Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[London blue]

35 minutes ago, ... said:

Contracts is just a fancy word these days that says you've got the job. 3.5 years can end quick if needed

It's really not in this case.

He has the security of 3.5 years and knowing he'll get a huge payoff if we fire him. Which we won't, because of the huge payoff.

Absolutely done ourselves.

[Tricky]

[G Somerset Rover]

2 minutes ago, Tricky said:

Looking at the table I would say finishing 15th or 16th is more than realistic. It’ll be quite some achievement by all connected to the club - the finest post Christmas nosedive out of them all.

Edited 8 hours ago by G Somerset Rover

[Waggy76]

43 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Struggle next season - he's already feckin drowning!

 

9 hours ago, SuperBrfc said:

Couldn't have made a more dull, uninspiring, emotionless appointment if they tried. Not the right fit and not good enough. He has finished off any play off hopes.

The clowns tried to dispel Eustace's claims of there being no long term plan, by giving this guy a three and a half year deal. Nice try.

It's going to backfire on them this time. It already is doing, as more are turning their sights towards the hapless duo, the worse that results get.

Either Ismael walks at some point, which will lead to more questions and scrutiny from the outside, as that would be three consecutive managers to have had enough. Or, results continue as they are and fans start to unite against the enemy when we are towards the bottom three next season.

Well done on appointing, Ismael. This one might just be the catalyst for us fans.

My gut feeling is VI won't be here at the start of next season. Somewhere in the small print there will be a get out clause for both sides. 

If he does go, it will be a hat trick of managers leaving in strange circumstances in the last 18 months. 

[all you need is duff]

1 hour ago, Torgeir said:

Too early to judge him. The players haven't shown up but some of them are too worn down by now to operate, and/or are conserving their bodies a little for that next contract.

We are a shambles behind the scenes and missed the boat big-time in January. That's why we're here.

I agree. He probably isn’t the right man for the job but the players have been poor for a while barring those “galvanised” first two games under Lowe. Have the performances this week been any worse than QPR away (Eustace’s last game) and Swansea away (Lowe’s last game)? 

[onlyonejackwalker]

A momentously stupid appointment. You have to wonder if anyone has a clue what they are doing. Months of hard work undone in five games. And only the fanbase seems to care.

So depressing as a fan when we invest so much energy into the club.

[Wheelton Blue]

The writing has been on the wall for months. Esutace saw it coming and jumped ship as soon as he could.

We are only ever one poor managerial appointment away from disaster. This looks like it's the one.

On the pitch, at least, it's all coming to a head.

[martonrover]

31 minutes ago, all you need is duff said:

I agree. He probably isn’t the right man for the job but the players have been poor for a while barring those “galvanised” first two games under Lowe. Have the performances this week been any worse than QPR away (Eustace’s last game) and Swansea away (Lowe’s last game)? 

Look at the sides we have lost against.

All three were on their arses and in dire form.

Losing to Cardiff at home tops the lot.

We were always only one poor appointment from real trouble under these clowns, and Ismael is that appointment.

The long contract is the cherry on the shit cake.

[Forever Blue]

2 hours ago, ... said:

Contracts is just a fancy word these days that says you've got the job. 3.5 years can end quick if needed

It really isn’t. If there’s no break clause Rovers will have to pay up his contract if they sack him. The tight fuckers won’t do that unless there’s no other option. So we might be stuck with him until 2028, just in time to make a push for the L2 play offs.

Edited 6 hours ago by Forever Blue

[CambridgeRover]

Shite appointment, bargain basement desperation, all the money going to Venkys and Waggott's pension

[Hasta]

1 hour ago, all you need is duff said:

I agree. He probably isn’t the right man for the job but the players have been poor for a while barring those “galvanised” first two games under Lowe. Have the performances this week been any worse than QPR away (Eustace’s last game) and Swansea away (Lowe’s last game)? 

Won 3 of the previous 5 before he came in.

You are saying two of them were because they were 'galvanised' by Lowe. Why weren't they galvanised by Ismael ?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Callum Davidson has just become available.

[DeeCee]

Surely it would have been cheaper to extend JE's contract by a year (minimum) than it would to sign VI up for 3.5 years?

Ulterior motives it appears.

[all you need is duff]

51 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Won 3 of the previous 5 before he came in.

You are saying two of them were because they were 'galvanised' by Lowe. Why weren't they galvanised by Ismael ?

It was a weird week that one and Lowe/the players managed to motivate them through that. Those two games are two of the four league games we have won since 14th December. The other two against Preston and Portsmouth could have gone differently with different referees. I agree that Ismael probably isn’t the man for the job but it’s harsh to write him off after four games with a squad of players who have been poor for months. I was pretty convinced Eustace was the wrong man for the job after his first four games and even more convinced after seven or eight games

 

[Hasta]

17 minutes ago, all you need is duff said:

It was a weird week that one and Lowe/the players managed to motivate them through that. Those two games are two of the four league games we have won since 14th December. The other two against Preston and Portsmouth could have gone differently with different referees. I agree that Ismael probably isn’t the man for the job but it’s harsh to write him off after four games with a squad of players who have been poor for months. I was pretty convinced Eustace was the wrong man for the job after his first four games and even more convinced after seven or eight games

 

I'm not writing him off (although I suspect he will fail spectacularly), I'm saying that his formation change to 3 at the back is perplexing and clearly hasn't worked, and is bizarre change to a team that had just won 3 from 5, regardless of whether some of those were in a "weird" week. The "excuse" that we were in free-fall before he came in simply isn't true. 3 wins from 5.

Also some performances during that 14 game spell (Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland) might not have brought victories were miles better than the last weeks fayre.

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Hasta

[martonrover]

1 hour ago, Hasta said:

Won 3 of the previous 5 before he came in.

You are saying two of them were because they were 'galvanised' by Lowe. Why weren't they galvanised by Ismael ?

At Swansea, I think the players will have known that Ismael was set to arrive.

Maybe that didn’t go down well and was a factor in the no - show.

[Bohinen1983]

How long was his contract ?

[martonrover]

9 minutes ago, Bohinen1983 said:

How long was his contract ?

Until June 2028 😱

[Bohinen1983]

2 minutes ago, martonrover said:

Until June 2028 😱

At a time when when half our bloody squads contracts are running out as well..  Crazy!

[booth]

4 hours ago, all you need is duff said:

I agree. He probably isn’t the right man for the job but the players have been poor for a while barring those “galvanised” first two games under Lowe. Have the performances this week been any worse than QPR away (Eustace’s last game) and Swansea away (Lowe’s last game)? 

Performances really seemed to drop away to Millwall on 21st December when Travis and Pickering got injured. I've watched every match since and even in the ones we've won we've had a really shitty first half or second half. That match stood out to me and we've never really improved much. Any CEO who gave a damn would have raised concerns to the owners then, and strengthened accordingly. Waggott probably didn't even know there was any decline.

Without Batth and Beck in defence we're now even worse. It's pretty much the same defence that almost got us relegated last season. And our forward line options which haven't been great all season, haven't been bolstered at all now that Dennis and Kargbo are out. We're left with Cauley Woodrow as our "super sub" who hasn't scored goals regularly for years.

To make matters worse Ismael obviously isn't the kind of manager to grind out results, which Eustace was good at.

[DE.]

27 minutes ago, Bohinen1983 said:

At a time when when half our bloody squads contracts are running out as well..  Crazy!

You have to wonder if some of the players out of contract thought "ayo, hold up, we've got the club into 5th place and they're refusing to extend our contracts - and this bloke who's achieved nothing comes in on a 3.5 year deal?"

[davulsukur]

Dingles have already started calling him "agent Ismael"

Just 4 games to be endeared by our biggest Rivals.

We couldn't have asked for a worse start to this "New era"

[TheFinalCountdown]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Callum Davidson has just become available.

Don't give them anymore ideas 😜 

[Gamst]

2 hours ago, all you need is duff said:

It was a weird week that one and Lowe/the players managed to motivate them through that. Those two games are two of the four league games we have won since 14th December. The other two against Preston and Portsmouth could have gone differently with different referees. I agree that Ismael probably isn’t the man for the job but it’s harsh to write him off after four games with a squad of players who have been poor for months. I was pretty convinced Eustace was the wrong man for the job after his first four games and even more convinced after seven or eight games

 

Sadly I’m starting to think there’s nobody who could be the ‘man for the job’ anymore. We may be past the point of no return and we just have to wait for the owners to sell up. 

[simongarnerisgod]

50 minutes ago, DE. said:

You have to wonder if some of the players out of contract thought "ayo, hold up, we've got the club into 5th place and they're refusing to extend our contracts - and this bloke who's achieved nothing comes in on a 3.5 year deal?"

those on one year left,they hav`nt opened talks about contract extensions because they are going to be sold in the summer,dolan will walk away for nothing because his is up and the rest will be on the phone to their agents telling them to try and find me a new club,this mass exodus will be dressed up as an ismael rebuilding,only the rebuilding will be pretty bad because valerian won`t get any money and it will be over the hill players,underwhelming loans and youth players from our u21s,who are not a good crop at the moment