Post by Roller on Mar 29, 2015 6:18:22 GMT
Interview with Steve Stammers in the Mirror, no revelations.....
www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/les-ferdinand-qpr-havent-produced-5418590
Les Ferdinand: QPR haven't produced a player for 16 years... we just give veterans one final payday
The Rangers director of football tells Steve Stammers that the culture at Loftus Road must change for the good of the club
Les Ferdinand pauses, takes a sip of coffee and then offers the name of the Queens Park Rangers player who has proved to be irreplaceable.
âRichard Langley,â said the man whose task now is to re-shape Rangers back into the kind of club where he made his name â along with the likes of Gerry Francis, Dave Clement, Ian Gillard and the Allen brothers Bradley and Clive.
Richard Langley? âI will tell you why he is Âimportant,â said ÂFerdinand, now the Director of ÂFootball Operations at Loftus Road.
âHe was the last player to be a first-team regular who came through the youth system at Rangers,â said Ferdinand who himself made his name at QPR after starting his career at non-league Southall and then Hayes.
âThe last player â and that was 16 years ago. That cannot be right.â
Langley, now 35 and last seen playing for Staines Town, will hardly go down in the Hall of Fame at Shepherdâs Bush.
He had a decent enough career at Loftus Road playing 166 games and scoring 21 goals from midfield. He also played 17 times for Jamaica. But to Ferdinand, he is a hugely important figure.
âWhat Rangers used to be able to offer was a chance to young players â the opportunity to play first-team football much sooner than maybe at the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.
âIt was a big selling point for the club. But that isnât the case any more and I want to bring that thinking back into the club.
âThis was my first professional club and I played for England when I was here.
âAnd you look at players like the late Alan McDonald, Andy Impey and Wayne Fereday who came through the youth system. We have to get back to that.â
In more recent years, the clubâs philosophy had changed. âIt has gone full circle now,â said Ferdinand.
âIt is a club that pays loads out in wages.
âQPR was an attraction for players coming to the end of their careers, and they got one more pay day.
âThat is not the playersâ fault but that was what was allowed to happen.â
Ferdinand was originally brought in as Head of Football Operations last October by owner Tony Fernandes â a fan of ÂFerdinand from the days when âSir Lesâ was the star turn at Loftus Road and Fernandes , as a student, lived on the Uxbridge Road.
He wanted to see the man he idolised brought back, and had seen Ferdinand running a hugely successful Âdevelopment squad with Tim Sherwood at Tottenham until last summer.
Ferdinand made it clear that he did not want to usurp the authority of manager Harry Redknapp. âI wasnât coming in ahead of him, I was coming to work with him.â
But the start of the pairâs working Ârelationship was not the best.
â[Redknapp] came out publicly and said it was a stupid title,â Ferdinand said.
He immediately went to see the manager. âI asked if he had a problem with me and he insisted he didnât. He just thought it was a stupid title. I said there was no reason to say it was stupid. Thinking back, I think it was him just flexing his muscles. Saying âI am in chargeâ.â
Ferdinandâs brief clearly Âencompasses more than the first team. âI am at the training ground in Harlington every day, I meet with the scouts, I speak with agents and watch DVD clips of players recommended to us.
âAnd, of course, I attend all our games â home and away.â
There was a recent home game, however, Ferdinand may now wish he had missed.
And there was an incident which belied his laid-back image. He was less than impressed with the performance of referee Craig Pawson in the 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham and let the official know in no uncertain terms what he thought. That has just cost him ÂŁ12,000 in a fine from the FA.
That defeat added to the Âproblems for a team with a wage bill that Ferdinand described as âastonishingâ.
âYou know, a few years back I went on an LMA course in Warwick and one of the aspects was finance.
âWage bills were equated to a clubâs league position. It was uncanny how accurate it was â the more they spent, the higher they were in the table. But where QPR are in the league, and what we are paying, are nowhere near each other.â
Redknapp left at the end of January. âLetâs get it right, the club did not get rid of Harry,â Ferdinand said. âHe decided himself that it was time to go.â
That left Rangers with a problem. âThe window was shut. No players could come in. Should we go for experience? We had one of the most experienced managers in the league and look at the position weâre in.
âTim Sherwood â a good friend of mine â was of course discussed but Aston Villa got there first.â
It was decided Chris Ramsey would work with the players.
Ferdinand said: âThe feedback the owners got was good so he is in charge until the end of the season.â
But can Rangers survive? âYes,â said Ferdinand, with no hesitation.
âI was in this same position at the club back in 1991. We looked doomed. Don Howe was the manager and our first choice strikers â Colin Clarke, Roy Wegerle and Mark Falco â were injured.
âMe and Bradley Allen were the strikers and we won 2-1 at Luton.
âThat started a run and we stayed up. It gave us belief â and we need that belief among the players here now. We can do it, I am convinced.â
www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/les-ferdinand-qpr-havent-produced-5418590
Les Ferdinand: QPR haven't produced a player for 16 years... we just give veterans one final payday
The Rangers director of football tells Steve Stammers that the culture at Loftus Road must change for the good of the club
Les Ferdinand pauses, takes a sip of coffee and then offers the name of the Queens Park Rangers player who has proved to be irreplaceable.
âRichard Langley,â said the man whose task now is to re-shape Rangers back into the kind of club where he made his name â along with the likes of Gerry Francis, Dave Clement, Ian Gillard and the Allen brothers Bradley and Clive.
Richard Langley? âI will tell you why he is Âimportant,â said ÂFerdinand, now the Director of ÂFootball Operations at Loftus Road.
âHe was the last player to be a first-team regular who came through the youth system at Rangers,â said Ferdinand who himself made his name at QPR after starting his career at non-league Southall and then Hayes.
âThe last player â and that was 16 years ago. That cannot be right.â
Langley, now 35 and last seen playing for Staines Town, will hardly go down in the Hall of Fame at Shepherdâs Bush.
He had a decent enough career at Loftus Road playing 166 games and scoring 21 goals from midfield. He also played 17 times for Jamaica. But to Ferdinand, he is a hugely important figure.
âWhat Rangers used to be able to offer was a chance to young players â the opportunity to play first-team football much sooner than maybe at the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.
âIt was a big selling point for the club. But that isnât the case any more and I want to bring that thinking back into the club.
âThis was my first professional club and I played for England when I was here.
âAnd you look at players like the late Alan McDonald, Andy Impey and Wayne Fereday who came through the youth system. We have to get back to that.â
In more recent years, the clubâs philosophy had changed. âIt has gone full circle now,â said Ferdinand.
âIt is a club that pays loads out in wages.
âQPR was an attraction for players coming to the end of their careers, and they got one more pay day.
âThat is not the playersâ fault but that was what was allowed to happen.â
Ferdinand was originally brought in as Head of Football Operations last October by owner Tony Fernandes â a fan of ÂFerdinand from the days when âSir Lesâ was the star turn at Loftus Road and Fernandes , as a student, lived on the Uxbridge Road.
He wanted to see the man he idolised brought back, and had seen Ferdinand running a hugely successful Âdevelopment squad with Tim Sherwood at Tottenham until last summer.
Ferdinand made it clear that he did not want to usurp the authority of manager Harry Redknapp. âI wasnât coming in ahead of him, I was coming to work with him.â
But the start of the pairâs working Ârelationship was not the best.
â[Redknapp] came out publicly and said it was a stupid title,â Ferdinand said.
He immediately went to see the manager. âI asked if he had a problem with me and he insisted he didnât. He just thought it was a stupid title. I said there was no reason to say it was stupid. Thinking back, I think it was him just flexing his muscles. Saying âI am in chargeâ.â
Ferdinandâs brief clearly Âencompasses more than the first team. âI am at the training ground in Harlington every day, I meet with the scouts, I speak with agents and watch DVD clips of players recommended to us.
âAnd, of course, I attend all our games â home and away.â
There was a recent home game, however, Ferdinand may now wish he had missed.
And there was an incident which belied his laid-back image. He was less than impressed with the performance of referee Craig Pawson in the 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham and let the official know in no uncertain terms what he thought. That has just cost him ÂŁ12,000 in a fine from the FA.
That defeat added to the Âproblems for a team with a wage bill that Ferdinand described as âastonishingâ.
âYou know, a few years back I went on an LMA course in Warwick and one of the aspects was finance.
âWage bills were equated to a clubâs league position. It was uncanny how accurate it was â the more they spent, the higher they were in the table. But where QPR are in the league, and what we are paying, are nowhere near each other.â
Redknapp left at the end of January. âLetâs get it right, the club did not get rid of Harry,â Ferdinand said. âHe decided himself that it was time to go.â
That left Rangers with a problem. âThe window was shut. No players could come in. Should we go for experience? We had one of the most experienced managers in the league and look at the position weâre in.
âTim Sherwood â a good friend of mine â was of course discussed but Aston Villa got there first.â
It was decided Chris Ramsey would work with the players.
Ferdinand said: âThe feedback the owners got was good so he is in charge until the end of the season.â
But can Rangers survive? âYes,â said Ferdinand, with no hesitation.
âI was in this same position at the club back in 1991. We looked doomed. Don Howe was the manager and our first choice strikers â Colin Clarke, Roy Wegerle and Mark Falco â were injured.
âMe and Bradley Allen were the strikers and we won 2-1 at Luton.
âThat started a run and we stayed up. It gave us belief â and we need that belief among the players here now. We can do it, I am convinced.â