Post by QPR Report on Oct 10, 2009 7:17:58 GMT
Name the last THREE QPR managers to be in charge of QPR for 100 games (I can think of one; and possibly the second. Now the third...)
Football League
IRVINE'S A SURPRISE CENTURION
Preston North End Manager Alan Irvine may not be on millionaire's row at Deepdale, but he is - to his surprise - set to become a centurion.
Irvine's 100th game as the Lilywhites' boss will be their next Coca-Cola Championship home fixture, against Sheffield Wednesday, following the visit to Queens Park Rangers immediately after the current international break.
"I wouldn't have thought I'd had that many games in charge here," said Irvine when told of his impending landmark. "How time flies," he added, "but I'm delighted to be approaching the 100-game mark.
"It kind of justifies the decision I made in the first place to come here from Everton, where I'd got probably as safe a job (assistant to manager David Moyes) as you could hope to have in football, and it also hopefully justifies the choice I made when there were possibilities I had to think about in the summer."
The "possibilities" that Irvine had to think about during the close season included taking the managerial vacancy at West Bromwich Albion, where previous boss Tony Mowbray had departed and was eventually replaced by Roberto di Matteo.
Albion, just relegated from the Premiership, are a more moneyed club than Preston and Irvine admitted: "People had said I was foolish to leave Everton and they said the same thing about me turning down West Brom.
"The Championship is not financially a level playing field and West Brom are a club with greater resources than Preston. But I thought long and hard about it, made my decision - and I don't regret decisions after I've taken them."
His decision taken, Irvine went into the new campaign with the aim of at least matching last term's achievement of guiding Preston to the Play-Offs.
They went out at the semi-final stage to Sheffield United but, disappointing though that may have been, a top six finish was quite a feat only 18 months after Irvine had taken over with the Lilywhites bottom-but-one and staring relegation in the face.
Now his team have made a good start to the new season, taking 19 points from their first 11 games and sitting fifth in the table as they pause for the international break.
"We've got to be reasonably satisfied so far," said Irvine. "Our form's been pretty good and we're in a nice position, but this is a really tough division that will be extremely competitive right to the end.
"When I sat down with my staff before the start of the season we talked about the teams who would be expecting to be challenging for automatic promotion or the Play-Offs, and we counted 16 clubs that could be competing for six places - that's how competitive the Championship is.
"There's a lot of clubs who it will be difficult to finish above, but I believe our players will continue working as hard as they have up to now - and if we carry on performing at the level we've been at, we'll be capable of competing at the top end of the table."
www.football-league.co.uk/championship/news/irvines-a-surprise-centurion-20091008_2248204_1820758
Football League
IRVINE'S A SURPRISE CENTURION
Preston North End Manager Alan Irvine may not be on millionaire's row at Deepdale, but he is - to his surprise - set to become a centurion.
Irvine's 100th game as the Lilywhites' boss will be their next Coca-Cola Championship home fixture, against Sheffield Wednesday, following the visit to Queens Park Rangers immediately after the current international break.
"I wouldn't have thought I'd had that many games in charge here," said Irvine when told of his impending landmark. "How time flies," he added, "but I'm delighted to be approaching the 100-game mark.
"It kind of justifies the decision I made in the first place to come here from Everton, where I'd got probably as safe a job (assistant to manager David Moyes) as you could hope to have in football, and it also hopefully justifies the choice I made when there were possibilities I had to think about in the summer."
The "possibilities" that Irvine had to think about during the close season included taking the managerial vacancy at West Bromwich Albion, where previous boss Tony Mowbray had departed and was eventually replaced by Roberto di Matteo.
Albion, just relegated from the Premiership, are a more moneyed club than Preston and Irvine admitted: "People had said I was foolish to leave Everton and they said the same thing about me turning down West Brom.
"The Championship is not financially a level playing field and West Brom are a club with greater resources than Preston. But I thought long and hard about it, made my decision - and I don't regret decisions after I've taken them."
His decision taken, Irvine went into the new campaign with the aim of at least matching last term's achievement of guiding Preston to the Play-Offs.
They went out at the semi-final stage to Sheffield United but, disappointing though that may have been, a top six finish was quite a feat only 18 months after Irvine had taken over with the Lilywhites bottom-but-one and staring relegation in the face.
Now his team have made a good start to the new season, taking 19 points from their first 11 games and sitting fifth in the table as they pause for the international break.
"We've got to be reasonably satisfied so far," said Irvine. "Our form's been pretty good and we're in a nice position, but this is a really tough division that will be extremely competitive right to the end.
"When I sat down with my staff before the start of the season we talked about the teams who would be expecting to be challenging for automatic promotion or the Play-Offs, and we counted 16 clubs that could be competing for six places - that's how competitive the Championship is.
"There's a lot of clubs who it will be difficult to finish above, but I believe our players will continue working as hard as they have up to now - and if we carry on performing at the level we've been at, we'll be capable of competing at the top end of the table."
www.football-league.co.uk/championship/news/irvines-a-surprise-centurion-20091008_2248204_1820758