The Frenchman spent a little less than 12 months at Ewood Park, departing in February after a poor run of results.

During the early stages of that season, Ismael has revealed he felt unwell ahead of Rovers' trip to Wrexham, a game they drew 1-1 after conceding late on.

In the aftermath of Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany's collapse, Ismael revealed his own battle during his time at Rovers.

"We had an away game in Wrexham, on Saturday afternoon," Ismael told Eurosport.

"On Friday, during the last training session, I started to feel unwell when I got back to my office. A little warm, a little cold. I had a headache and needed to take a hot shower.

"I told my staff: 'I think I'm not feeling well, I'm going to go home and I'm going to try to recover. I'll join you there tomorrow in the afternoon.

"During the night, it was a disaster, I sweated. The next morning at 8am, I wrote to my CEO and my staff: 'for now, it's not great, I'll keep you informed at noon'.

"I took pills and by noon I felt a little better. I was less dizzy. The chills, I felt like I was managing. So, I went to the hotel to meet the team.

"We drew 1-1. To get back, I asked for a driver. I felt that I had to go home quickly because it wasn't going well at all."

The result saw Ismael wiped out of action for two days before eventually returning to the training ground.

It left him unable to do anything but sleep, something he attributes to the stress of modern-day management.

This is a reflection on the industry and not specific to Rovers, with Ismael insisting more coaches must listen to their bodies.

"I had aches everywhere; my head was spinning, I was sweating. I was drained. It was terrible," he explained.

"On Sunday, my wife called me. I spoke to her for two minutes. I stayed in the dark and slept. I would sleep 4.5 hours, wake up, eat a little and boom, go back to sleep and go on during the night.

"After 48 hours, I felt that the head, brain and body had recovered well because I was calm, without stress.

"For two days, it was over. I couldn't move. I was really absent. I asked the staff to take care of everything.

"Sunday was a day off. I just had the link with the sporting director, the club doctor and the physio who asked me by WhatsApp if I needed anything.

"From Monday, I stayed in my apartment and started to be able to work a little bit from my office. Then on the third day, I was able to go back to work.

"I wasn't on the floor; I arrived and saw that everything was going well.

"I told myself that you really have to listen to your body even if there is a match and even if the pressure is high. At some point, if things don't go well, you have to let go."