Bump up...Just interesting to reread from May 2008.
Happy we got Warnock over Dowie, but clear that Dowie knew what he was doing (as did Holloway; as did Sousa...)
Iain Dowie's first press conference - full transcript
LFWWednesday 21 May 2008 by Clive WhittinghamIain Dowie has been speaking to the media for the first time since becoming manager of QPR.
Clearly weāre all familiar with Dowie the player, after watching him at Loftus Road, Dowie the coach, after his time with QPR during which he had a caretaker spell as well as serving as assistant manager, and Dowie the manager, after facing his Oldham side in some monumental battles in League One. Everything weāve heard and seen about him in the past shines through in this interview for me ā emphasis on competitiveness, fitness, organisation, high tempo etc etc. With due respect to Luigi De Canio we lacked a number of these things last season, particularly away from home where we only won four times and, looking back on the season now from the comfort of the summer, blew a criminal amount of leads and point winning positions.
Dowieās teams are known for being direct, but not unattractive, and if he can marry this high tempo, high fitness, ultra competitive stuff up with the attractive football, style and attacking play that Luigi De Canio brought in then we could have one hell of a team. The fear is that he replaces all of that rather than trying to blend the two. Weāll see though, thatās a debate for another time.
Youāll forgive me, or perhaps you wonāt, for not quite hearing some of the questions but the answers are all there.
How has the move to QPR come about, how was the club sold to you?
Itās terrific to be back, Iām excited about the challenge and very much looking forward to getting out on the training ground come 30 June. I had a very positive meeting both Gianni and Mr Briatore and I think whatās refreshing about them is they want to do it in the right way. They want to build a club the proper way with good foundations and I think theyāve done that since they came to the club it hasnāt gone, they havenāt come in and spent ridiculous money and thatās the right way to go about it.
When did you first hear there might be an interest in you?
I got a phone call asking if I could come and have a chat with Gianni which went well and then we had a further chat when Mr Briatore came and that went well. Then a day or so later we got to a situation where we talked turkey and they said theyād like me to do that and obviously I was only too happy to accept that. Thereās a lot of good people who arenāt in work, itās a very good job, thereās a lot of excellent managers not in work so I think sometimes you have always got to be thankful that you are in work. You sometimes forget that, you can reel off a list of notable names who arenāt in work. Iām very excited by the challenge, itās a big one, but nonetheless itās a club thatās ambitious.
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Do you think your status here as a former player and assistant manager helped?
Yeh I think so, I was incredibly fortunate in my time here. I came in under Ray Harford, the late great Ray Harford, who must have seen something in me because he signed me as a player for Luton and then on my first day here he made me take the forwards in a coaching session. I came as a player, I had no inkling of that, then I took the reserves and had a little brief spell as a caretaker and was then very, very fortunate to work with Gerry who came in and kept me as assistant and it was a wonderful learning curve. I have an enormous amount of time for him. So I did my apprentership here in terms of coaching, Iād always been interested in it but this is where I cut my teeth. They had good players at the time like John Spencer and some good characters as well who would have something to say if you werenāt on your metal so it was a good grounding and something I really enjoyed.
Were you surprised to get the call given the names that were linked with this job ā the likes of Zinedine Zidane for example?
I always think that we are somewhat remiss in England in that we donāt quite judge what we have in this country, I think we have a lot of good coaches and a lot of good managers in this country. Sure, Zinedine Zidane has been one of the greatest players thereās ever been and I understand about that, in terms of the profile of the club and the profile of the owners they are going to be linked with that but I think even Zinedine Zidane would want to have an experience of learning his way and learning the ropes like they all do. You very rarely find a great Italian player going straight in at AC Milan, it just doesnāt happen, they learn their trade and they have to go through the proper procedures, itās mandatory there. They certainly do it the right way. I canāt affect who was linked with the job, all I can affect is Iām delighted to have been asked to come and take this challenge on.
You say itās a steady process so does that mean we can expect more signings like Radek Cerny rather than a really big name signing this summer?
I think itās a case of the right player at the right time, I donāt think this squad needs a massive amount of alteration. Clearly there are one or two issues Iād like to address and they will stay with me and the rest of the staff but I do think you have to be thoughtful about this. You want to bring in some people who will not only get you towards the upper echelons of this division and maybe out of it but also looking towards the future. Itās very important to get the young element, I think thatās the way to build it. I donāt think you can come in āshort termā, I canāt do it I donāt think itās the way to run a club. It may work for a short hit but it can lead to a lot of problems, I think you have to take a long term approach.
After your last two jobs, are you keen to settle down for the long haul here?
The Charlton thing was a difficult scenario. I had great times there, a friend of mine was saying to me the other day that my win percentage while I was there was 33%, I won five out of 15 games. But that can happen, Iāve no axe to grind, I had great times there and I wouldnāt have changed it looking back with hindsight. Coventry, I think I had a 41% win percentage there and Tony Mowbray got a new deal on that earlier in the year.
It was a bizarre thing for me because we went through a very difficult period with transfer embargoes, zero money to spend, people not being paid. We kept them up the season before, weād gone to Man Utd and won, Blackburn and won, if weād won again we would have been in the quarter final of the FA Cup, I think Iād signed two of the best players coming into the Championship in Fox and Danns so much so that theyāre in the Under 21s now so Iād stand by my record there, particularly with signings ā Leon Best we bought for Ā£600k/Ā£700k and they had a Ā£2m bid from Forest turned down. The decision at Coventry came after a change o owner and that can happen but Iāve had virtually every Coventry player wish me success so that says something about my time there. Iāve always believed in long term and I wanted to be there longer, I never envisaged spending such a short amount of time at both clubs so yes hopefully this will be a sizeable amount longer than it was there.
Obviously everybody wants to manage in the Premiership and you want to test yourself there, everybody is aware of the wealth at QPR, how soon are you hoping to test yourself again in the Premiership?
Obviously as soon as I can, weāre not coming into this season not expecting to be very competitive. I think itās foolish to set targets, we got relegated with Palace and everybody said we were favourites to go straight back up. That we made the play offs the following season was no small achievement if you look at Watford this year and look at Charlton who didnāt get in it. Come first game of the season I want us to be very competitive and I want us then to continue, I donāt think thereās any point in looking any further. Weāve got to make sure that this club is very, very competitive ā the fabulous wealth that surrounds it, well they havenāt got that by being foolish with their money, they understand about building businesses and thatās exactly what it is, itās about building a business. Thereās been a lot of times at QPR that have been difficult times, now itās about slow progress but I will be very surprised if weāre not competitive this year.
The owners have said maybe top five in three years, have you been given assurances that this is the time you will be given?
Listen, Iām no naĆÆve enough to think this is not a pressurised job. Itās run by very successful people who want success and thatās what Iām here to do, Iām not here to not bring success, so my assurances are I have a two year deal and Iāll do the best I can in that time. Hopefully weāll continue on that programme and if weāre in the Premier League in two years then great and thatās what weāll aim to do. At the moment my aim is to get the squad very, very competitive, and certainly improve on the finish last year and I think weāre very capable of doing that but as I say I donāt see, with one or two additions to the squad, any reason why we canāt be amongst the real challenging sides this year.
One of the reasons QPR have bought you here is because you know how to get success in the Championship. Can you outline how you go about managing teams at this level?
I think there are lots of ways of doing it. My way of doing it is getting the ball down and passing it. If you can dominate possession as much as you can, you generally win 80% of your games. Europe is a little bit different and that can change a little bit ā I remember seeing Bayer Leverkusen at Arsenal at Highbury where Bayer Leverkusen had 64% of possession and got beaten 4-0 or 4-1 by Arsenal. So thatās a little bit different but weāll play the passing way, youāve got to have pace and power in the team, and youāve got to have a goal threat. I think creativity is important, natural width in the team is important and the record is youāve got to try and concede less than one a game and score more than two. You look at the successful sides and thatās generally the rule, it may sound contrary because you think āoh you concede less than one and score more than two youāre going to win every gameā but I mean throughout the season thatās the rule.
You said there was a lot of what you want in place here already but there were one or two areas that needed to be addressedā¦
Iāll bring what I think is important. Thereās no question the tempo of my training is very high, I like to train as I play so the tempo of the training is something I address. I will never come into a club and criticise anybody that has been here before by the way, I think that is remiss of anyone and I have met Luigi De Canio and found him to be a very, very decent man who knew his football so I would never criticise him, but I will impose my way and thatās high tempo training, weāll be organised, weāll be disciplined. There are one or two areas that need strengthening. Iāll identify them but to talk about them would be remiss when I havenāt spent one day training with the lads yet so thatās something I wouldnāt do. As and when we sign players youāll see what I think we need.
Over the past couple of years this club has signed players on loan and worked quite closely with Chelsea, is that something youāll be looking to continue?
I think it was Graham Turner who was heavily criticised at Hereford for using the loan market and I couldnāt understand that. The market heās in is the market heās in. Clearly you need to be able to use that and use it well. Hull have used it well with Fraiser Campbell, to ignore that would be silly. Certainly the Premiership reserve league is something you need to pay very close heed to, particularly with the size of squads now. I would hope [the link with Chelsea] would very much continue.
Is your job first team coach or manager? Is your job going to be overseeing the club or very much based totally on the training ground?
Well Iāll be managing the football side of it for sure, the contract I got said manager but itās just names for me. A chap down stairs asked āwhat do I call you?ā and I have to say I donāt care what you call me, itās not an issue as far as Iām concerned. Iām here to run the football side of it. The other people are much more expertise in running the media side of it like Ian or the business side like Flavio and Gianni, thatās what they will do. My job is about picking the team, the tactics, organising the training, the diet, those are the things I do and organising the day to day running of the club down here [at the training ground] and thatās getting to be a bigger and bigger job but one that Iāve always embraced. I think there is good character here, the people I know around the squad are good characters and thatās very important.
In some of your previous job you were a little hamstrung financially and thatās not quite the case here, do you think thereās more pressure because youāre not hamstrung like that?
Itās always the way. If anybody doesnāt think this is a pressurised job should look around in the world and look at my recent times in this job. Itās a pressurised job. Thatās the madness, many people have asked me why but itās āin youā. Iāve come the non-league route through my playing career, football is a love of mine. I loved Harryās [Redknapp] comment āwhat would I do without footballā and thatās exactly the case with me.
Will there be major transfer activity this summer?
I donāt think it will be major, I think there will be some and weāve got to be very thoughtful. Hopefully there will be one or two who are very good for the club and thatās very important. I donāt think personally itās the right thing to go and spend millions and millions at this stage where QPR are.
The aim is obviously promotion to the Premier League, are you going to be looking to players who have achieved that already?
Iām going to look for hungry players. I always think players who have achieved that, thatās great, but are they comfortable where they are? I like hungry players who come and want to work as hard as they can and are prepared to be leaders. Men who want to come in and be a part of what weāre about and add their strength of character to it. Any successful side has a lot of strong characters in it ā young players who are driven, players whoāve seen it and done it, I think itās important to get a balance of all.
Can a club of QPRās size and stature expect to move forward and make an impact on the now established order of things?
Well, I think thereās no reason why they cannot compete at that level. As Iāve always said the plan is to get to a situation where youāre in there and then there has to be an infrastructure to allow you to compete on a long term basis. Thatās for people more learned than me to deal with, Iāve got to make sure weāre in the shake up. But of course they can, I mean look at Fulham. Fulham have been in there and stayed in there, I played at Fulham when I first signed for Luton in 89 and there were two or three thousand there, now look at them, theyāre competing in the Premier League and ruffling a few feathers, alright not competing in the upper echelons but certainly competing and it is a very fine balance doing that. No question given the right circumstance QPR can compete at that level.
Youāre not depressed by this cycle of teams going up and down, particularly teams going up through the play offs?
No. I know what you mean but I think itās exciting. I would do it different from how I did it last time. When you look at it we got 33/34 points which wasnāt a bad effort given what we spent but Iād do things differently. I probably made mistakes back then, I maybe tried to change things too much rather than basing myself on the side that got us up there unlike Steve Coppell last year who went with basically the side that got them there and then this year they didnāt change things quite enough. Itās very exciting though, itās a great challenge, every game is an occasion and thereās no question when you look in the premier League there are teams in there that QPR can more than compete with in terms of history and stature.
When you left QPR last time you were disappointed not to have been given a chance as manager. Was it always in the back of your mind to come back?
I did two games here initially, I think Grimsby at home and Wolves away when Ray left. I was fortunate enough that we got our first away win in 18 months up at Wolves 2-1. It was a God send for me when Gerry came in because I wasnāt ready. I loved the job at the time but I was very wet behind the ears. The second time when Gerry left I thought I had a chance but Ian came in and he had plans for his own people and thatās absolutely right and I get on well with Ian. As soon as they made the decision that Ian was the man no problem, you move on thatās life. Before Ian came in I would have liked the job but it didnāt happen, now it has so maybe a little bit later than I imagined but Iām just delighted to be here.
Do you think the way to get out of the Championship is, perhaps āA-listā isnāt the best way to go?
Thereās no reason why you cannot do A list, I think theyāve got one or two A list players in this division in the squad already in my opinion. A list players will always be linked with the profile and the personality of the people that run the club ā stories are going to be written, and you canāt change that. Weāre going to have links with players as famous as Figo and nobody is going to stop people writing that. My view is that if the right players is available and he fits with our criteria then whoever he is whether he be A list, B list, or C list as long as heās hungry and wants to achieve then thatās the key element. You have to look no further than tomorrow nightās game, at Giggs and Scholes. Theyāve achieved everything there is to achieve in the game but you cannot tell me theyāre not hungry. Thatās winners, thatās what the best players are. I donāt see a better centre half in the world than Rio Ferdinand and look how heās developed, heās changed himself over the years, heās now the consummate player. Good professional players, be the A list or B list, are always welcome at this club thatās for sure.
It must have been a frustrating period for you not being in management, how have you been feeling over the last year or so?
Clearly I had an opportunity to go two ways when I went to Coventry and chose one way, but I think Iāve found that itās much easier to talk about the game and write about it than actually do it. Iāve been a pundit for a little while and Iāve rarely made a mistake, Iād never have made a substitution that was wrong, but itās amazing how it happens. Iāve been on a sideline I remember with Lee Duxbury, classic old pro at Oldham, weāre getting beaten 1-0 by Plymouth despite dominating, a most one sided 1-0 weāre getting beaten, minutes to go in the game and I said to Lee Duxbury warm up. He was the club captain at the time and just coming back from injury, as he got up he said to me āgaffer, donāt forget youāve already made three subs.ā
Your mind can go sometimes, you canāt be afraid to laugh at yourself sometimes, but this is a very serious game for me in terms of doing it properly, getting in, making sure the staff are organised, weāre disciplined, weāre very organised, the coaching is organised. When the lads come in here on June 30 this place will be a football club. There will be everything associated with that in terms of all the aids helping them to be better players and they will know their programme for the first week through every hour and every minute.
Weāre going to be organised and disciplined, and thatās going to be an exciting time. Canāt wait for it to happen. Youāve got to evolve, if you stand still in football, if I was still doing the same drills I was doing at Oldham youād lose yourself. Youāve got to evolve and broaden your horizons, it has given me a chance to read about different people in different sports and try and develop the mind and make sure I stay young, and fresh and new. You have to redefine yourself every session, not every year.
You were seen as one of the brightest young managers in the country at Palace, things have gone slightly awry since, do you see this as a chance to restore that reputation?
Itās a wondrous gift to see you as others see you. People have a conception of what I am or who I am and I would always temper that with āwell have they seen me coach?ā Thatās where I think my strength is on the coaching field and the feedback from the players is that they enjoy it. I think your point is valid and Iāve got to try and make sure I am back up there as one of the brightest and most up and coming coaches in the country. Thatās the job, you come in, youāre aware of it, you understand it ā it shouldnāt mean you make knee jerk reactions, youāve got to contemplate long and hard your decisions, you mellow as you get older in terms of your decision making but the passion is always there, it wonāt stop me ranting and raving thatās my nature.
Do you think this might be your last chance o make it as a manager?
Iāve certainly not come here thinking itās my last chance, Iām only 43 years old, a young looking 43, but I donāt think like that. I think thatās the modern world where people love to be negative, Iām not a negative person, people want to write negative stories and I donāt understand that but itās just the way we are. People want to write about poor stories, they donāt want to write about the positive things and thatās not my nature. I donāt come into games to make sure we donāt get beaten and thatās my thesis in life, I want to be positive with it. Iāve had one or two things in my life that have changed my mind, changed my philosophy, my Dad dying was one my Mum being terminally ill at the moment is another, so if you see her spirit and desire to be nice and bright and awake for when her grand children come in trust me youād be a positive person.
I have to say I canāt stand the negativity thatās around it at the moment, you lose a game and youāre a villain, you win one and youāre a hero. My job is to bring the smiles to QPR, I feel the same as the supporters ā they want to come and enjoy football and they want to win, but they want to win playing well, I think we want to win playing stylish football, Iāve always tried to do that and Iāve never tried to play any other way and Iāll be judged on that. If that means itās my last chance then that will be for other people to say.
How is your Mother Iain?
Itās just very recently, we had her up a few weeks ago and itās come very suddenly. Sheās been without my Dad for ten years and I think thatās long enough for her. Itās difficult, you see the wonder in people how they cope and weāve spent some time dealing with that over the past two weeks. One thing you do realise is how much worse some people have it than you, when you walk into a hospital or somewhere like that, itās a levelling experience. Itās another challenge and weāre coping with that, the house has become a mini-hospital, Iām now expert in all the things that go with medicine and the delivering drugs. The wonderful thing is her spirit lives through, he spirit is effervescent it doesnāt change. Iām very fortunate to have the parents Iāve had whatever happens, however long sheās in this world for my childhood couldnāt have been better and if Iām half the parent they are then Iāve done well.
When you were here under Ray Harford you spent a brief time playing with Vinny Jones. Did you learn a lot about how not to coach players from Vinny?
I think thatās a very harsh statement Paul, Iāve got a lot of time for Vinny. Vinny was brought in here for a purpose and I believe that and Vinny will tell you the same. Vinny was a motivator and to be fair thatās the way Ray wanted it ā me to do a little bit of the coaching and Vinny to do that. What I would say about Vinny is he made the most of what he had and continues to do so in whatever he does and Iāve always had a lot of time for him. We got on very well, we had a few punch ups on the playing field, but he was a character. For me it was interesting because he came as the assistant and I was the coach and it was all about how I handled somebody who was above me in the food chain so it was a learning curve for me. I think heās enjoying what heās doing now, itās less pressurised. I love my choice, much as Iām a movie buff I donāt see me starring in the 3.10 to Hiroshima much as Iād like to. Iām delighted heās doing well and Iām happy where I am, Iāve felt itās my calling in life, Iāve always felt that.
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