A series of managerial miracles from the likes of Jon Dahl Tomasson and John Eustace have kept Blackburn competitive despite malignant ownership, and it’ll need similar from whoever replaces Valerian Ismael as Venky’s chickens come home to roost at Ewood Park - Ian Herbert (@ianherbert95.bsky.social).

So, dare I ask, how’s the season been so far?

There was an ever so brief chink of light that shone in late October when we won four out of five. It lulled us into a false sense of security and form since then has been quite dreadful. Two wins since November 21 have seen Rovers sucked into the relegation vortex with little sign that anyone at the club knows what to do about it, or in the case of the owners, actually cares. The whiff of relegation has turned into a proper stink.

Rovers in the league so far…
West Brom 1-0 Blackburn Price 15
Blackburn 1-2 Birmingham Cantwell 50 – Dykes 90, Stansfield pen 90
Hull 0-3 Blackburn Hedges 18, Ohashi 47, Cantwell 50
Blackburn 0-2 Norwich Sargent pen 45, 90
Watford 0-1 Blackburn Morishita 47
Charlton 3-0 Blackburn Gillesphey 31, Carey 78, Bree 90
Blackburn 1-2 Swansea Cantwell 28 – Franco 44, Cullen 67
Blackburn 1-1 Stoke Kargbo 82 – Manhoef 49
Coventry 2-0 Blackburn Torp 57, Thomas-Asante 59
Blackburn 1-3 Sheff Utd Ohashi 40 – Henriksson og 54, Burrows 70, Campbell 90
Blackburn 2-1 Southampton Alebiosu 76, Gudjohnsen 86 – Scienza 23
Leicester 0-2 Blackburn Gudjohnsen 20, 63
Bristol City 0-1 Blackburn Ohashi 45
Blackburn 1-2 Derby Ohashi pen 66 – Morris 19, Agyemang 45
Preston 1-2 Blackburn Devine 45 – Miller 45, Gudjohnsen 62
Blackburn 0-1 QPR Smyth 78
Wrexham 1-1 Blackburn Cleworth 90 – Gudjohnsen 13
Blackburn 1-1 Ipswich Gudjohnsen 76 – Egeli 90
Blackburn 1-1 Oxford Cantwell pen 78 – Brown 45
Pompey 2-1 Blackburn Long 62, Bowat 79 – Ohashi 36
Blackburn 2-0 Millwall Gudjohnsen 3, Ohashia 45
Boro 0-0 Blackburn
Sheff Wed 0-0 Blackburn
Blackburn 0-2 Wrexham Smith 11, Rathbone 38
Blackburn 2-2 Charlton Baradji 37, 77 – Kelman 28, pen 34
Ipswich 3-0 Blackburn Cashin og 3, Taylor 12, Szmodics 88
Swansea 3-1 Blackburn Vipotnik 21, 63, O’Riordan og 50 – Jorgensen 35
Blackburn 1-1 Watford Miller 28 – Kayembe 26
Blackburn 0-1 Hull Koumas 81
Blackburn 1-0 Sheff Wed Cashin 12
Norwich 2-0 Blackburn Slimane 73, Toure 78

Ismael, looked a pretty bleak appointment when it was made with his “style” of football, why didn’t it work out for him and how much of his demise is his fault?

I’ve said it before, that one season at Barnsley is doing a lot of heavy lifting on his CV for sure. Remove that and he looks what he almost certainly is – a guy stealing a living as a football manager.

That said, his task at Rovers was akin to an electrician being asked to rewire a house only to find when arriving at the job a series of leaks that have flooded the place…and the only tools you have been provided with are a saw, a chisel and a hammer.

The club’s current status originates in Pune, has been cultivated in Blackburn by Suhail Pasha (the COO) & Rudy Gestede (former Rovers striker who once refused to play for us to force a move away) and the manager is the poor sap at the end of a long chain of disinterest/incompetence.

He wasn’t blameless, but let’s compare him to a chef on the Titanic – he could have done more with the ingredients provided but the fundamental problems needing attention go way beyond the galley.

Who’s next?

Knowing Rovers, it’s not entirely impossible that Peter Mandelson could turn up in the Ewood boardroom such is the peculiarly unique way the club is run.

Arguably, you don’t sack your manager unless and until you have someone lined up who is an improvement. Rovers sack theirs then start the discussion.

The names mentioned sound like a local firm of solicitors – Rowett, O’Neill & Harris – ‘for all your family law & conveyancing requirements’…

Gary Rowett has a strong whiff of John Eustace about him and would probably be the most sensible appointment.

We are linked also with Michael O’Neill but if Martin turned up, nobody would be that surprised. A late entrant is Neil Harris but I don’t know if his operating system functions north of Watford Gap so perhaps not.
Whoever comes in, the task they face is inevitably incredibly difficult and part of me wonders whether we should plan for League One now by appointing someone like Dave Challinor or Graham Alexander.

More weird and wonderful January dealings. What was done? What was left undone? Who is overseeing this recruitment?

The aforementioned Rudy Gestede & technical director Adam Owen are the guys responsible for delivering a woefully imbalanced, under-skilled and inexperienced squad. The squad has been assembled with cost reduction in mind. As a consequence, little attention has been paid as to what was required to be competitive in the division. They thought they’d done enough to finish at least 20th but events (results) have overtaken our illustrious recruitment team. The personnel available cannot play the formations being asked of them and the January window saw random signings arrive. Cashin on loan seems to be the only bright spot.

Summer Ins >>> Andri Gudjohnsen, 23, CF, Gent, £2m >>> Ryoya Morishita, 28, AM< Legia Warsaw, £2m >>> Sidnei Tavares, 23, CM, Moreinse, £1.5m >>> Lewis Miller, 24, RB, Hibs, £800k >>> Axel Henriksson, 23, AM, GAIS (Sweden), £800k >>> Dion De Neve, 24, LM, Kortrijk, £500k >>> Ryan Alebiosu, 23, RB, Kortrijk, £500k >>> Sean McLoughlin, 28, CB, Hull, £500k >>> Taylor Gardner-Hickman, 23, RB, Birmingham, Loan >>> Moussa Baradji, 24, CM, Yverdon Sport, Loan

Winter Outs >>> Makhtar Gueye, 28, CF, SH Shenhua, £1m

Where is the team strong, where is it weak?

It isn’t currently strong anywhere.

We have a decent keeper in Toth but he’s been injured for a large part of the season.

We have decent centre backs in Carter & Wharton but they’ve been injured for large parts of the season, Carter is being gradually reintroduced.

We have a smashing holding midfielder in Tronstad but he’s become overwhelmed with having to cover for less capable colleagues. He’s also off in the summer so clearly he isn’t that daft.

Up front we are largely toothless. Gudjohnsen looks promising but he’s been…oh you know the drill.

Attack us at pace down the flanks, press us in midfield and the three points are yours.

How long can these owners hang on? Ewood Park half empty, like a morgue, protests and boycotts…

This is the unanswerable question. Unlike so many other rogue owners, they pay the bills so it’s hard to garner sympathy from the wider football community. They do not, in any way shape or form, appear to gain any joy whatsoever from owning Rovers. They never visit, they issue AI generated letters to the supporters every now & then but that’s all.

Imagine say, buying a mansion in India, sacking all the staff who run/maintain it, never visit it, but send over just enough money to stop it completely falling down. That would be madness, but it’s precisely what they are doing to Rovers.

Death of a Thousand Cuts FC.

Do you survive this season?

Hard to see how without a new manager performing a miracle. We are the footballing equivalent of one of those cooking programmes where a chef opens the cupboard only to see a carton of baking soda, a tin of sardines and some out of date mayonnaise but has to prepare lobster Thermidor for six guests in a 30-minute episode. Somehow they do it, but the magic is in the edit…that’s where Rovers are right now but we haven’t recruited an editor yet…or bought an editing suite.

Links >>> Rovers official website >>> Official website >>> Lancashire Telegraph — Local Paper >>> BRFCS message board and podcast >>> Rovers Chat — Blog

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