Post by QPR Report on Dec 25, 2009 14:28:22 GMT
Chris Charles BBC Blog From June of this year
How long has Magilton got?
Chris Charles | 15:07 UK time, Thursday, 4 June 2009
Breaking news...Jim Magilton sacked. Thought I'd get that in now to save me writing it at Christmas.
The QPR messageboards are awash with sweepstakes taking a punt on which date the new boss will be fired - ranging from Aug 14 all the way to mid-December. Although one optimist suggested it would be the summer of 2011, when Jimbo will be poached by Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement.
Meanwhile, Dan the fan from Great Yarmouth wrote on the Daily Mail website: "This is how I see this appointment panning out..."
July 18th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Juventus;
July 25th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Bolton;
Aug 1st Friendly: QPR 0-2 Celtic;
Aug 5th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Ipswich Town Res;
Aug 8th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Formula 1 Drivers' XI;
Aug 11th Friendly: QPR 1-2 Shepherd's Bush under-14's;
Aug 17th MAGILTON SACKED.
I can't say I'm overwhelmed with the appointment - in fact I'm not even whelmed. When Paulo Sousa was curiously shown the door in April, the names being bandied about by the press as his replacement included Sven-Goran Eriksson, Big Phil Scolari and, latterly, Zico (stop sN-Wording at the back).
In the event we get the bloke who was deemed not good enough for Ipswich, after failing to lead them into the play-offs in three attempts. And the time it took the board to appoint him was only a little less than Iain Dowie lasted in his first full season at the helm.
As one wag pointed out on a fan site: "It takes two months to appoint a manager, so should the board start the interviews around now?"
Meanwhile when Sky Sports news ran the story, they produced an alarming list of stats which showed the average tenure of a QPR manager (including caretakers) since Briatore and co took control was a whole 14 games. Sir Alex Ferguson, since you ask, has presided over 1276 at Manchester United.
Still, I'm all for giving Magsy a go - he knows the Championship inside out and you never know, he might just have all his knockers eating humble pie come May next year.
In fact I'm even prepared to do a Gareth Barry and write an open letter to our new messiah: 'Dear Jim, please can you fix it for me to be watching Premier League football at Championship prices next season? All my love, Chris'.
Incidentally, I'm still awaiting a reply to the request I sent to the other Jim back in 1977 to spend a day with Gerry Francis, Stan Bowles et al. Maybe it got lost in the post.
Whether I fork out £600 to see Magilton weave his magic in the flesh will depend on the chances of me finding the key to the padlock on my credit card which the other half has wisely squirreled away.
In the meantime I'll look on enviously as the club immediately below us in the owners' rich list compete with Real Madrid for the services of Kaka, while the only one above us snap up Gareth Barry and continue to be linked with just about every player on the planet.
Not that I'm bitter, of course. I just hope that we can improve on this assessment from another QPR fan last season - "We must be the only club in the world that have got worse since we became owned by billionaires."
www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chrischarles/2009/06/how_long_has_magilton_got.html
