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Valérien Ismaël looked set to possibly become the worst Blackburn Rovers manager ever, as he struggled with the club upon his appointment, yet he turned things around by the end of the campaign to almost secure a Championship play-off place.
The Frenchman may now be dreaming of becoming one of the best managers to walk through the door at Ewood Park; however, he will have a lot of work to do to achieve this.
Blackburn Rovers have had some incredible managers to control the Lancashire club, with many collecting silverware in their tenure.
Fans of the club will be hopeful Ismaël can guide them back to the Premier League and eventually ensure Rovers can get to a position once again to challenge for trophies.
Who is the best Blackburn Rovers manager – ranking the top 10 by win percentage
We’ve scoured the history books to look at the long line of Blackburn Rovers managers over the years to determine who is the best, at least when it comes to the metric of win percentages. Here’s the top ten.
10. Gordon Lee – 41.46%
Gordon Lee joined Blackburn Rovers in January 1974 with the club in the Third Division of English football, guiding them to a 13th-place finish in that first season.
Lee joined the Lancashire club from Port Vale, seeing Rovers as a chance to make the next step in his managerial career, and he would prove to be an inspired appointment.
In his second season with the club, he led Blackburn to the Third Division title, and with that promotion; however, this would make him a much sought-after manager, and in the summer following this league title in June 1975, he would leave the club to join Newcastle United.
As Rovers manager, he won 34 of his 82 games in charge, giving him a win percentage of 41.46%.
9. Ken Furphy – 42.02%
The next manager on this list is the man Lee replaced at the helm of Blackburn Rovers, Ken Furphy.
He joined the club in August 1971 from Watford, and in this first season in charge, he would guide Rovers to a 10th place finish in Division Three.
Furphy’s second season would prove to be much more successful as he guided them to a third-place finish, but it would not be enough for promotion, and he would leave midway through his third season to take charge of Sheffield United.
His record for Rovers saw him end with a win percentage of 42.02% from the 50 wins he achieved in 119 matches.
8. Dally Duncan – 42.35%
Dally Duncan was a well-respected footballer hailing from Aberdeen, Scotland, playing for a number of English clubs including Hull City, Derby County and Luton Town.
It would be with the latter that he began his coaching career, leading the club for nine years before taking the Blackburn Rovers job in October 1958.
In his two years he would maintain their status as a Division One club while also guiding the club to their final appearance in the FA Cup final, 1960.
Duncan had an impressive win percentage despite battling hard in the top flight of English football, as his side won 36 of their 85 matches, which gave him a win percentage of 42.35%.
7. Mark Hughes – 43.67%
Mark Hughes had big shoes to fill replacing Graeme Souness, the last manager to win major silverware with the club and who guided Blackburn to consecutive seasons in European competition.
However, the Welshman did a fantastic job in his first managerial role at a club, as he was at the helm of the club for four seasons.
Hughes would guide the club to three consecutive cup semi-finals in his tenure while also leading the club back to the UEFA Cup in 2006 with a sixth-place finish.
He would sign a number of pivotal players that would be key to Blackburn in the Premier League under other managers too, in the shape of Chris Samba and Ryan Nelson.
Hughes would manage a total of 188 matches, winning 82, giving him a win percentage of 43.67%.
6. Jon Dahl Tomasson – 44.44%
Jon Dahl Tomasson is the most recent manager on this list, and while he did not win any silverware or gain promotion, he had a fantastic record at Rovers.
The Danish manager was appointed in June 2022 and managed the club until February 2024, when he left the club by mutual consent.
He led the club to seventh in the Championship, missing out on the play-offs by the narrowest of margins as they failed to qualify on goal difference.
Tomasson managed a total of 90 matches, winning 40 of those, giving him a win percentage of 44.44%.
5. Bob Crompton – 45.49%
Bob Crompton proved to be the exception to the famous rule in football, ‘never go back to a former club’, as seen in the success he brought to Blackburn.
In his first spell at the club, he guided Rovers to an FA Cup in 1928 before departing the club in February 1931.
He rejoined the club in June 1938, managing the club until March 1941, and in this second spell, he guided them back to promotion to the First Division in 1939 as they won the Second Division title.
Crompton managed a total of 255 games, winning 116 of them, giving him a win percentage of 45.49%.
4. Howard Kendall – 45.71%
Howard Kendall began his managerial career at Blackburn Rovers in June 1979 as a player-manager, helping them win promotion back up to the Second Division in the 1979–80 season and narrowly missing out on promotion to the top tier in 1981 on goal difference.
He won 48 matches in the 105 games he led the club in, giving him a win percentage of 45.71%.
However, he would leave the club to join Everton in 1981 to become a player-manager there, proving to be a missed opportunity for Blackburn as he guided the Merseyside club to an FA Cup and two First Division titles.
3. Johnny Carey – 46.62%
Another manager that had two spells in charge with Blackburn Rovers; however, his second spell was nowhere near the standard of the first, as he would only win five matches in this spell.
In his first tenure he won over half his games, as he won 119 of his 235 matches.
The win percentage for the Irish manager was 45.71% in total as he helped guide the club into the First Division in his first spell.
2. Thomas Mitchell – 48.29%
The first manager of Blackburn Rovers, and one that led the club to much success as he won the FA Cup on five occasions with them.
Winning his first in 1884 and his last in 1891 before he left the club for Arsenal in 1897.
The Scottish manager would have been important in helping Rovers get ahead of other clubs in the era, as Scotland were arguably the leading country in football at the time.
Mitchell demonstrated this with Rovers as he won 127 of his 263 matches in charge of the club, giving him a win percentage of 48.29%.
1. Kenny Dalglish – 52.55%
Another Scottish manager on the list, and this one is arguably the most famous Rovers manager and most beloved, as he guided them to the Premier League title in 1995.
Kenny Dalglish was the man who brought tears to the face of Jack Walker as he brought the Premier League to Lancashire.
His tenure was full of win after win, as he won over half of his matches in charge, as he had a win percentage of 52.55%, as he won 103 of the 196 matches he took charge of.
Dalglish decided to leave his role to become director of football that summer but left the club a year later after a poor campaign under his replacement, Ray Harford.
However, fans will only remember the success Dalglish brought to Blackburn, silencing Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, while the former Celtic player became only the fourth football manager in history to lead two different clubs to top-flight league championships in England.