Valérien Ismaël
Valérien Alexandre Ismaël is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers.
A centre-back, Ismaël played for Strasbourg, Crystal Palace, Lens, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Hannover 96. As a player, he won the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue twice, the Bundesliga twice, as well as the DFB-Pokal on two occasions. Following his retirement, he moved into management, first as a reserve coach for a number of clubs before moving into senior management with spells at 1. FC Nürnberg, VfL Wolfsburg and with Austrian Bundesliga club LASK, before spells with English Championship clubs Barnsley, West Bromwich Albion and Watford. He was appointed head coach of Blackburn Rovers in February 2025.
Early years
Ismaël was born to a Guadeloupean father and an Alsatian mother, growing up in Strasbourg on the border with Germany. Ismaël's grandfather is German.Playing career
Strasbourg
Ismaël made his debut for Strasbourg against Cannes on 15 January 1994. He went on to make 77 league appearances in his first spell with the club. Additionally, he appeared in five UEFA Cup matches, scoring once.Crystal Palace
Ismaël was signed by Crystal Palace for £2.75 million from Strasbourg in January 1998, making him the most expensive player in the club's history. However, he only played 13 games for the London club, before moving back to his native France to sign for Lens in October 1998.Lens
Ismaël's time at Lens saw him regain his form after his brief spell in England. He played 83 times, scoring five goals. He also had a short loan spell at his former club Strasbourg during the 2000–01 Division 1 season. The club were relegated that season, but Ismaël played in the 2001 Coupe de France Final, in which Strasbourg defeated Amiens on penalties. He returned to Lens for the 2001–02 Division 1 season where he played 33 times and scored four goals. He was sold back to Strasbourg for the following season following their promotion back to the top tier.Back to Strasbourg
On moving back to his former club for a third spell, Ismaël was appointed captain and led the club to 13th position. In his last spell at Strasbourg, he made 26 appearances and scored twice. He appeared for his home club a total of 167 times in all competitions and scored seven goals.Werder Bremen
Ismaël was loaned to Werder Bremen in 2003 where he appeared 32 times, scoring four goals. Bremen went on to win the German double in his first season at the club. He was sold to Werder prior to the following season, where once again he appeared 32 times, scoring four goals. However, Werder could only finish third. He made seven appearances in the UEFA Champions League as well, scoring twice.Bayern Munich
Ismaël arrived at Bayern Munich in July 2005. He received a red card on his debut for the club, but finished the season winning the German league and cup double for the second time in his career. However, he only featured once in the 2006–07 campaign for the club due to his long term injury and was eventually released to join Hannover 96 in January 2008. He made 31 league appearances for Bayern without scoring and eight Champions league appearances, scoring once against A.C. Milan in a 4–1 loss.Hannover 96
Ismaël was brought to the club in order to strengthen the struggling defence and to provide leadership for his new teammates. His first game for Hannover was against his previous club, Bayern, playing well for 45 minutes and helping his team maintain a 0–0. After he was substituted with a minor injury, Hannover conceded three goals in the second half. After overcoming the injury, he became a key player for the team. Due to further injuries he retired on 5 October 2009. In total he made 18 appearances for Hannover.International career
Ismaël made appearances for the French under-18 and under-21 teams. When he was not called up to the senior team, it was reported that he wanted to represent Germany. However, he was rejected by the German Football Association because there was not enough connection to Germany. In an interview with the German sports magazine Kicker, Ismael said: "I am French, and I still hope for my chance to play for France. I'm feeling fine in Germany, but I do not want to volunteer. Only if Klinsmann wants me, then we would have to talk about it." If former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann was interested in him, Ismaël wanted to check his ancestry.Gernot Rohr said of the exclusion of Ismaël from the senior team: "Although Valérien was a U-21 international, he was never an option for the senior team. Of course, Valérien is one of the better centre-backs, but he was never so striking that he could compete with the first-team regulars." Ismaël saw it differently: "There used to be big names, okay. But today, I am no worse than those who are there." After Ismaël offered his services in October 2005 again to the Germany national team, he again received a rejection. Later in March 2006, the German Football Association announced that Ismaël was not eligible to play for Germany because he had played a U-21 European Championship qualifier for France in August 1996. According to FIFA rules, he would have needed German citizenship back in 1996 to have made the switch.
It was reported that Togo also wanted to call up Ismaël to their squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, given his former wife is partially Togolese descent, but he denied the approach and interest in the offer.