know what they are doing, which is the part at which it will break down here. 

[Tomphil2]

The Ismael appointment has to be down to Gestede surely it took an inside connection for them to risk a guy like that and foist 3.5 year contract to him.

Old boys network without doubt.

[lraC]

36 minutes ago, Tomphil2 said:

The Ismael appointment has to be down to Gestede surely it took an inside connection for them to risk a guy like that and foist 3.5 year contract to him.

Old boys network without doubt.

They couldn't wait to throw the race card in either, as soon as it started to go tits. 

As far as I am aware that was totally uncalled for, as was the case was the case with Anderson on the early days, despite there being no evidence whatsoever of it.

Edited 11 hours ago by lraC

[den]

We really shouldn’t be surprised that Ismael is still here, on a long term contract. 
 

We’ve got owners who within weeks sacked Allardyce, drove out Williams and Finn and replaced them with their “friend” Jerome Anderson and Steve Kean. I can’t believe that would have happened at any other PL club or any other English league club. Possibly nowhere else in the world. Since then we’ve had 15 years of them appointing duds, coupled with them pretty much driving out any manager who showed promise.  Then there’s the shambles of their management almost on a daily basis. Good staff leaving, numerous coaches walking away. Good players being sold at the drop of a hat, replaced with some pretty poor recruitments. They don’t communicate in any way with the fans.

In short, they’re not fit to own or run a football club. They’re not capable of in any way, improving  a football club. I reckon those fans who want to stick with Venky’s for their money should think about that. Is this what they really want for Rovers?

[G Somerset Rover]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

Lots of out of work managers will be looking at us, expecting us to make an imminent change and will be fancying a crack at it. Mowbray and Bilic two of them, there will be others.

What we have seen in the last 24 hours with these 'links' I would suggest is agents and journalists doing their clients/mates a favour by getting their names out there in the media as they look for a route back into Championship management. 

I don't believe Rovers are seriously contemplating making a change and much less that they are actively looking at options and having discussions with replacements. 

What these people in the media fail to recognise is that this is not a football club in the normal sense of the word. Yes anyone else in our position would have made a change, but that is because everyone else would have owners and a board that reacts to results and performances.

That doesn't happen here, never has, never will. Not normal. So time to drop the belief that there is concern in the upper echelons of the regime. Ismael has gone a great job for them in overseeing their 'project' in the last 12 months without a word of complaint. That will do nicely.

I think they are very naively assuming that we'll easily beat Sheffield Wednesday. Win that and the guff coming out of Ismael and the club will be unbearable.

Fail to win that one and I think even they will have to admit defeat to save the tiniest bit of face.

Edited 10 hours ago by G Somerset Rover

[rovers11]

Don't understand why there are even rumours. Ismael is going absolutely nowhere. 

He'll be given the option to lead us in lge 1 next season if he wants to. I don't think he'll want to so will leave by mutual consent at the end of the season. Then it will be someone cheap and a yes man.

[Tomphil2]

Maybe old Tone will stay in the shadows until summer then come in for the big league 1 reset.

[MarkBRFC]

17 minutes ago, G Somerset Rover said:

I think they are very naively assuming that we'll easily beat Sheffield Wednesday. Win that and the guff coming out of Ismael and the club will be unbearable.

That's exactly what will happen.

[London blue]

14 minutes ago, rovers11 said:

Don't understand why there are even rumours. Ismael is going absolutely nowhere. 

He'll be given the option to lead us in lge 1 next season if he wants to. I don't think he'll want to so will leave by mutual consent at the end of the season. Then it will be someone cheap and a yes man.

I don't see why he would leave to not have what would (hopefully) be a more fruitful season in League 1.

I would hope he has a relegation wage clause in his contract but if/when he takes us down his rep at this level in England is shot to pieces. He'll stay until he's pushed, I think.

[pick32]

Bilic Averages 1.49 ppg in this league, we could do a lot worse 

[wilsdenrover]

What would people choose?

Beat Wednesday and he stays or fail to win and he goes?

I’d pick the latter. 

[Lancaster Rover]

We won't beat Wednesday we're absolutely toilet

[MarkBRFC]

11 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

What would people choose?

Beat Wednesday and he stays or fail to win and he goes?

I’d pick the latter. 

If there was an option it would 100% be the latter.

Unfortunately I think he's got very lucky that we play these next, and that we'll beat them fairly comfortably and he will be here for another 15 games.

[Jimmy612]

I think we will beat Wednesday. They haven't scored in about 8 games, haven't kept a clean sheet since 29th December (I know, I know), have lost their talisman and are generally just shot to shit.  Anything other than 3 points is an absolutely catatstrophic result. 

It's probably come about two weeks too early this, if the rumours of VI being on dodgy ground are in any way true. A win (no matter how lowly the opponent) would give him at least until the end of Feb, by which time it will probably be too late for any new manager to come in and save us.  

[lraC]

11 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

We won't beat Wednesday we're absolutely toilet

Lots thinking it’s a nailed on win, but like you, I have severe doubts. 

[StHelensRover]

Pompey and Oxford both play tomorrow night as well and if either of them get a result and we only get a point or less then that will be catastrophic.

We've got 17 matches left and need to win at least 6 of them, possibly 7 to stay up. That has to start tomorrow IMO, because even if he goes, the players' morale will be shot to pieces if we don't beat them. We'll probably be the only team all season not to take 3 points off them, can't see anyone else matching that feat.

He should have been sacked this weekend and this should have just been a free hit for the players (which I think we probably would win with the bounce).

I'm of the opinion he should be sacked even if we win 3-0 against these tomorrow. I'm resigned to a win getting him another 3 or 4 games and that will do us in big time.

Edited 9 hours ago by StHelensRover