Post by QPR Report on Apr 17, 2010 9:35:56 GMT
4 Years ago... And we ended up with Magilton/Hart/Harford
Romario in frame for QPR boss By SHAUN CUSTIS - The Sun - The Brazilian has been sounded out about an amazing move to Loftus Road.
- Romario, 43, quit playing last year and had a brief spell in charge of Vasco Da Gama.
- He has just become director of football at Club America, who are in talks with an English team about forging a partnership agreement.
- QPR owner Flavio Briatore wants them to become a feeder club to give the R�s the best boys from Brazil.
- A source close to Romario said: �Briatore wants a man who will put QPR on the football map.�
- Alan Pardew could be another contender as he is free to return to football after negotiating a pay-off with former club Charlton. The Sun
Daily Mirror - Alan Pardew interested in QPR job
- Alan Pardew, the former Charlton and West Ham boss, is keen on the QPR job after last week's axing of Paulo Sousa. Mirror
Aoruk 16, 2009
London Informer/Paul Warburton - Di Canio set for return
- QPR ARE ready to astound their fans by having TWO bosses in charge next season.
- And, just as amazing as the sacking of Paulo Sousa last week, predicted by your favourite local paper, Rs will invite back the man who was in the hot seat this time last year to partner Gareth Ainsworth.
- It's understood Luigi Di Canio left at the end of the 2007/08 campaign in a bid to save his marriage back home in Italy.
- But now Di Canio is ready to return Lazarus-like and link up with Ainsworth again, now in his second spell as Rangers caretaker boss.
- The Hoops think they will have the best of both worlds with the new double act, as well as save themselves a packet on bringing in a different team from outside.
- The Rangers board has cooled on the idea of having Darren Ferguson as their eighth manager in more than two years after the Peterborough boss let it be known he wants a massive salary spread over a three-year contract.
- The son of Manchester United's Sir Alex was worried any future in W12 might be as short-lived as the last two incumbents - and wanted TWICE the salary of Sousa - around �20,000 a week before bonuses. Ferguson also wants his own team to come with him from promotion-chasing Posh in League One - and Rs chairman Flavio Briatore dismissed the demands as a pay cheque too far.
- Rangers have also binned any notion of asking either Dennis Wise or Paul Ince to step into the hot seat, but want Ainsworth to show what he can do, again, starting at leaders Wolves on Saturday.
- The 35-year-old had a remarkable success to start his second stint in the Rs dugout on Monday when his team turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday. A decent showing at Molineux, as well as results against Plymouth and Preston, will put him in joint pole position for next season.
- An Rs insider said: "Di Canio is only with his current club Lecce until the end of the season - and it was a shame he left when he did.
- "Gareth's popularity together with Di Canio's know-how could work out very well."
- London Informer
Daily Mail - Loftus ambitions: Ex-Chelsea boss Scolari in the frame for QPR job
- Luiz Felipe Scolari has emerged as a shock contender to take the hot seat at Queens Park Rangers.
- The Brazilian has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in February and both he and his wife Olga are said to be keen to stay in London.
Peterbrough boss Darren Ferguson is QPR's No 1 choice to succeed Paulo Sousa - Scolari's former assistant with Portugal - who was sacked last week.
- But Rangers are aware that it could be difficult to persuade an English manager to work at Loftus Road under colourful chairman and part-owner Flavio Briatore, who is also the Renault Formula One team boss.
- Joining a Championship club, albeit an ambitious one, would be a step down for a coach who has won the World Cup with Brazil, was idolised with Portugal, and claimed countless domestic titles in his homeland.
But the 60-year-old says he has plenty of offers and will study them before returning to work in the summer
- 'My agent has received a number of offers, some of them from clubs at a very high level and some longer-term projects,' he said. 'I will study everything very calmly and make my decision at the end of May or the beginning of June.
'But I have decided to keep on working in Europe - I've already forgotten about what happened with Chelsea, even though it was a hugely important experience in my life.'
Scolari said recently he would like to finish his career with his Porto Alegre hometown club Gremio, but fancies another shot at making it in Europe before going back to Brazil.
- Gremio sacked their boss Celso Roth earlier this month, but they are looking at other targets after Scolari made his position clear. Mail
A few days earlier
The latest name: Antonia Tapia
BBC Gossip from The Sunday Express: "Queens Park Rangers will again try to persuade Malaga boss Antonia Tapia to take over as their manager following the exit of Paulo Sousa." (Sunday Express) BBC Gossip
- Note: As noted in QPR Report last Month "Claim QPR Sounded Out Taglia as Manager"
- Sunday Sun/Neil Farrington March 16, 2009 -
"... Malaga�s Antonio Tapia ....[W]ith his contract due to expire in June, Tapia�s agents � Bahia Internacional � are understood to have been sounded out by representatives of QPR and Newcastle about a possible move to England. And Tapia admitted: �I rejected an offer during the (January) transfer window, although I am a lover of English football. I am a professional and my commitment was to Malaga. I don�t regret the decision...."
Mail- QPR weigh up Wise move
- Dennis Wise has emerged as a surprise candidate for the Queens Park Rangers manager's job following the sacking of Paulo Sousa.
- The ex-Millwall boss left his �1.5million-a-year role as a football director at Newcastle following the appointment of Alan Shearer and is believed to be on the Rangers shortlist being drawn up by co-owner Flavio Briatore and chairman Gianni Paladini.- Other names linked with the job include Paul Ince and Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson. Mail
News of The World/Aidan Magee - PAUL INCE IN QPR FRAME
Rangers looking for fifth boss in 18 months
- PAUL INCE is set to be offered the QPR job this summer.
- The Championship club parted company with Portuguese boss Paolo Sousa this week after claiming he gave away confidential information about players to fans.
- Chairman Flavio Briatore is happy to leave caretaker Gareth Ainsworth in charge until the end of the season.
- But he is ready to appoint Ince in time for next season.
- The former Blackburn boss left Ewood Park before Christmas but is the preferred choice of the majority of players and fans to take over at Loftus Road.
The Mirror/James Nursey - Queens Park Rangers close in on Darren Ferguson
-Queens Park Rangers hope to exploit a bargain buy-out clause in Darren Ferguson's contract as Peterborough manager.
-Gareth Ainsworth has been made caretaker boss until the end of the season following Paulo Sousa's sacking.
-But QPR supremo Flavio Briatore has identified Ferguson, 37, as his No.1 choice. Sir Alex Ferguson's son guided Posh to promotion from League Two in his first full season at the helm. They are currently second in League One.
-Ferguson, appointed in January 2007, is believed to have a buy-out clause of less than �100,000.
-Should Posh fail to go up, Ferguson may well be tempted to move to Championship club Rangers in the summer..- The Mirror
- Ince is keen to work in London for the first time since leaving West Ham 20 years ago and wants to guide Rangers into the Premier League next term.
- Former boss Luigi de Canio has been linked with a surprise return while long-term candidates Gary Johnson and Darren Ferguson were also considered.
- Rangers are now searching for their fifth permanent manager since Briatore bought into the club just 18 months ago. News of The World
Jeremy Cross/Daily Star - WISE TO SNAP UP QPR JOB- DENNIS Wise is poised for a swift return to football by becoming the new manager of QPR this week.
- Wise has held talks with co-owner Flavio Briatore and chairman Gianni Paladini and is expected to be installed at Loftus Road within the next 48 hours.
- The Championship club have acted quickly to find a replacement for the sacked Paulo Sousa.
- Former Millwall and Leeds manager Wise left his controversial role as a football director at Newcastle United following the appointment of Alan Shearer last week.
- Wise was born within touching distance of the ground and grew up a massive QPR fan - Daily Star
Daily Express/Gareth Bebb - QPR LOOK AT WISE MOVE FOR DENNIS
- DENNIS WISE is poised for a swift return to football by becoming the new manager of QPR.
- Wise has held talks with co-owner Flavio Briatore and chairman Gianni Paladini and is expected to be installed in the next 24 hours after the dismissal of Paulo Sousa.
- Former Millwall and Leeds manager Wise was born near Loftus Road and grew up a big QPR fan. His appointment comes too late to prevent their season dribbling away towards mid-table mediocrity � not helped by displays such as this.
- But if he watches a tape of this match for homework, he will see a Burnley showing that should convince any doubters they can be the real deal at the business end of the season." Daily Express
Evening Herald (Ireland) Paul Hyland- Keane is linked to QPR hotseat
- Just as Mick McCarthy earns another shot at Premier League, his old foe Roy could land Championship job
- THERE'S a certain synchronicity in the fact that Roy Keane's name is back on the mat at exactly the time Mick McCarthy lifts Wolves up by the bootstraps to a promotion that nobody would have predicted nine months ago.
- Keane and McCarthy seem fated to pass like lifts in a tall building -- as one heads for the sky, the other drops to a more modest level.
- McCarthy is still cantankerous and hungry enough to want to prove everyone wrong after all he's been through and he has done a mighty job with Wolves.
- Last summer, there were strong indications that McCarthy would be looking for a new club and that Wolves would cycle through a few more managers before they would find a way back to the Premier League.
- Once again it seemed McCarthy's club ambitions would be stymied by life on the margins where loaves and fishes make up the transfer budget.
Lash
- He's won himself another shot at the big time through clever work in the transfer market and his ability to motivate a squad. While he's in the Premier League mixing with the toffs, it looks like Keane is ready for another lash but once again, with a golden spoon attached.
- The word around Cork and London for the last few days is that Keane is now odds on to sign up for a job that will make Sunderland look like a picnic, even if Loftus Road is nearer the range of fleshpots and high class shopping so beloved of the modern day professional footballer.
- Up until a couple of years ago, QPR was a small time club graced by the occasional star turn and its history is written around names rather than trophies. Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles and Gerry Francis all made plenty of headlines but not by winning anything in blue and white hoops.
- But when Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone took over, 10,000 or so hard core fans began to believe that something wonderful might be in the air.
- That belief was strengthened when Lakshmi Mittal, steel magnate and billionaire -- Britain's richest man or at least he was until the banks came tumbling down -- spent �200k of his �28 billion to buy into QPR, apparently for his son-in-law (a fan).
- The next member of the billionaire club to sign up was Vijay Mallya, co-owner of the Force India F1 team and one of the wealthiest men on the planet.
- Mallya's Kingfisher brand has been a big backer of Indian sport and he sponsors two football clubs, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan and owns the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team in the Indian Premier League. Horse racing is another passion.
- For any manager weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of a particular job, the presence of three billionaires and the owner of Benetton in the house offer possibilities that are both heady and dangerous.
-
Aura
- These are all men who expect lesser mortals to listen when they speak and haven't become impossibly wealthy by trusting their money to strangers without strict oversight.
- Keane was lucky that his first job involved a bunch of Irishmen, rich Irishmen who were all fans of his and ready to buy into his aura.
- For him, the right environment neither existed or could exist at the Stadium of Light so he quit but that doesn't mean he has lost his belief that he can go a long way as a manager without a 10 year CV hard won in the lower divisions, fighting for the knowledge that makes managers great, if he can find men to fund his ambition.
- Niall Quinn and Drumaville made certain that he never wanted for cash and he wasted a great deal of it. When Ellis Short asked a few questions, Keane made a ruthless decision and legged it.
- The difficulty with this approach is the fact that a rich man's plans will often conflict with the normal rhythms of football -- especially if he fancies a hands on role.
- There are many rich men hovering around Loftus Road and all of them have plans. Briatore himself is hands on type of guy and likes to do training.
- The first 18 months of the new ownership don't make good reading for a martinet like Keane.
- Since the takeover, QPR have been ripping through managers at a great rate. John Gregory, Mick Harford, Luigi De Canio, Ian Dowie and Paulo Sousa have come and gone since October 2007 and the current incumbent, Gareth Ainsworth, is having his second stint as a caretaker.
- In the last few days, Briatore responded angrily to suggestions that he interfered in Sousa's team selections but admitted that the QPR board was disappointed with some aspects of his work.
Formation
- "When we beat Preston North End before Christmas, Paulo made six changes for the next match and we only drew at Charlton, who were bottom of the league. And against Ipswich, he stuck to a 4-5-1 formation when we were at home.
- "But I would like to repeat, I never once told Paulo, or any other coach for that matter, which team to pick."
- There's a yarn doing the rounds among hacks in London telling how Ainsworth left his mobile phone in the dressingroom in recent weeks and when he returned at half-time, found 62 missed calls.
- These tales tend to gather detail and volume as they travel around the press boxes but even if there was one missed call, it wouldn't augur well for an easy relationship with the next man, especially at a club which changes managers as often as a race car needs tires.
- That's why it's hard to figure why Keane would be interested -- if indeed he is. Some in London believe that an agreement is already in place with a new manager who will be named in June but can't decide whether it's Dennis Wise or the Corkman.
- It looks like a job that could rapidly descend into conflict even if it does carry the promise of a bankroll to invest in serious talent and while Keane is big enough and man enough to fight his corner, the last thing he needs on his next step in management is a short and acrimonious spell working under powerful men with egos as big as his own. - Paul Hyland - Evening Herald (Ireland)
Romario in frame for QPR boss By SHAUN CUSTIS - The Sun - The Brazilian has been sounded out about an amazing move to Loftus Road.
- Romario, 43, quit playing last year and had a brief spell in charge of Vasco Da Gama.
- He has just become director of football at Club America, who are in talks with an English team about forging a partnership agreement.
- QPR owner Flavio Briatore wants them to become a feeder club to give the R�s the best boys from Brazil.
- A source close to Romario said: �Briatore wants a man who will put QPR on the football map.�
- Alan Pardew could be another contender as he is free to return to football after negotiating a pay-off with former club Charlton. The Sun
Daily Mirror - Alan Pardew interested in QPR job
- Alan Pardew, the former Charlton and West Ham boss, is keen on the QPR job after last week's axing of Paulo Sousa. Mirror
Aoruk 16, 2009
London Informer/Paul Warburton - Di Canio set for return
- QPR ARE ready to astound their fans by having TWO bosses in charge next season.
- And, just as amazing as the sacking of Paulo Sousa last week, predicted by your favourite local paper, Rs will invite back the man who was in the hot seat this time last year to partner Gareth Ainsworth.
- It's understood Luigi Di Canio left at the end of the 2007/08 campaign in a bid to save his marriage back home in Italy.
- But now Di Canio is ready to return Lazarus-like and link up with Ainsworth again, now in his second spell as Rangers caretaker boss.
- The Hoops think they will have the best of both worlds with the new double act, as well as save themselves a packet on bringing in a different team from outside.
- The Rangers board has cooled on the idea of having Darren Ferguson as their eighth manager in more than two years after the Peterborough boss let it be known he wants a massive salary spread over a three-year contract.
- The son of Manchester United's Sir Alex was worried any future in W12 might be as short-lived as the last two incumbents - and wanted TWICE the salary of Sousa - around �20,000 a week before bonuses. Ferguson also wants his own team to come with him from promotion-chasing Posh in League One - and Rs chairman Flavio Briatore dismissed the demands as a pay cheque too far.
- Rangers have also binned any notion of asking either Dennis Wise or Paul Ince to step into the hot seat, but want Ainsworth to show what he can do, again, starting at leaders Wolves on Saturday.
- The 35-year-old had a remarkable success to start his second stint in the Rs dugout on Monday when his team turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday. A decent showing at Molineux, as well as results against Plymouth and Preston, will put him in joint pole position for next season.
- An Rs insider said: "Di Canio is only with his current club Lecce until the end of the season - and it was a shame he left when he did.
- "Gareth's popularity together with Di Canio's know-how could work out very well."
- London Informer
Daily Mail - Loftus ambitions: Ex-Chelsea boss Scolari in the frame for QPR job
- Luiz Felipe Scolari has emerged as a shock contender to take the hot seat at Queens Park Rangers.
- The Brazilian has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in February and both he and his wife Olga are said to be keen to stay in London.
Peterbrough boss Darren Ferguson is QPR's No 1 choice to succeed Paulo Sousa - Scolari's former assistant with Portugal - who was sacked last week.
- But Rangers are aware that it could be difficult to persuade an English manager to work at Loftus Road under colourful chairman and part-owner Flavio Briatore, who is also the Renault Formula One team boss.
- Joining a Championship club, albeit an ambitious one, would be a step down for a coach who has won the World Cup with Brazil, was idolised with Portugal, and claimed countless domestic titles in his homeland.
But the 60-year-old says he has plenty of offers and will study them before returning to work in the summer
- 'My agent has received a number of offers, some of them from clubs at a very high level and some longer-term projects,' he said. 'I will study everything very calmly and make my decision at the end of May or the beginning of June.
'But I have decided to keep on working in Europe - I've already forgotten about what happened with Chelsea, even though it was a hugely important experience in my life.'
Scolari said recently he would like to finish his career with his Porto Alegre hometown club Gremio, but fancies another shot at making it in Europe before going back to Brazil.
- Gremio sacked their boss Celso Roth earlier this month, but they are looking at other targets after Scolari made his position clear. Mail
A few days earlier
The latest name: Antonia Tapia
BBC Gossip from The Sunday Express: "Queens Park Rangers will again try to persuade Malaga boss Antonia Tapia to take over as their manager following the exit of Paulo Sousa." (Sunday Express) BBC Gossip
- Note: As noted in QPR Report last Month "Claim QPR Sounded Out Taglia as Manager"
- Sunday Sun/Neil Farrington March 16, 2009 -
"... Malaga�s Antonio Tapia ....[W]ith his contract due to expire in June, Tapia�s agents � Bahia Internacional � are understood to have been sounded out by representatives of QPR and Newcastle about a possible move to England. And Tapia admitted: �I rejected an offer during the (January) transfer window, although I am a lover of English football. I am a professional and my commitment was to Malaga. I don�t regret the decision...."
Mail- QPR weigh up Wise move
- Dennis Wise has emerged as a surprise candidate for the Queens Park Rangers manager's job following the sacking of Paulo Sousa.
- The ex-Millwall boss left his �1.5million-a-year role as a football director at Newcastle following the appointment of Alan Shearer and is believed to be on the Rangers shortlist being drawn up by co-owner Flavio Briatore and chairman Gianni Paladini.- Other names linked with the job include Paul Ince and Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson. Mail
News of The World/Aidan Magee - PAUL INCE IN QPR FRAME
Rangers looking for fifth boss in 18 months
- PAUL INCE is set to be offered the QPR job this summer.
- The Championship club parted company with Portuguese boss Paolo Sousa this week after claiming he gave away confidential information about players to fans.
- Chairman Flavio Briatore is happy to leave caretaker Gareth Ainsworth in charge until the end of the season.
- But he is ready to appoint Ince in time for next season.
- The former Blackburn boss left Ewood Park before Christmas but is the preferred choice of the majority of players and fans to take over at Loftus Road.
The Mirror/James Nursey - Queens Park Rangers close in on Darren Ferguson
-Queens Park Rangers hope to exploit a bargain buy-out clause in Darren Ferguson's contract as Peterborough manager.
-Gareth Ainsworth has been made caretaker boss until the end of the season following Paulo Sousa's sacking.
-But QPR supremo Flavio Briatore has identified Ferguson, 37, as his No.1 choice. Sir Alex Ferguson's son guided Posh to promotion from League Two in his first full season at the helm. They are currently second in League One.
-Ferguson, appointed in January 2007, is believed to have a buy-out clause of less than �100,000.
-Should Posh fail to go up, Ferguson may well be tempted to move to Championship club Rangers in the summer..- The Mirror
- Ince is keen to work in London for the first time since leaving West Ham 20 years ago and wants to guide Rangers into the Premier League next term.
- Former boss Luigi de Canio has been linked with a surprise return while long-term candidates Gary Johnson and Darren Ferguson were also considered.
- Rangers are now searching for their fifth permanent manager since Briatore bought into the club just 18 months ago. News of The World
Jeremy Cross/Daily Star - WISE TO SNAP UP QPR JOB- DENNIS Wise is poised for a swift return to football by becoming the new manager of QPR this week.
- Wise has held talks with co-owner Flavio Briatore and chairman Gianni Paladini and is expected to be installed at Loftus Road within the next 48 hours.
- The Championship club have acted quickly to find a replacement for the sacked Paulo Sousa.
- Former Millwall and Leeds manager Wise left his controversial role as a football director at Newcastle United following the appointment of Alan Shearer last week.
- Wise was born within touching distance of the ground and grew up a massive QPR fan - Daily Star
Daily Express/Gareth Bebb - QPR LOOK AT WISE MOVE FOR DENNIS
- DENNIS WISE is poised for a swift return to football by becoming the new manager of QPR.
- Wise has held talks with co-owner Flavio Briatore and chairman Gianni Paladini and is expected to be installed in the next 24 hours after the dismissal of Paulo Sousa.
- Former Millwall and Leeds manager Wise was born near Loftus Road and grew up a big QPR fan. His appointment comes too late to prevent their season dribbling away towards mid-table mediocrity � not helped by displays such as this.
- But if he watches a tape of this match for homework, he will see a Burnley showing that should convince any doubters they can be the real deal at the business end of the season." Daily Express
Evening Herald (Ireland) Paul Hyland- Keane is linked to QPR hotseat
- Just as Mick McCarthy earns another shot at Premier League, his old foe Roy could land Championship job
- THERE'S a certain synchronicity in the fact that Roy Keane's name is back on the mat at exactly the time Mick McCarthy lifts Wolves up by the bootstraps to a promotion that nobody would have predicted nine months ago.
- Keane and McCarthy seem fated to pass like lifts in a tall building -- as one heads for the sky, the other drops to a more modest level.
- McCarthy is still cantankerous and hungry enough to want to prove everyone wrong after all he's been through and he has done a mighty job with Wolves.
- Last summer, there were strong indications that McCarthy would be looking for a new club and that Wolves would cycle through a few more managers before they would find a way back to the Premier League.
- Once again it seemed McCarthy's club ambitions would be stymied by life on the margins where loaves and fishes make up the transfer budget.
Lash
- He's won himself another shot at the big time through clever work in the transfer market and his ability to motivate a squad. While he's in the Premier League mixing with the toffs, it looks like Keane is ready for another lash but once again, with a golden spoon attached.
- The word around Cork and London for the last few days is that Keane is now odds on to sign up for a job that will make Sunderland look like a picnic, even if Loftus Road is nearer the range of fleshpots and high class shopping so beloved of the modern day professional footballer.
- Up until a couple of years ago, QPR was a small time club graced by the occasional star turn and its history is written around names rather than trophies. Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles and Gerry Francis all made plenty of headlines but not by winning anything in blue and white hoops.
- But when Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone took over, 10,000 or so hard core fans began to believe that something wonderful might be in the air.
- That belief was strengthened when Lakshmi Mittal, steel magnate and billionaire -- Britain's richest man or at least he was until the banks came tumbling down -- spent �200k of his �28 billion to buy into QPR, apparently for his son-in-law (a fan).
- The next member of the billionaire club to sign up was Vijay Mallya, co-owner of the Force India F1 team and one of the wealthiest men on the planet.
- Mallya's Kingfisher brand has been a big backer of Indian sport and he sponsors two football clubs, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan and owns the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team in the Indian Premier League. Horse racing is another passion.
- For any manager weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of a particular job, the presence of three billionaires and the owner of Benetton in the house offer possibilities that are both heady and dangerous.
-
Aura
- These are all men who expect lesser mortals to listen when they speak and haven't become impossibly wealthy by trusting their money to strangers without strict oversight.
- Keane was lucky that his first job involved a bunch of Irishmen, rich Irishmen who were all fans of his and ready to buy into his aura.
- For him, the right environment neither existed or could exist at the Stadium of Light so he quit but that doesn't mean he has lost his belief that he can go a long way as a manager without a 10 year CV hard won in the lower divisions, fighting for the knowledge that makes managers great, if he can find men to fund his ambition.
- Niall Quinn and Drumaville made certain that he never wanted for cash and he wasted a great deal of it. When Ellis Short asked a few questions, Keane made a ruthless decision and legged it.
- The difficulty with this approach is the fact that a rich man's plans will often conflict with the normal rhythms of football -- especially if he fancies a hands on role.
- There are many rich men hovering around Loftus Road and all of them have plans. Briatore himself is hands on type of guy and likes to do training.
- The first 18 months of the new ownership don't make good reading for a martinet like Keane.
- Since the takeover, QPR have been ripping through managers at a great rate. John Gregory, Mick Harford, Luigi De Canio, Ian Dowie and Paulo Sousa have come and gone since October 2007 and the current incumbent, Gareth Ainsworth, is having his second stint as a caretaker.
- In the last few days, Briatore responded angrily to suggestions that he interfered in Sousa's team selections but admitted that the QPR board was disappointed with some aspects of his work.
Formation
- "When we beat Preston North End before Christmas, Paulo made six changes for the next match and we only drew at Charlton, who were bottom of the league. And against Ipswich, he stuck to a 4-5-1 formation when we were at home.
- "But I would like to repeat, I never once told Paulo, or any other coach for that matter, which team to pick."
- There's a yarn doing the rounds among hacks in London telling how Ainsworth left his mobile phone in the dressingroom in recent weeks and when he returned at half-time, found 62 missed calls.
- These tales tend to gather detail and volume as they travel around the press boxes but even if there was one missed call, it wouldn't augur well for an easy relationship with the next man, especially at a club which changes managers as often as a race car needs tires.
- That's why it's hard to figure why Keane would be interested -- if indeed he is. Some in London believe that an agreement is already in place with a new manager who will be named in June but can't decide whether it's Dennis Wise or the Corkman.
- It looks like a job that could rapidly descend into conflict even if it does carry the promise of a bankroll to invest in serious talent and while Keane is big enough and man enough to fight his corner, the last thing he needs on his next step in management is a short and acrimonious spell working under powerful men with egos as big as his own. - Paul Hyland - Evening Herald (Ireland)