Post by QPR Report on Dec 10, 2009 7:47:27 GMT
Belfast Telegraph/By Stuart McKinley
Don’t let Magilton vanish from game
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Magic. A little bit of word play from the Ipswich Town fans as they nicknamed a man who became a firm favourite with the Portman Road faithful.
And when Joe Royle decided that his time at the club was up, there was only one man those same fans wanted to see replace him.
Jim Magilton had all but sold his family home on the outskirts of the town in preparation for a move to the north-west of England to be closer to his wife’s family. His playing was at an end but he had ambitions to move into management.
A passionate football man, a different career path after hanging up his boots didn’t really appeal. Nothing replaces the buzz of playing, so most ex-pros claim, but management is a poor second and there was only one thing on his mind.
The opportunity came a lot earlier that he expected — and at the perfect club too. One he knew inside out and in addition to that, one where he knew the fans would be right behind him from day one.
The house sale was put on hold and the potential buyers left very disappointed.
A marriage made in heaven? Maybe, and when the Tractor Boys were invincible at home in the early part of that first season the honeymoon period was prolonged. It was trouble picking up points away from home that put paid to promotion hopes, but fans could see what the new boss was trying to do and he still had their full backing.
That lasted right up until the end, even when those who loved him as a player felt it was time for a change in the manager’s chair they let it be known in the nicest possible way and after his departure the fans’ forums were full of thanks for the contribution he had made as a player — when he was Magic!
Memories of the part he played in promotion via the play-offs in 2000 — with a semi-final hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers and an impressive display against Barnsley in the final — weren‘t erased that quickly.
The end at Ipswich came via a telephone call from club owner Marcus Evans, the morning after Magilton had to leave a club function to return home to Belfast to be at the bedside of his sick mother.
Not really the way to treat someone who’d served the club for a decade as player, manager and captain. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, but was that the right decision, with Ipswich languishing in the Championship’s relegation zone? I guess you’d have to ask the fans, but I’ve an idea what they might say.
And if Queens Park Rangers dispense with his services after an alleged dressing room incident with a player then it’ll be the second club this year that has sacked Jim Magilton much too early.
Fans have been exiting Loftus Road lately, excited about the future and proclaiming that the team is playing the best football they’ve seen at the club in decades.
Well, with a manager schooled at Liverpool when the club was ruling England — and would have been at the pinnacle of Europe too only for the ban on English clubs — what would you expect?
Monday night’s 3-1 defeat at Watford may have been the third in four games, but Rangers remain just a win away from a coveted top six place.
And if Akos Buszaky wants to play in the Premier League next season his best chance is with a Jim Magilton-managed QPR.
The player has accused Magilton of head-butting him in the aftermath of that loss to Watford. The same player was one of four who had been left out of the starting line-up after a 5-1 defeat at home to Middlesbrough on the previous Saturday.
In any walk of life decisions by those in charge aren’t always universally popular with those underneath them. The best apply themselves even more and make sure they aren’t the fall guy next time. Maybe some just don’t have the same passion and desire — which often makes a difference in winning football matches — that Magilton possesses. And in abundance.
Mistaking passion for anger is common, not just in football but in everyday life. Magilton has denied loss of control and that any kind of physical violence was used in the dressing room.
Maybe the player simply didn’t take kindly to having his motivation challenged and if the same player is claiming that he is unhappy with the way he has been treated by the manager, then seven goals in 18 appearances this season doesn’t really look like the form of an unhappy player.
While totally passionate about football and motivated by a desire to get the best out of his charges and to continually improve them and with a will to win and reach the top of the managerial tree, only those who really know Jim Magilton know what lies beneath.
He loves to talk, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s not all football, football, football. A family man who has experienced health problems with a child — having to pull out of an international squad and then calling time on his Northern Ireland career after one of his young sons was struck with epilepsy — there is a serious side to Magilton too.
Not serious enough to turn him into a violent character, rather, more compassionate. When my own son was hospitalised, football was taken off the agenda by Magilton when he called me.
He will be a successful manager, I have no doubt.
He is driven by a desire to be successful and while he is passionate about his country, only then will he chase his ambition to manage his country.
QPR have gone through managers like most clubs go through match balls over the last few years. They’d be better sticking with this one if they really want to achieve something.
If it’s him or the player then be glad that January is just around the corner. Replacing players is easy, getting a good manager in isn’t quite so simple, as QPR know from the past and could find out — to their cost — again if they dismiss Jim Magilton.
Jim Magilton factfile
Full name: James Magilton
Date of birth: May 6, 1969
Age: 40
Place of birth: Belfast
Club career: 1990–1994 Oxford United (150 appearances, 34 goals)
1994–1997 Southampton (130 appearances, 13 goals)
1997–1999 Sheffield Wednesday (27 appearances, one goal)
1999 Ipswich Town on loan (11 appearances, 1 goal)
1999–2006 Ipswich Town (262 appearances, 15 goals).
Total: 580 appearances, 64 goals
Senior international career: 52 Northern Ireland caps (1991-2002) — five goals
Playing career (key dates)
October 1990: After serving as an apprentice at Liverpool, Magilton was transferred to Oxford United in October 1990 at the age of 21.
February 1994: Signed for Southampton, for £600,000.
September 1997: Moved to Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £1.6 million.
1999: Moved to Ipswich Town first on loan, then as a permanent signing.
Managerial career
June 5, 2006: Appointed Ipswich manager
April 22, 2009: Sacked by Ipswich Town
June 3, 2009: Appointed Queens Park Rangers manager until June, 2011.
December 9, 2009: Suspended by QPR following an alleged dressing room incident at Watford's Vicarage Road.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/local/donrsquot-let-magilton-vanish-from-game-14591780.html?r=RSS#ixzz0ZGnAZUH9
Don’t let Magilton vanish from game
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Magic. A little bit of word play from the Ipswich Town fans as they nicknamed a man who became a firm favourite with the Portman Road faithful.
And when Joe Royle decided that his time at the club was up, there was only one man those same fans wanted to see replace him.
Jim Magilton had all but sold his family home on the outskirts of the town in preparation for a move to the north-west of England to be closer to his wife’s family. His playing was at an end but he had ambitions to move into management.
A passionate football man, a different career path after hanging up his boots didn’t really appeal. Nothing replaces the buzz of playing, so most ex-pros claim, but management is a poor second and there was only one thing on his mind.
The opportunity came a lot earlier that he expected — and at the perfect club too. One he knew inside out and in addition to that, one where he knew the fans would be right behind him from day one.
The house sale was put on hold and the potential buyers left very disappointed.
A marriage made in heaven? Maybe, and when the Tractor Boys were invincible at home in the early part of that first season the honeymoon period was prolonged. It was trouble picking up points away from home that put paid to promotion hopes, but fans could see what the new boss was trying to do and he still had their full backing.
That lasted right up until the end, even when those who loved him as a player felt it was time for a change in the manager’s chair they let it be known in the nicest possible way and after his departure the fans’ forums were full of thanks for the contribution he had made as a player — when he was Magic!
Memories of the part he played in promotion via the play-offs in 2000 — with a semi-final hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers and an impressive display against Barnsley in the final — weren‘t erased that quickly.
The end at Ipswich came via a telephone call from club owner Marcus Evans, the morning after Magilton had to leave a club function to return home to Belfast to be at the bedside of his sick mother.
Not really the way to treat someone who’d served the club for a decade as player, manager and captain. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, but was that the right decision, with Ipswich languishing in the Championship’s relegation zone? I guess you’d have to ask the fans, but I’ve an idea what they might say.
And if Queens Park Rangers dispense with his services after an alleged dressing room incident with a player then it’ll be the second club this year that has sacked Jim Magilton much too early.
Fans have been exiting Loftus Road lately, excited about the future and proclaiming that the team is playing the best football they’ve seen at the club in decades.
Well, with a manager schooled at Liverpool when the club was ruling England — and would have been at the pinnacle of Europe too only for the ban on English clubs — what would you expect?
Monday night’s 3-1 defeat at Watford may have been the third in four games, but Rangers remain just a win away from a coveted top six place.
And if Akos Buszaky wants to play in the Premier League next season his best chance is with a Jim Magilton-managed QPR.
The player has accused Magilton of head-butting him in the aftermath of that loss to Watford. The same player was one of four who had been left out of the starting line-up after a 5-1 defeat at home to Middlesbrough on the previous Saturday.
In any walk of life decisions by those in charge aren’t always universally popular with those underneath them. The best apply themselves even more and make sure they aren’t the fall guy next time. Maybe some just don’t have the same passion and desire — which often makes a difference in winning football matches — that Magilton possesses. And in abundance.
Mistaking passion for anger is common, not just in football but in everyday life. Magilton has denied loss of control and that any kind of physical violence was used in the dressing room.
Maybe the player simply didn’t take kindly to having his motivation challenged and if the same player is claiming that he is unhappy with the way he has been treated by the manager, then seven goals in 18 appearances this season doesn’t really look like the form of an unhappy player.
While totally passionate about football and motivated by a desire to get the best out of his charges and to continually improve them and with a will to win and reach the top of the managerial tree, only those who really know Jim Magilton know what lies beneath.
He loves to talk, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s not all football, football, football. A family man who has experienced health problems with a child — having to pull out of an international squad and then calling time on his Northern Ireland career after one of his young sons was struck with epilepsy — there is a serious side to Magilton too.
Not serious enough to turn him into a violent character, rather, more compassionate. When my own son was hospitalised, football was taken off the agenda by Magilton when he called me.
He will be a successful manager, I have no doubt.
He is driven by a desire to be successful and while he is passionate about his country, only then will he chase his ambition to manage his country.
QPR have gone through managers like most clubs go through match balls over the last few years. They’d be better sticking with this one if they really want to achieve something.
If it’s him or the player then be glad that January is just around the corner. Replacing players is easy, getting a good manager in isn’t quite so simple, as QPR know from the past and could find out — to their cost — again if they dismiss Jim Magilton.
Jim Magilton factfile
Full name: James Magilton
Date of birth: May 6, 1969
Age: 40
Place of birth: Belfast
Club career: 1990–1994 Oxford United (150 appearances, 34 goals)
1994–1997 Southampton (130 appearances, 13 goals)
1997–1999 Sheffield Wednesday (27 appearances, one goal)
1999 Ipswich Town on loan (11 appearances, 1 goal)
1999–2006 Ipswich Town (262 appearances, 15 goals).
Total: 580 appearances, 64 goals
Senior international career: 52 Northern Ireland caps (1991-2002) — five goals
Playing career (key dates)
October 1990: After serving as an apprentice at Liverpool, Magilton was transferred to Oxford United in October 1990 at the age of 21.
February 1994: Signed for Southampton, for £600,000.
September 1997: Moved to Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £1.6 million.
1999: Moved to Ipswich Town first on loan, then as a permanent signing.
Managerial career
June 5, 2006: Appointed Ipswich manager
April 22, 2009: Sacked by Ipswich Town
June 3, 2009: Appointed Queens Park Rangers manager until June, 2011.
December 9, 2009: Suspended by QPR following an alleged dressing room incident at Watford's Vicarage Road.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/local/donrsquot-let-magilton-vanish-from-game-14591780.html?r=RSS#ixzz0ZGnAZUH9