Valerien Ismael rages over 'disgraceful' decision after Blackburn Rovers v Ipswich Town - action possible | OneFootball

The Blackburn manager has reacted angrily to the EFL's decision to order a replay of last weekend's abandoned match at Ewood Park against Ipswich.

Blackburn Rovers manager Valerien Ismael has reacted angrily to the EFL's decision to order a full replay of their abandoned match against Ipswich Town.

Blackburn were leading Ipswich 1-0 at Ewood Park in their Championship match last weekend when referee Steve Martin ordered the match be abandoned because the pitch was unplayable after a day of torrential rain across the north-west of England.

The EFL requested submissions from both clubs, and confirmed last Wednesday after meeting to discuss the matter that they ordered the match to be replayed in full.

Their statement confirming the decision said that "the decision follows recent precedents relating to abandoned fixtures and is intended to uphold the integrity of the League competition which should, wherever possible, be based on a complete set of fixtures played to a conclusion on the day."

Valerien Ismael reacts negatively to EFL's Blackburn Rovers v Ipswich Town decision

The official X account of Blackburn Rovers has posted a video of the Rovers manager Valerien Ismael's reaction to this news, and it's reasonable to say that Ismael is unhappy at the decision.

In the two-and-a-half minute long video, the Rovers boss calls the decision "disgraceful" and that it's "really bad publicity for English football".

Ismael goes on to talk about what he's said to his players, and the importance of "dealing with adversity", adding that there needs to be "completely new guidelines" for dealing with such circumstances and, in response to a question what he feels the best forward is, that the club needs to "keep their options open".

In Blackburn's own official statement responding to the EFL's decision, they have confirmed that they have the right to appeal and that the powers-that-be are considering all of their options - it is clear to see though how Ismael feels.

The EFL's verdict could never have satisfied both Blackburn Rovers and Ipswich Town

The EFL delivered their verdict on what should happen next regarding this abandoned match on Thursday, and in effect, they had three options - they could order the result to stand with the score as it was at 79 minutes, they could order the final ten minutes of the match only to be played, or they could order the entire match to be replayed, and they went with the latter of these three choices.

This is tough on Blackburn. Ipswich started the season as one of the favourites to win promotion from the Championship, and their mediocre early-season form has been a surprise. It's entirely possible that they'll have pulled themselves out of their slump by the time the match is replayed.

But having said that, they need to be fair to both sides. Ipswich still had around ten to eleven minutes plus stoppage-time to rescue something from the game, and even them having had a player sent off didn't make this impossible. Announcing the result as the match stood at 80 minutes would have been unfair upon them.

The notion of playing those final ten minutes plus stoppage-time only also felt logistically impossible. Would fans be allowed in, and was it reasonable to expect Ipswich fans to travel the 250-odd miles from Suffolk to Lancashire for 10 to 15 minutes of football, and if not, would it be reasonable to play without away fans present or behind closed doors?

What if somebody got injured between now and the point at which the match was played, meaning that it wouldn't be the same players involved in playing the match through to completion?

This leaves only the option of replaying the match in full and voiding that which has already been played.

This was a situation that was never going to satisfy everybody, and Valerien Ismael would be wise to funnel his Blackburn Rovers team's anger over this injustice towards making sure that they do pick up all three points when the teams do meet again.