Rovers News

There was something different in the air around Ewood Park on Friday night. The atmosphere felt unfamiliar; fans walking down Bolton Road had a cautious confidence, and Blues Bar was buzzing. Fans were excited. Harry Pickering came into the starting eleven to replace Dapo Afolayan, the only change from the win away at QPR last weekend. Preston had the better of the first half without really threatening the Blackburn goal. But the Blackburn End was alive. The “Pride of Lancashire” flag surfed across the crowd just before kick-off and there was a huge sense of positivity among the fans. So much so that the 6,000 Preston supporters could rarely be heard over the noise coming from the Rovers faithful. Rovers huffed and puffed in the second half and it looked like they had missed their chance as Moussa Baradji and Yuki Ohashi both somehow missed the ball from Mathias Jorgensen’s low cross. But then, deep into stoppage time, Eiran Cashin’s looped cross found the head of Ohashi and he sent Ew...

It might be too late, but the writing had been on the wall for a while. Valérien Ismaël has left Blackburn Rovers by mutual consent. After a run of one win in fourteen games, the Rovers hierarchy didn’t have much choice but to part ways with Ismaël. The Frenchman had been in charge for almost a year but struggled to win over the Rovers faithful. It took Ismaël eight games to get his first win as Rovers boss last season — a run that ultimately cost the club a play-off spot. Add that to a summer in which Rovers lost a number of key players and a poor start to the season, especially at home, and Ismaël was on the back foot from the get-go. The home win against Millwall before Christmas was Rovers’ last victory and only their second win of the season at Ewood Park. There is no doubt that injuries have hampered the team over the last couple of months, but football is a results business and Ismaël did not get anywhere near enough. He leaves the club 22nd in the table, ahead of a huge game ag...