Blackburn Rovers suffered another disappointing defeat at the hands of Swansea City on Tuesday night. For Valerien Ismael, that’s now one win in 12 league games, with a third-round FA Cup exit in there too. Pressure is growing on the French boss, but should his sacking be near?
Here we go again...
Just 11 months on from John Eustace’s departure to Derby, the managerial revolving door at Ewood Park may be about to open once more, with another Head Coach walking the tightrope.
The Lancashire outfit have been unable to hold down a manager for more than 20 months after Tony Mowbray called time on his stint in the hot seat at the conclusion of the 2021/22 season. Jon Dahl Tomasson came the closest with his 19-month spell before things turned sour. If Valerien Ismael isn’t careful, he could meet the same fate.
There are parallels between Ismael’s current situation and JDT’s demise. Ismael’s reluctance to turn to his bench echoed JDT’s final match in charge, a 2-1 home defeat to QPR in February 2024, in which he made just three substitutions whilst chasing the game.
A telling performance, or a manager losing spirit?
Whilst Valerien Ismael is currently dealing with an injury crisis, throwing Brandon Powell in for his league debut has raised some eyebrows, especially with Dion De Neve, Harry Pickering, and Yuri Riberio all fit and able to play at left wing-back.
Not only Powell but Aodhan Doherty made his first Championship start for the club in place of Todd Cantwell. Ismael had both Axel Henriksson on the bench, who has played that role on occasion this season.
The performance at the Swansea.com Stadium was a dire one, with Rovers registering just two shots on target and conceding soft goals. The small Rovers contingent in the away end had very little to cheer. The sarcastic renditions of “We’ve scored a goal!” suggest some still possess some form of humour. The chants of “Valerien Ismael, your football is…” show the tide is clearly turning amongst the Rovers fanbase.
The French boss is under pressure. There is no doubt about that. The long-term contract until June 2028 will certainly be one thing that is keeping him at Blackburn Rovers, although if it came to it, I’m sure a “mutually agreed” departure could be negotiated. The injury crisis, though, is something any manager will be able to fall back on.
An impossible job?
Ismael is currently without 13 first-team players, with Hayden Carter, Andri Gudjohsen, Scott Wharton, Jake Garrett, Augustus Kargbo, Sidnei Tavares, Ryoya Morishita, Matty Litherland, Todd Cantwell, Ryan Hedges, Ryan Alebiosu, Krist Montgomery, and Aynsley Pears all still missing. Meanwhile, Igor Tyjon is on his way out of the club with a number of Premier League clubs interested.
“Things can only get better,” are the lyrics to a well-known pop song by D: REAM and Ismael will be hoping things do get better. However, with the BRFC Coalition boycott of Ewood Park in protest against Venky’s looming, something tells me things aren’t. Another defeat against one of his former clubs, Watford, and Ismael could be in serious trouble.
If Blackburn Rovers do choose to part ways with Ismael, it will mark the end of another ‘project’. There has been some significant investment in the Gestede/Ismael scheme. The summer clear-out of long-serving players, including Dom Hyam, Lewis Travis and Tyrhys Dolan, certainly shook the boat.
There have also been departures of long-serving staff, with first team coach David Lowe allegedly having left the club (although there has been no official confirmation of this).
The new group needs time to gel. There have been few who have adapted to the Championship well, and one of those has just spent the last month in Morocco. This was always going to be a season of transition. That being said, it cannot come at the cost of relegation to League One.
Someone go and get Tony Mowbray on the phone.
