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Post by QPR Report on Oct 16, 2009 6:45:20 GMT
October 16, 1998 - QPR Official Site- FRANCIS BACK HOME
QUEENS PARK RANGERS today announced that Gerry Francis has been appointed the club's new Director of Football. Chairman Chris Wright confirmed that Francis would take up the position immediately.
Francis who sent more than 17 years at Queens Park Rangers, both as manager and player, has been appointed on a three year contract and fills the gap left recently by Ray Harford who resigned on September 28th.
Francis, who has been out of football since leaving Spurs a year ago, said of his new appointment:"I'm delighted to be back at Loftus Road. I spent many happy and successful years here and it's great to be home again. Although there is a major job ahead, I believe the club has huge potential and I look forward to the challenge."
Welcoming Francis back to Loftus Road, Chris Wright said "It is great to have Gerry back. We chose him because of his proven track record and significantly, his achievements as a manager. This talent, coupled with his strong emotional commitment to the club, is a combination we beleive is impossible to find elsewhere."
Iain Dowie, who took over as caretaker manager following Harford's departure last month, has been appointed player/coach working alongside Francis.
Francis' will attend QPR's league fixture at Huddersfield tomorrow, but Dowie, who has been preparing the team for this tough game, will remain in charge in his role as caretaker manager.
QPR Official Site - October 16, 1998 FRANCIS BACK HOME
NEW RANGERS manager Gerry Francis has spoken about his decision to come back to Rangers and is prepared for the cahallenges ahead.
Francis, the fans top choice to succeed Ray Harford, was installed on Friday afternoon at Loftus Road and is pleased to be back again at the club that nurtured his prestigious career.
"I'm pleased to be back, but I know what a challenge it is and I've committed myself to the situation and now I have to see if I can pull QPR back to where I left it."
"There is no money to spend on players, but I knew this when I came on and you can't hide behind those things, I put my reputation on the line and it's up to me to sort it out."
"I've gone into this sort of situation before, Tottenham at ten months bristol Rovers was dire I had to lend them money to buy players. It's a difficiult situation but you've got to be positive."
In 11 months I've turned down 12 opportunites flat to go back into the game, it was only my love and concern for QPR that let me to talk to Chris Wright. I was shocked when I found out the bottom line, and I had several other meetings but I in the end I decided to take it - I know Chris will say I did that with hy heart rather than my head, and he's probably right but we'll have to see how things go. We've got to get up the league and build a team that can get us promotion to the premeir league, because that's where I want to be. I want to show my commitment to the club and I'm prepared to buy in on the share side of it and try and change things around.. What I'll be working for is to try and improve that and on the field as well. Certainly we can't carry on with the current financial situation, that has to be turned around. The likes of the Gallen's, Quashie's and Dichio's that I lef there when i left have to be brought through again because they are vital to the club because we have no money to buy players.
QPR Official Site - October 15, 1998 WRIGHT GETS HIS MAN
RANGERS Chairman Chris Wright is delighted Gerry Francis accepted his offer to return to Loftus Road.
Mr Wright spoke to the Rangers Official Website about the behind the scenes negotiations and said he was brutally honest with Francis about what he would be coming into.
"We had a lot of meetings and a lot of talking, I had to explain the full situation here to Gerry. I didn't want to bring him in here and then him find any surprises about the financial position we're in or the players we've got here. There's not going to be any nasty surprises because for him he knows enough about it already."
"I first met him when he was manager here four or five years ago and there was talk about the Thompson family seloling the club and we had conversations at the time about whether I could come in and take over the club and take it forward while he was still manager. Obviously in retrospect it's a great shame that those talks never came to anything becuase it's a great shame that Gerry Francis ever left the club in the first place."
And a year later:
QPR Official Site - October 15, 1999
GERRY REFLECTS
BOSS Gerry Francis celebrates his first anniversary since returning to the club as Rangers prepare for Saturday's trip to Ipswich.
Gerry has some interesting comments on his eventful first year back in charge.
He says: "A year? It's been more like 10 years!! It's been hard work to say the least. Obviously, there is a lot more work to do as our Plc results showed a week ago. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that QPR have a future.
"I think we have turned certain corners and certain things we have done have been not bad. The players are responding well this season.
"It deflates everyone a little bit to see the amount of financial losses that were announced. But I think - without a shadow of doubt - the club is much better off and in a much better position now than it was a year ago.
"That's mainly due to the planning consent given for selling the rugby training ground. That consent was refused this time last year and it was a very worrying position and a very worrying time, so there's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and we've just got to make it even brighter if we can over the next year or so."
Team news - Rangers are hoping Lee Harper will be fit, otherwise there are contingency plans to bring another keeper in on loan. Jermaine Darlington (back/hamstring) and Matthew Rose(lingering virus) are doubtful.
And the articles
Francis' first game back, QPR lost 0-2 at Huddersfield: Miklosko, Barraclough Ready, Rose, Maddix Murray, Breaker, Barker, Peacock, Morrow, Sheron, Gallen - Subs: Slade, Scully, Rowland.
Independent/October 17, 1998 - Football: Francis reveals ambition on return to QPR- GERRY FRANCIS has promised an end to "First Division mediocrity" after returning to Queen's Park Rangers for his second spell in charge.
- Francis, appointed both manager and director of football at Loftus Road, was in ebullient mood as he outlined his plans for the future. "Although I'm not setting any targets, I'm not here to keep this club in First Division mediocrity," he said. "QPR should be in the Premiership and in time that's where we intend to be."
- The west London club's chairman, Chris Wright, took the opportunity to apologise to the fans for "past mistakes", but claimed the club has now turned the corner with the appointment of Francis as Ray Harford's replacement. "I don't think this club has been very well run for several years," Wright said. "Before we came in it was run very badly and we've made lots of mistakes. But I have brought in Gerry Francis and he has blue-and-white- hooped blood. He lives and breathes QPR. He is an absolutely top-class manager."
- Francis, a QPR player, captain and manager over a period of 17 years, has signed a contract for the remainder of this season and for two more years. He added: "Over the past 11 months I've turned down flat 12 offers of work. If it hadn't been QPR who came in, I'd still be out of the game but I've got a soft spot for this club." ...Francis' tough start, page 29 -
Telegraph/Christopher Davies - October 17, 1998 - Francis returns to direct QPR's fight for survival- IT was like This Is Your Life at Loftus Road yesterday, with a video of Gerry Francis, complete with Seventies sideburns, during his playing days with Queens Park Rangers.
-What followed was a string of one-liners, confirmation that QPR are all but broke and that Vinnie Jones is moving out lock, stock and one terminating contract.
- Francis left Rangers four years ago after he felt his authority was undermined by moves to bring in Rodney Marsh as director of football.
- There will be no such problems this time as Francis returns to the club in that capacity. Introducing QPR's new manager, Francis said: "I know him well. He's a bit of a shady character. Me."
- Francis will be in charge of all aspects of football from the youth academy to managing the first team. Iain Dowie, who has been caretaker-manager, will continue as player-coach with Francis bringing in an assistant.
- Jones, player, coach and actor, will be on his way after turning down the chance to be considered as coach or assistant manager. Neither Francis nor chairman-owner Chris Wright seemed to know why Vinnie was unwilling to stay on - no doubt all will be revealed in a movie or, more likely, an exclusive tabloid interview.
- Francis was in fine form yesterday, relaxed and refreshed after spending most of the 11 months since leaving Tottenham "recharging my batteries and being with my wife and three children".
- Had he spoken to Spurs' chairman Alan Sugar? "Yes, today. He asked me to come back."
- Francis had, he said, turned down "flat" 12 offers to return to management. Then, in the wake of Ray Harford's departure, Wright rang Francis.
- The chairman did not have much of a sales patter. "Hey, Gerry. Do you fancy taking charge of this First Division club who are struggling against relegation, whose gates have halved since you were last manager [between 1991 and 1994] and with no money to spend?"
- That was the gist of it. Francis said: "I looked at the situation and thought about it for two weeks. At the end of a fortnight I was even more shocked. When I was manager of Bristol Rovers I lent the club money to buy a player. I'm not doing that here."
- So why did Francis take on "the biggest, most massive challenge of my career?" It was a toss-up between the heart and head and the heart won. Just.
- Francis tried not to make it sound corny but there was no alternative. "I have QPR in my veins. One way or the other I've been with the club for 17 years. That's a long time. I've always had a soft spot for Rangers.
- "It's a heck of a job to pull the club round to where it was when I left. It was a close decision whether I'd take the job or not. My priority is to get us away from near the bottom of the table and then sort out the club financially." That will be much easier said than done. Wright admitted that mistakes, which was putting it mildly, had been made in recent years.
- "The club haven't been well run for several years," he said. "Not before I came here or even since. I've learnt a lot and had I known two years ago what I know now history would have been different. But this doesn't make it any easier starting from where we are.
- "But I've brought in Gerry Francis and he has blue-and-white-hooped blood. He lives and breathes QPR. He's a top-class manager and the long-standing QPR connection is a bonus."
- Francis, who will become a shareholder in the plc, has signed a contract for three seasons. He is full of enthusiasm and is "particularly looking forward to negotiating the manager's salary".
- He will be at Huddersfield today only as an observer. "I hope the director of football signs my petrol docket, but he's a right so-and-so."
- Rangers barely have two pennies to rub together yet Wright, a Rangers fan since he could kick a ball, even spoke about a 40,000-capacity stadium to the west of Shepherds Bush "which would be full if we were in the Premiership".
- Dreams are for the future. A win and then a few more are what is required right now from a poor side.
- "Results don't lie," said Francis, who was the popular choice as manager but knows he will be judged only on what he does from next week.
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Post by QPR Report on Oct 16, 2009 6:46:32 GMT
And the articles
Francis' first game back, QPR lost 0-2 at Huddersfield: Miklosko, Barraclough Ready, Rose, Maddix Murray, Breaker, Barker, Peacock, Morrow, Sheron, Gallen - Subs: Slade, Scully, Rowland.
Independent/October 17, 1998 - Football: Francis reveals ambition on return to QPR- GERRY FRANCIS has promised an end to "First Division mediocrity" after returning to Queen's Park Rangers for his second spell in charge.
- Francis, appointed both manager and director of football at Loftus Road, was in ebullient mood as he outlined his plans for the future. "Although I'm not setting any targets, I'm not here to keep this club in First Division mediocrity," he said. "QPR should be in the Premiership and in time that's where we intend to be."
- The west London club's chairman, Chris Wright, took the opportunity to apologise to the fans for "past mistakes", but claimed the club has now turned the corner with the appointment of Francis as Ray Harford's replacement. "I don't think this club has been very well run for several years," Wright said. "Before we came in it was run very badly and we've made lots of mistakes. But I have brought in Gerry Francis and he has blue-and-white- hooped blood. He lives and breathes QPR. He is an absolutely top-class manager."
- Francis, a QPR player, captain and manager over a period of 17 years, has signed a contract for the remainder of this season and for two more years. He added: "Over the past 11 months I've turned down flat 12 offers of work. If it hadn't been QPR who came in, I'd still be out of the game but I've got a soft spot for this club." ...Francis' tough start, page 29 -
Telegraph/Christopher Davies - October 17, 1998 - Francis returns to direct QPR's fight for survival- IT was like This Is Your Life at Loftus Road yesterday, with a video of Gerry Francis, complete with Seventies sideburns, during his playing days with Queens Park Rangers.
-What followed was a string of one-liners, confirmation that QPR are all but broke and that Vinnie Jones is moving out lock, stock and one terminating contract.
- Francis left Rangers four years ago after he felt his authority was undermined by moves to bring in Rodney Marsh as director of football.
- There will be no such problems this time as Francis returns to the club in that capacity. Introducing QPR's new manager, Francis said: "I know him well. He's a bit of a shady character. Me."
- Francis will be in charge of all aspects of football from the youth academy to managing the first team. Iain Dowie, who has been caretaker-manager, will continue as player-coach with Francis bringing in an assistant.
- Jones, player, coach and actor, will be on his way after turning down the chance to be considered as coach or assistant manager. Neither Francis nor chairman-owner Chris Wright seemed to know why Vinnie was unwilling to stay on - no doubt all will be revealed in a movie or, more likely, an exclusive tabloid interview.
- Francis was in fine form yesterday, relaxed and refreshed after spending most of the 11 months since leaving Tottenham "recharging my batteries and being with my wife and three children".
- Had he spoken to Spurs' chairman Alan Sugar? "Yes, today. He asked me to come back."
- Francis had, he said, turned down "flat" 12 offers to return to management. Then, in the wake of Ray Harford's departure, Wright rang Francis.
- The chairman did not have much of a sales patter. "Hey, Gerry. Do you fancy taking charge of this First Division club who are struggling against relegation, whose gates have halved since you were last manager [between 1991 and 1994] and with no money to spend?"
- That was the gist of it. Francis said: "I looked at the situation and thought about it for two weeks. At the end of a fortnight I was even more shocked. When I was manager of Bristol Rovers I lent the club money to buy a player. I'm not doing that here."
- So why did Francis take on "the biggest, most massive challenge of my career?" It was a toss-up between the heart and head and the heart won. Just.
- Francis tried not to make it sound corny but there was no alternative. "I have QPR in my veins. One way or the other I've been with the club for 17 years. That's a long time. I've always had a soft spot for Rangers.
- "It's a heck of a job to pull the club round to where it was when I left. It was a close decision whether I'd take the job or not. My priority is to get us away from near the bottom of the table and then sort out the club financially." That will be much easier said than done. Wright admitted that mistakes, which was putting it mildly, had been made in recent years.
- "The club haven't been well run for several years," he said. "Not before I came here or even since. I've learnt a lot and had I known two years ago what I know now history would have been different. But this doesn't make it any easier starting from where we are.
- "But I've brought in Gerry Francis and he has blue-and-white-hooped blood. He lives and breathes QPR. He's a top-class manager and the long-standing QPR connection is a bonus."
- Francis, who will become a shareholder in the plc, has signed a contract for three seasons. He is full of enthusiasm and is "particularly looking forward to negotiating the manager's salary".
- He will be at Huddersfield today only as an observer. "I hope the director of football signs my petrol docket, but he's a right so-and-so."
- Rangers barely have two pennies to rub together yet Wright, a Rangers fan since he could kick a ball, even spoke about a 40,000-capacity stadium to the west of Shepherds Bush "which would be full if we were in the Premiership".
- Dreams are for the future. A win and then a few more are what is required right now from a poor side.
- "Results don't lie," said Francis, who was the popular choice as manager but knows he will be judged only on what he does from next week.
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Post by QPR Report on Oct 16, 2009 6:47:29 GMT
And the Departure Friday, 16 February, 2001, Francis ends QPR love affairBBC Sport Online's Peter Sanderson looks at Gerry Francis' career in management after his decision to stand down as director of football at QPR. Gerry Francis is a member of that increasingly rare band of people who have enjoyed success at a club as both player and manager. On Friday, however, the former Bristol Rovers and Tottenham boss cut a forlorn figure as he ended his managerial love affair with Queens Park Rangers and almost certainly severed his ties with football. Apart from his most recent spell at QPR, Francis has an outstanding record in management. However, at Loftus Road this year, the tide was so strongly against him that even sailing sensation Ellen MacArthur could not have steered the club to safety. I will do everything I can to help the new manager Gerry Francis The secret to his success has been a combination of talent, honesty, endeavour and an unrivalled desire to succeed. But even a man as diligent as Francis deserves a break. He admitted: "In football, I have only had one break since 1967 which is a hell of a long time. "I did not miss the game in the 11 months I had away from football after I left Spurs and I don't think I will when I move on at the end of the season. "My job at QPR was to keep them in this Division last year and I did that despite us being nine points adrift. "I then let my heart rule my head and decided to stay on as manager this year. Francis: "QPR can stay up" "But the club is now experiencing major problems with a number of players contracts coming to a close in the summer and very little cash to bring anyone in. "It is time for someone else to take over. They need time to turn things round and I need time to spend with my family and of course with the pigeons." Few would believe this was the same man who twice turned down the opportunity to manage his country. Both times he was interviewed for the England he ruled himself out of consideration. But England could have done a lot worse - and, once or twice in recent years, have done. Now Francis can devote his time to his family and enjoy the peace and quiet of his pigeon loft. The reason for his departure is simple. He is a family man and his recent spell with QPR was more of an effort to help out an old friend than improve his already dazzling reputation in management. But it was clear from the pained expression on Francis' face that he has had enough football for one lifetime. As he spoke of the troubled times the club are experiencing, he was speaking from his heart as a fan and not a manager. Francis was arguably a victim of his own managerial success. Needed more than a miracle The former England midfielder always possessed an unwavering confidence in his own ability. However, he built up such an impressive CV at Bristol Rovers and QPR that he could no longer continue to perform the miracles. But QPR needed more than a miracle to save them this time. Their troubles far exceed their lowly position at the foot of Division One. Behind the scenes the club are in disarray. Their over-achievements in the 1990s, when they finished fifth in the Premiership and enjoyed as spell as London's top club, make their current position even harder to tolerate. Young bargains But Francis insists the club can still survive. Since he returned in October 1998, he has made a number of strong signings for QPR, scouring the non-league for Jermaine Darlington and Stuart Wardley. He has also picked up young bargains like Clarke Carlisle and Peter Crouch and groomed Richard Langley and Mark Perry into tremendous players. These are the players that Francis believes should keep QPR in the First Division and more importantly, keep the club in business be judged only on what he does from next week. Telegraph news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/1174221.stm |
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2010 6:19:23 GMT
Bumpy...!
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Post by Lonegunmen on Oct 16, 2010 6:41:32 GMT
I wonder how he would go with this squad??
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2012 6:52:56 GMT
Bump...another couple of years...
Fourteen Years ago....
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2012 7:00:49 GMT
I wonder how he would go with this squad?? I think he would be fine, even when he took over a poor squad in div 1 he made us hard to beat |
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Post by nadera78 on Oct 16, 2012 8:21:54 GMT
I wouldn't want him in charge these days but I'd certainly like him on the staff, he's the sort of person a club like ours should have around on a permanent basis. If you go back through our history we've always had men on the staff who've spent their lives at the club, it goes towards continuity and ensuring respect for the club and the fans. That goes for the likes of Warren Neil and Frank Sibley too.
Bigger clubs can go out and buy the best players in the world, we need something more.
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2013 5:47:29 GMT
Bump! 15 Years ago today   |
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2014 7:23:38 GMT
Bump - 16 Years ago today
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2015 7:10:17 GMT
Good start..But ultimately, didn't quite work out...For whatever reason
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 15, 2016 7:51:57 GMT
Bump...18 years
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2017 6:40:10 GMT
A great day....although of course it didn't work as well as hoped
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2018 7:12:08 GMT
Flashback 20 years
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2023 7:35:46 GMT
QPR Official Site - October 15, 1998 WRIGHT GETS HIS MAN
RANGERS Chairman Chris Wright is delighted Gerry Francis accepted his offer to return to Loftus Road.
Mr Wright spoke to the Rangers Official Website about the behind the scenes negotiations and said
was brutally honest with Francis about what he would be coming into.
"We had a lot of meetings and a lot of talking, I had to explain the full situation here to Gerry.
I didn't want to bring him in here and then him find any surprises about the financial position we're in or the players we've got here.
There's not going to be any nasty surprises because for him he knows enough about it already."
"I first met him when he was manager here four or five years ago and there was talk about the Thompson family selling the club
and we had conversations at the time about whether I could come in and take over the club and take it forward while he was still
manager. Obviously in retrospect it's a great shame that those talks never came to anything becuase it's a great shame that
Gerry Francis ever left the club in the first place."
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Post by Lonegunmen on Oct 18, 2023 21:13:35 GMT
I wonder how he would go with this squad?? 13 years later and I ask the same question. |
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