‘A disgrace’ – Blackburn’s Valerien Ismael fumes over the behaviour of Bristol City and their antics towards the end of the game.
The Rovers boss took aim at his opponents for refusing to give back the ball when Rovers’ goalkeeper Balazs Toth was injured late in the game.
Toth needed lengthy treatment, which led to nine minutes of stoppage time, with Bristol City players and fans accused Toth of time-wasting.
Then after he was taken off, tensions rose when Bristol kept possession instead of returning the ball following a throw-in for the injury.
Despite the incident, Blackburn held on to win, securing a third consecutive victory, sitting 18th in the Championship table with 16 points from 14 games played, while Bristol City are 7th with 22 points from 14 games played.
😡 “By the way, it was a disgrace what happened on the pitch today.”
Valerien Ismael was particularly unhappy with Bristol City’s antics towards the end of yesterday’s game.#Rovers https://t.co/A4zuTtGid2 pic.twitter.com/uO2Y5HNiOk
— Elliott Jackson (@_ElliottJackson) November 5, 2025
Ismael said, per Lancashire Telegraph: “By the way, it was a disgrace what happened on the pitch today with the referee and Bristol playing the ball.
“Our goalkeeper put the ball out, he was injured and they were not giving the ball back. I think we don’t want to see in football. It doesn’t matter.
“I know we want to win everyone, but at some point we have to stay fair, play and the referee didn’t say anything.
“My colleague said to play the ball forward, it’s just a disgrace to see that. Because if you have been on the other side, I think Bristol would have expected from us to give the ball back.”
On the game: “I think in the first half, just show everything at the minute.
“So you see when the confidence is back, when the game plan is right. We were good on the ball, we needed to have that composure.
“To hit the area we wanted to hit, we did it perfectly. We had a lot of situations where we broke through on the side and at some point, we got the goal to win. So I was really pleased for the first half.
“The second half was another one, just the fight. So I was pleased with the fighting spirit and togetherness we showed. And as I said, we didn’t concede big chances, which is good when you are away.
“So we got the reward now, we scored a goal with consistency, which is good. Now we need to keep going.
On Derby next up: “We will see for sure. You expected a home game and then to win game, but I think this season we struggled a lot at home.
“So we have now the confidence with the away win. So hopefully we can get that confidence for the home game.”
Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire: “We showed two faces today. The first half was very solid, under control, played well, scored a goal brilliantly.
“In the second half it was just the fight. We lost too many balls, put them back in the game but they didn’t have a big chance to score which is good, we were solid.
“With better quality in transition maybe we could have finished it earlier. Another forceful performance away and another clean sheet which is good for the confidence after Leicester.
“We knew the performances were right from the beginning of the season without getting the reward, now we are picking up points so the picture is right.”
Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:
“We are frustrated about the result – we expected a game with many interruptions and this crashed our flow in the game.
“It was difficult to deal with Blackburn, their energy, and you can see at the moment they have momentum with this style of play.
“They had two moments in the first half and score, we have two in the second half and don’t score. In the end I would say it’s a defeat which feels painful.
“We would wish a different situation where we can bring fresh legs on but that’s not possible at the moment with the injuries. I am not going to moan but it’s a big challenge at the moment.
“He (Neto Borges) felt something could come and made the very good decision to come out. Mark Sykes has a big, deep cut on the shin bone. He’s on the way to the hospital right now. It’s not so good for the Friday game.”
Here’s how fans reacted as Blackburn’s Valerien Ismael fumes over behaviour of Bristol City and their antics…
@brfcrover1: Desperate. They couldn’t beat us with their footballing ability so tried to cheat and still failed
@furnhurst1: Think it angered the players even more to get a result after that.
@GiallorossiBlue: Another very solid win. We never looked like not winning that one. Pleased with the direction the team is heading in. If more of our players could finish we would have many more goals. One game this season I’m sure we will demolish a team. Bring in Derby on Saturday!
@bigfellabeaty: 3 on the bounce?! What Rovers is this?! Ohashi a warrior today, but what a team effort!
@ReportRovers: Brilliant again, the game management has really improved over the last few weeks. Another deserved 3 points. Big one Saturday let’s make it 4 in a row!!! 🔵⚪️
@CallumAltimas: That felt like a real statement victory. Against a side who have impressed this season and we dominated
@CoB09: Credit to Ismael. This team look organised and there’s a fighting spirit there 👏🌹
@AdamThackray81: Fucking get in there!! Great performance! Ohashi, Hedges and Miller all giving it everything!
@Leap_year_man: Huge result midweek away at a tough place to win, can’t praise the lads enough. Well deserved, we grafted 2nd half but in truth never really troubled. Big confidence boost for Saturday just hope injuries aren’t too bad they’ve come at the worst time. 3 wins on the bounce! 🔵⚪️
@TheFPLRobin: Very disappointing, but not that annoyed at the players or Struber. We can barely field a team of senior players in their natural positions and we’re having to finish the game with 10 men. Seriously need to ask questions about the cause of all these injuries. It’s ridiculous.
@SalfordRover: Ask the ref for a refund lads 🤣👍🏻
@Brandonmj03: That was the worst performance I have ever seen at AG. No Shot on Target, no drive, players backing out of tackles. Players need to have a hard look at themselves!!
@HarryDo54656332: Hahahaha even with all that added time and a 12th man you still can’t beat us 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@brfc_reece: The rest of the championship has had their fun, Now we’re coming and pissing the fucking league
@BCFC_Chapz: Moaning this moaning that. Randall and vyner been absolutely run ragged for 5 games on the trot. What do we expect. Owners left us to dry in the summer and now we are paying that price. Direct rage at the board not the players who actually worked hard tonight.
@mattdenmann: Leaving was the highlight of my night
