Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[DE.]

You can imagine that being said to placate the unrest a little - 'well he'll be gone in the summer, then we'll start again'.

The bigger issue, as was mentioned above, was that if Suhail and Gestede want to keep him then he's staying regardless of a break clause existing. I guess we'll see.

4 hours ago, Tomphil2 said:

Not losing until the end of the season now the play offs are off limits and we have a coach nobody wants would be such a classic Rovers thing to do.

Yep I said this a while back. We'll suddenly get some form going at the end, when playoffs are practically gone, finish a few points off 6th and it won't look so bad. The pressure to remove Ismael will be lessened and it'll be 'let's see what the club does in the summer before judging'.

If we fail to win a game by the end of the season then it would be extremely difficult for upper management to hide from the fact they made a colossal mistake, and we'd be going into the summer with negative momentum.

[OllieNO]

1 hour ago, DE. said:

Yep I said this a while back. We'll suddenly get some form going at the end, when playoffs are practically gone, finish a few points off 6th and it won't look so bad. The pressure to remove Ismael will be lessened and it'll be 'let's see what the club does in the summer before judging'.

Not unlikely, that. Will backfire massively though, dead last come Christmas😔

[47er]

1 hour ago, OllieNO said:

Not unlikely, that. Will backfire massively though, dead last come Christmas😔

The only fans who don't look forward to Christmas!

[Andy]

Does anyone actually give any credence to anything that joker Nixon says?

[MarkBRFC]

8 hours ago, Andy said:

Does anyone actually give any credence to anything that joker Nixon says?

Chaddy does.

[Mattyblue]

The Pears story was on the surface one of the most ridiculous things you could ever read… yet modern football being the joke that it is you honestly could see it happening 

[Tomphil2]

He's a WUM he has massive form for it down the years with Rovers the Pears thing he put out there just at a time he was beginning to get some grief again after performing quite well.

The guy is and always has been an agents stooge.

[DaveyB]

18 hours ago, levi said:

It wouldn't surprise me if they backed him tbh 

 

I actually wrote that taking the piss but then thought it actually wouldn't 

I said something similar to my lad the other day. I honestly could see them spending a bit in the market this summer (not loads, but £6/7m) in a misguided attempt to try and placate the fans - in typical Rovers fashion though it will be done at a time when we’ve got one of the worst managers in our history and we’ll be left saddled with a squad full of crap signed to play his football. 
 

Just imagine where we could be if they had given JDT an extra 5 or 6 million!

[Tomphil2]

They never ever get it right i mean go back a few years and look at the combined 12 million they spent on Gallagher and Brereton.

What could a good board of directors or DoF have done with that money ?

The likes of Warnock got teams promoted on less and this lot got the square root of about 2 mill back from that and not even an appearance in the play offs. God knows how many millions went to Gallagher in wages also yet these complete clowns are still running the show.

[booth]

51 minutes ago, Tomphil2 said:

They never ever get it right i mean go back a few years and look at the combined 12 million they spent on Gallagher and Brereton.

What could a good board of directors or DoF have done with that money ?

The likes of Warnock got teams promoted on less and this lot got the square root of about 2 mill back from that and not even an appearance in the play offs. God knows how many millions went to Gallagher in wages also yet these complete clowns are still running the show.

The Brereton signing was infuriating when at the time it was clear we needed defenders.

Then he took about two years to start performing, and when he was on fire we got nothing for him.

Another shambles.

The Gallagher signing was plain stupid. £5m was an insane fee.

[chaddyrovers]

4 hours ago, Tomphil2 said:

They never ever get it right i mean go back a few years and look at the combined 12 million they spent on Gallagher and Brereton.

What could a good board of directors or DoF have done with that money ?

The likes of Warnock got teams promoted on less and this lot got the square root of about 2 mill back from that and not even an appearance in the play offs. God knows how many millions went to Gallagher in wages also yet these complete clowns are still running the show.

We sent £15m on 3 strikers in a 12 month period. 

When we signed Gallagher is the summer we need defenders but Mowbray was a big Gallagher fan and wanted him back here. A good DoF(which we didn't have one) or a board of directors would have asked why and blocked that move, instead Mowbray got what he wanted. 

This is why I prefer the head coach/DoF structure where the head coach only gets involves in the final stage when picking the final target and not before present a shortlist of targets from our recruitment department and DoF. 

[Mattyblue]

But then in the same era BB was a ‘club signing’ not TM’s.

‘Models’ and strategies that get ripped up year to year. An incoherent mess like it’s been since day 1.

[simongarnerisgod]

8 hours ago, DaveyB said:

I said something similar to my lad the other day. I honestly could see them spending a bit in the market this summer (not loads, but £6/7m) in a misguided attempt to try and placate the fans - in typical Rovers fashion though it will be done at a time when we’ve got one of the worst managers in our history and we’ll be left saddled with a squad full of crap signed to play his football. 
 

Just imagine where we could be if they had given JDT an extra 5 or 6 million!

i have no doubt we`de be sitting in the premier league,he was to dangerous for the chicken butcherers,thats why they cut of his budget,for all the misguided souls who claim venkys are essential for us to survive,just look back at that era,it illustrates for all that what they are about

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

We sent £15m on 3 strikers in a 12 month period. 

When we signed Gallagher is the summer we need defenders but Mowbray was a big Gallagher fan and wanted him back here. A good DoF(which we didn't have one) or a board of directors would have asked why and blocked that move, instead Mowbray got what he wanted. 

This is why I prefer the head coach/DoF structure where the head coach only gets involves in the final stage when picking the final target and not before present a shortlist of targets from our recruitment department and DoF. 

You are an absolute lunatic if you are using Rovers as a basis for why a club should have a director of football. Or any "structure."

Any system we adopt is doomed because of our owners and the board.

We have displayed every downside available to having a director of football too. Disputes between too many peosple wanting to have the final say, players provided for the head coach that he doesnt want, head coaches getting fed up and leaving, delays in decision making even to the point of failing to complete deals. Recruitment has been crap ever since we adopted the model, it hasnt improved. And now we have a snake in that role who has no experience.

When we signed Gallagher, it was for that one year where Venkys seemed slightly interested which soon stopped. The suggestion was that they authorised the 3 deals individually, whether that was true I dont know.

[chaddyrovers]

10 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

You are an absolute lunatic if you are using Rovers as a basis for why a club should have a director of football. Or any "structure."

Any system we adopt is doomed because of our owners and the board.

We have displayed every downside available to having a director of football too. Disputes between too many peosple wanting to have the final say, players provided for the head coach that he doesnt want, head coaches getting fed up and leaving, delays in decision making even to the point of failing to complete deals. Recruitment has been crap ever since we adopted the model, it hasnt improved. And now we have a snake in that role who has no experience.

When we signed Gallagher, it was for that one year where Venkys seemed slightly interested which soon stopped. The suggestion was that they authorised the 3 deals individually, whether that was true I dont know.

It was post and point about how a football club should be run in my opinion. 

Not going how good and bad our recruitment has been this season cos we done it before and before, so isn't really going to get anywhere is it? 🙄

[USABlue]

On 05/04/2025 at 03:42, Mercer said:

If correct, it is a simple no brainer - bin him now so the new man can be swiftly appointed and he has the rest of the season to weigh things up for the summer window.

Issue - will leave the three stooges with a huge amount of egg splattered across their faces and we can't rely upon them to get the next appointment right after this dog's breakfast affair.  Surely after all their 'due diligence' they would appoint either number 2 or 3 on their list or realise they need to up the ante to bring in a better quality replacement.

 

To.me the egg is on their face with JDT then Eustace, two quality managers with realistic Prem aspirations they just ignored them both when they were most.needed.  They just don't give a toss about the football side, it's all black and red ink. Football consequences are secondary.

[USABlue]

On 07/04/2025 at 02:22, chaddyrovers said:

I don't see Rovers sacking him if we lose tomorrow or even at the end of the season. I expected they will give him next season and back him with a number of signings to fit his style of play and formation

so who would you go for? 

They will not back him, they did not the last two.

[Upside Down]

12 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

The Pears story was on the surface one of the most ridiculous things you could ever read… yet modern football being the joke that it is you honestly could see it happening 

It was so ridiculous that I actually thought there might be a grain of truth to it.

My line of thinking being, nobody could come up with something so fucking ridiculous as Pears playing for a real football club.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

It was post and point about how a football club should be run in my opinion. 

Not going how good and bad our recruitment has been this season cos we done it before and before, so isn't really going to get anywhere is it? 🙄

You said you prefer a director of football approach referencing us signing Gallagher without one.

There are pros and cons to both approaches. The way our club is run, whatever option we choose, we only see the downsides.

I get why teams have them but such is the way we are run, recruitment was probably better here without one to be honest. Because a director of football here just allows another incompetent person here getting involved, causing disruption and means that the head coach can feel more aggrieved when he isnt playing as big a part in deciding signings and he ends up with poor players to work with against his wishes.

Do you share the widespread calls for Gestede to piss off?

[Wheelton Blue]

Transfer decisions made by an incompetent committee. 

Or transfer decisions made solely by a competent manager.

I know which one I'd prefer.

[booth]

5 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

We sent £15m on 3 strikers in a 12 month period. 

When we signed Gallagher is the summer we need defenders but Mowbray was a big Gallagher fan and wanted him back here. A good DoF(which we didn't have one) or a board of directors would have asked why and blocked that move, instead Mowbray got what he wanted. 

This is why I prefer the head coach/DoF structure where the head coach only gets involves in the final stage when picking the final target and not before present a shortlist of targets from our recruitment department and DoF. 

Or just simply employ a more capable manager.

[chaddyrovers]

27 minutes ago, Wheelton Blue said:

Transfer decisions made by an incompetent committee. 

Or transfer decisions made solely by a competent manager.

I know which one I'd prefer.

no one employ managers anymore. Its the head coach structure now with Sporting Director or Director of football. the game has moved on 

 

[chaddyrovers]

42 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

You said you prefer a director of football approach referencing us signing Gallagher without one.

There are pros and cons to both approaches. The way our club is run, whatever option we choose, we only see the downsides.

I get why teams have them but such is the way we are run, recruitment was probably better here without one to be honest. Because a director of football here just allows another incompetent person here getting involved, causing disruption and means that the head coach can feel more aggrieved when he isnt playing as big a part in deciding signings and he ends up with poor players to work with against his wishes.

I know what I said thanks RF99 but the overall point was footballing structure to prevent the Gallagher type situation and have more structure and scouting system to finding and recruiting potential players to sign. 

 

42 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Do you share the widespread calls for Gestede to piss off?

piss off? care to explain it more? 

[Mattyblue]

You keep repeating that football now has ‘a head coach structure’. We all know, it’s a fact.

Whereas everybody else is debating if this world we have moved on to has actually benefited the game as modern football is a load of boring shite from where I’m standing.

Edited Thursday at 21:24 by Mattyblue

[Wheelton Blue]

6 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

no one employ managers anymore. Its the head coach structure now with Sporting Director or Director of football. the game has moved on 

 

I didn't say that they did.

But given the choice between the 3 stooges picking players, or say Mowbray alone picking players, I know which one I'd rather have.