Valérien Ismaël
|
Ismaël coaching LASK in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Valérien Alexandre Ismaël | ||
| Date of birth | 28 September 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1984 | AS Holtzheim | ||
| 1984–1992 | Strasbourg | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1998 | Strasbourg | 87 | (1) |
| 1998 | Crystal Palace | 13 | (0) |
| 1998–2002 | Lens | 83 | (5) |
| 2001 | → Strasbourg (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Strasbourg | 26 | (2) |
| 2003–2004 | → Werder Bremen (loan) | 32 | (4) |
| 2004–2005 | Werder Bremen | 32 | (4) |
| 2005–2007 | Bayern Munich | 31 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Bayern Munich II | 7 | (2) |
| 2007–2009 | Hannover 96 | 18 | (0) |
| Total | 338 | (18) | |
| International career | |||
| 1993–1994 | France U18 | 8 | (2) |
| 1996–1997 | France U21 | 12 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2013 | Hannover 96 II | ||
| 2013–2014 | VfL Wolfsburg II | ||
| 2014 | 1. FC Nürnberg | ||
| 2015–2016 | VfL Wolfsburg II | ||
| 2016–2017 | VfL Wolfsburg | ||
| 2018 | Apollon Smyrnis | ||
| 2019–2020 | LASK | ||
| 2020–2021 | Barnsley | ||
| 2021–2022 | West Bromwich Albion | ||
| 2022 | Beşiktaş | ||
| 2023–2024 | Watford | ||
| 2025–2026 | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Valérien Alexandre Ismaël (born 28 September 1975) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently 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 and left the club by mutual consent nearly a year later on 2 February 2026.