QPR looking for a new manager? Must be November again. Allow LFW to run you through a field where inspiration is in short supply.

Ian Holloway 5/4

Age — 53 >>> Current Club — Unattached >>> Previously Managed — Bristol Rovers (P246, WP 36.44%), QPR (P252, 39.68%), Plymouth (P71, 39.44%), Leicester (P32, 28.13%), Blackpool (P161, 38.51%), Palace (P46, 30.43%), MIllwall (P62, 22.58%)

Pros:
- Already a QPR club hero both as a player, where he was a vital member of Gerry Francis’ successful Premier League side of the early 1990s, and as a manager, where he took over a club in administration and subsequently rebuilt it in the Second Division before re-establishing it in the First.
- A well-known bubbly character with plenty of humour rolled into his management, could provide the players with an immediate lift around the training ground.
- Has developed as a manager tactically since he was last at QPR, switching his ‘out ball’ from a long punt in behind full backs to a cross field switch to a winger on the opposite side after studying Robert Martinez’s methods at Swansea. More attacking than when he was last here, and certainly more attacking than Hasselbaink was.
- Has enjoyed his best success when working on tight budgets, at Bristol Rovers, QPR, Plymouth and Blackpool. Made some wonderful signings on the cheap during his last spell here including Danny Shittu, Lee Cook, Marc Bircham, Tony Thorpe, Paul Furlong, Steve Palmer, Lee Camp, Gino Padula and others.
- Imagine the atmosphere at his first game back in charge. It’ll be like a different ground. A much needed boost to the place.
- Would potentially bring Marc Bircham back with him as assistant.
- Given his work with Sky, there can’t have been too many managers out there who’ve seen more Championship football than him this season. He’ll already know our players, reducing any potential bedding in period.
- Not Joey Barton.

Cons:
- Never go back.
- If Les Ferdinand doesn’t escape overly-harsh criticism from QPR fans, don’t think Ian Holloway will either. Are we about to tarnish the legacy of another much-loved son of our club?
- There was a strong feeling during Holloway’s first spell in charge that the brains behind the operation were chief scout Mel Johnson and assistant manager Kenny Jackett, with Olly more a front man and motivator. His results, and the quality of his signings, tailed off when Johnson went to Spurs and Jackett to Swansea.
- Despite his Martinez epiphany, Holloway’s football is still direct and basic stuff at times. He had plenty of critics by the end of his previous spell with the clubm, and even at the height of his success here he still did things like picking Steve Palmer and Matthew Rose together in the centre of midfield.
- Seemed badly effected by his stint at Palace, where he finished off Dougie Fredman’s promotion only for results to go awry in the Premier League. He resigned saying he wasn’t up to it. Subsequently pitched up, with Bircham, looking and sounding like a shell of his former self at Millwall where he ended up sacked and the team relegated. He even fell out with Shittu while there, unthinkable when the pair were together at QPR and the players called the centre back ‘Son of Holloway’.
- That nagging feeling that his time in modern football management has passed by, and a television studio is the ideal place for him.
- May possibly be mates with Les Ferdinand.

Karl Robinson 3/1

Age — 36 >>> Current Club — Unattached >>> Previously Managed — MK Dons (P346, 42.5%)

Pros:
- Exactly the sort of progressive, modern, hungry, up and coming young coach QPR say they’re looking for.
- Adept at building a solid foundation and moving a club and squad forward from a low starting point. MK Dons come with all manner of baggage, a home ground that’s empty and silent on matchdays and were training on council pitches after getting changed at the stadium and being mini-bused there and Robinson got that set-up into the Championship.
- Developed Dele Alli, Patrick Bamford and Bennick Afobe among several other talented youngsters in what is hardly a hotbed for the sport, again exactly the sort of thing QPR say they want to do.
- Prefers an attractive brand of football, with attacking intent and ball on the floor. Scored 117 goals in a single League One season.
- Tends to bring an experienced number two with him — worked with John Gorman and others at MK Dons.
- Good cup record, knocking out Manchester United, and our good selves among other higher division teams.
- Trophies in difficult circumstances - League One promotion, Football League Trophy etc.
- Not mates with Les Ferdinand.
- Not Joey Barton.

Cons:
- Only one previous full time management job, at MK Dons, where he was recently sacked after relegation from the Championship. There’s a lot more to his six years there than that of course, but he’ll need to hit the ground running at QPR or the knives will be out once again. You can almost hear the criticisms about lack of experience and his Scouse accent now and he’s not even got here yet.
- Will never have dealt with all the people and politics that he’ll find above him at QPR.
- Took time to build his MK Dons side, time QPR simply don’t afford managers.

Gary Rowett 10/1

Age — 42 >>> Current Club — Birmingham City >>> Previously Managed — Burton Albion (P142, 44.4%), Birmingham City (P101, 38.6%)

Pros:
- Has worked his way up from the lower leagues since retiring from playing, building the Burton Albion side that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink subsequently got promoted with. If you feel Hasselbaink got credit for somebody else’s work to land the QPR job, well here’s the somebody else.
- Unlike Hasselbaink, Rowett has since managed in the Championship with great success. He’s also done it at a club that’s been every bit as difficult and crazy as QPR, with the ongoing Carson Yeung situation lingering over Birmingham when he arrived, playing budgets being cut, transfer plans uncertain and permanent takeover talk. Despite it, he’s taken the Blues from a narrow brush with relegation under Lee Clark to successive play-off pushes.
- Sparked prolonged turn arounds in form and results at both Burton and Birmingham with the players he inherited, rather than by insisting on adding a load of new ones.
- In fact, he’s never been in a position to spend buckets of cash on loads of new players so could be the perfect manager to work within QPR’s increasingly restricted means as the end of the parachute payments draw near.
- Not mates with Les Ferdinand. Not Joey Barton.

Cons:
- If you’re expecting a glorious departure from the 4-2-3-1 approach, don’t.
- Why would he leave Birmingham, a club he played for, to come to QPR who he has no connection with, have a worse team and are lower in the league? Apart from the obvious of course.
- Birmingham fans have been critical of his team selections and tactics this season. Overly cautious, faith in favourites and so on. I watched them at Burton Albion last week and they were absolutely shocking.
- Is this a significant enough departure from Hasselbaink for fans to be on his side? Not that we should necessarily be looking for a complete departure of course, but fans are weary of attritional football and it’s hard to see Rowett going for anything else here.
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Tim Sherwood 11/1

Age — 47 >>> Current Club — Unattached >>> Previously Managed — Tottenham (P28, 50%), Villa (P28, 35.7%)

Pros:
- The sort of character — strong minded, brash, confident — that wouldn’t be intimidated by one of football’s most difficult jobs. Like a young Neil Warnock in that respect.
- Part of the Tottenham academy set up that brought through Harry Kane and others, with an excellent strike rate for graduating youth players to first team — exactly what QPR say they’re looking for.
- Has a record, particularly at Spurs, of giving youth players first team opportunities rather than leaving them parked in the academy set up. Would bode well for Mide Shodipo, Nico Hamalainen, Osman Kakay and others.
- Has worked successfully with Les Ferdinand, Chris Ramsey and others at QPR before at Spurs.
- Will hopefully have learnt lessons from his chastening experience at Aston Villa.
- Said chastening experience only came after his two best players — Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph — were sold and replaced with a disparate collection from all over the world sourced in part by a newly formed transfer committee above him.
- Nobody succeeds at Villa, it wasn’t just him who failed there. And he’d initially saved them from relegation and taken them to a cup final.
- Plays an attacking style of football with wings and strikers (plural) which will play well to the bored galleries at Loftus Road.
- Takes cup competitions seriously, reaching the final of the FA Cup with Villa two years ago.
- Flammable.
- Not Joey Barton.

Cons:
- Bloke’s an absolute helmet.
- Many of his claims about the young players he brought through into Tottenham’s first team don’t stand up to scrutiny. For instance, he mentions Ryan Mason a lot, who was part of Sherwood’s academy set up, but actually made 0 starts and 0 sub appearances for him as first team manager. Much of the development of the young players there was done by Chris Ramsey, who of course is still at QPR and is wrongly ridiculed by a section of the support.
- His Harry Redknapp-style “football is about footballers not systems” attitude is not only totally outdated but also unhelpful at a club of QPR’s size where our budget is never going to be as big and players never as good as clubs we’ve nevertheless got to find a way to compete with.
- Refusal to drop down and take jobs outside the Premier League, because apparently six months at Spurs means you’re a Premier League manager, means he not only has zero Championship experience but also comes across as an arrogant knob.
- Related point, also likely to be incredibly expensive.
- Touchline behaviour and deliberate attempts to look and sound like a North London letting agent will grate even more than Hasselbaink’s “it is what it is” and in half the time.
- Best mates with Les Ferdinand, which will only further the criticism of the director of football and mean he’ll probably have to fall on his sword next time as well if this appointment went badly.
- Took an Aston Villa side that had £51.2m lavished on it, with 11 new players, and won one of the first 11 games before getting the sack. Picked seven different starting 11s in seven different systems in his final seven games. Villa eventually won only one of their first 20 and were relegated with just four wins to their name all season. This after his infamous “winners” comment in pre-season when he’d said you were about to “find out what a Tim Sherwood team looks like”.
- Much talked about (by him) 50% win percentage at Spurs came with an inherited team and still included absolute shellackings by Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City.

Paul Clement 14/1

Age — 44 >>> Current Club — Bayern Munich (assistant) >>> Teams Managed — Derby County (P33, 42.42%)

Pros:
- Has worked at some of the biggest clubs, with the most forward-thinking methods in the world.
- Has Championship experience with Derby where he was sacked with the team fifth in the league in a move that brought widespread ridicule for the chairman and a good deal of sympathy for Clement outside the city.
- His late father Dave was a proper QPR legend and his tragic story could provide QPR with a chance to tempt a quality coach they’d never normally be able to attract, and buy Clement more time with the QPR fans than many others would get.
- Not mates with Les Ferdinand.
- Not Joey Barton.

Cons:
- Having spent the majority of his career at places like Real Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, is scratching around at QPR trying to find lower league gems and reduce the playing budget really his area of expertise?
- Didn’t last long at Derby where there was much rumour and innuendo around the real reasons for his abrupt departure.
- Although he had the Rams fifth in the table when he left, he’d spent the thick end of £25m on the team to get it there and the Derby fans say the football was dull and functional, which sounds much like what QPR are currently trying to get away from.
- Kimmich’s eight goals in 15 games from a wide right defensive position may be difficult to replicate with James Perch.

Nigel Pearson 25/1

Age — 53 >>> Current Club — Unattached >>> Previously Managed — Carlisle (P30, 16.7%), Southampton (P14, 21.4%), Leicester (P107, 51.4%), Hull (P64, 35.9%), Leicester (P182, 46.7%), Derby (P14, 21.4%)

Pros:
- An experienced manager at all levels of the English game with early spells saving poor Carlisle and Southampton teams from relegations preceding coaching appointments with West Brom, Newcastle and England U21s. He later won promotion from League One and the Championship in two separate spells with Leicester paving the way for their remarkable title win last season.
- At Leicester in particular he built a world class sports science, medical and training facility infrastructure which QPR have been crying out for.
- Having signed Jamie Vardy, Danny Drinkwater and Riyad Mahrez quietly and relatively cheaply, he knows how to spot a quality player for the sort of money QPR are currently spending.
- Point to prove after disappointing experience at Derby.
- The sort of strong-minded character QPR could probably do with.
- Difficult to sack — Leicester tried several times before finally escorting him off the premises — useful trait in a QPR manager.
- Was once attacked by a pack of wild dogs while on holiday in Romania and won — again, useful skillset when taking over at Loftus Road.
- Not mates with Les Ferdinand.
- Not Joey Barton.

Cons:
- 64 carat mentalist.
- Did not see eye to eye with our current CEO Lee Hoos when the pair worked together during his first stint at Leicester.
- Pearson’s son was involved in the infamous “licky licky bum hole" racist orgy during Leicester’s pre-season tour of Thailand which led to the sacking of him and two team mates, and Pearson departed shortly afterwards. Probably not going to appeal too much to another Asian-owned club like QPR.
- If you thought Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was a bit dull, you aint seen nothing yet. Pearson’s interviews make the speaking clock sound like an episode of Takeshi's Castle.
- Although he got Leicester promoted to the Premier League and built the team that subsequently won the thing, he collapsed fairly spectacularly under the pressure of a top flight relegation struggle — telling a supporter to “fuck off and die”, holding Crystal Palace midfielder James McArther down by the throat during a game, branding a BBC journalist an ostrich during a prolonged, bizarre press conference melt down and so on.
- Despite all his success at Leicester, no team had a sniff of him for over a year after his departure, hinting at stuff we don’t know about.
- Subsequently pitched up at Derby this season only to be suspended two unsuccessful months in, and again subsequently fired, for unspecified behavioural reasons.
- Given his Romanian adventure, could get spooked by Jude the Cat and stab him in the eyes.

Others

There are a couple of names mentioned, available at 25/1 generally, who I’m surprised aren’t a bit shorter priced. Dougie Freedman did brilliantly at Crystal Palace before making a couple of bad choices — firstly mistaking Bolton’s shiny stadium and recent Premier League heritage as a better bet than the Eagles and jumping ship, headlong into a financial catastrophe; then secondly taking the first job that subsequently came up at a former club, Nottingham Forest, where he found the chairman from hell in charge. I like that he takes Lennie Lawrence with him, he’d potentially bring best mate Steve Gallen back with him, he has QPR pedigree and he’ll do a good job at this level again in my opinion.

Slightly less inspiring but still worth more consideration than he’s perhaps getting is Chris Powell who’s worked under more difficult circumstances than ours. Not my choice certainly but the concern that he’s not being considered more because the club is reluctant to appoint another black manager, with all the “boy’s club”, “black agenda” and “Les’ mates” bullshit that would see thrown at the director of football, is troubling. Britain in 2016, a thoroughly unpleasant place to live.

There are the usual appeals for Gareth Ainsworth, Shaun Derry and the likes. You can get a price on Kevin Gallen as well. Given that we’re not shy of chewing up our former heroes and spitting them out — see Ferdinand, and Ray Wilkins previously — would we really want to start tarnishing other QPR legendary statuses? While we’re destroying careers why not stick to appointing managers we hate? In all seriousness though, Derry and Ainsworth are both cutting their teeth and learning their trade at lower levels and that’s exactly where they should be left for a few years yet.

Steve Clarke is one of those names that would have been heavily linked even 12 months ago but is hardly mentioned at all at the moment — only BetFair have a price for him. Francesco Guidolin nearly came here during the Briatore era and was recently harshly sacked by Swansea, he’s at 35s.

Joey Barton is 80/1 if you fancy really putting the tin hat on 2016. If you’re tempted by this have you considered perhaps shooting all our players in the shins with a sawn off shotgun before matches? Or setting fire to the stadium with everybody inside it? Or re-signing Ademola Bankole after releasing Alex Smithies to Brentford on a free transfer? All much better ideas than re-engaging with that scumbag.

Conclusion

One thing that worries me in all of this is the QPR players hadn’t downed tools on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Even on Saturday at Forest, Karl Henry apart, they were having a dig and giving everything they had to try and get something out of the game, with the manager apparently basically sacked the week before after Brentford. So if they liked him, or at least respected him, what’s to say they’re all happy he’s gone? Where’s the extra bit going to come from, to even provide us with a little bounce, if they were already giving everything they had for the cause?

The obvious answer to that is tactical changes, and getting players like Conor Washington, Jordan Cousins and Massimo Luongo into positions that better suit their games. Tony Fernandes said it himself on Saturday night, the board believes this group of players is better than the results suggest and many supporters agree with that. But what if they’re wrong? What if we’re actually not that good? What if these players are giving all they can and the results are the absolute best they can do? Just six points from the relegation zone, this could turn into a free fall as a new man scrambles around trying to not only find the winning combination with somebody else’s players that Hasselbaink couldn’t with his own, but also gets to know all the players in the first place.

A lot of names on this list — Karl Robinson, Paul Clement, Gary Rowett — strike me as ideal appointments for QPR to be making in April or May next year. Not happy with Hasselbaink having given him a full season, part ways towards the end of this campaign and make an appointment ahead of the summer to give them a full tilt at next season. Coming into an already difficult job midway through the season and working with somebody else’s players doesn’t strike me as a good situation for Robinson or Clement certainly and Rowett… I just can’t see why he’d leave Birmingham for QPR.

What we need is somebody to come in and provide a Neil Warnock style lift. How annoying that he’s currently in work. I wouldn’t have gone for him this time last year, even if he was an option at that point which his personal circumstances meant he wasn’t, but I probably would now just because I’m fearful that this season could start to slide the other way quite quickly. It’s also annoying, and somewhat surprising given the situation he’s chosen to walk into, that Kenny Jackett has got a job at the moment, because I’d have liked him as well.

Having prattled on about short termism at QPR for so long, it may seem odd for me to now be talking about looking at the next six months and not a lot beyond that for now. But the medium term aims of Ferdinand and Lee Hoos, the training ground and all of that, would be seriously harmed by a relegation. Would the club ever recover from it? The ground is like a morgue, attendances are dropping steeply, we’ve only won two games at Loftus Road all year — the whole atmosphere is playing into the hands of the opposition.

This is almost certainly heart ruling head but for an immediate boost, both around the training ground and particularly at matches, to try and ensure this season doesn’t fall apart altogether, Ian Holloway and Marc Bircham together, until the end of the season initially, is an increasingly attractive prospect to ensure the medium and long term aims are able to stay on track.

The Twitter @loftforwords

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stevec added 20:18 - Nov 9 Dougie Freedman a good shout. Walked straight into some disasters rather than failed as a manager. I imagine the midfield and forwards will be playing for their futures over the next 2 months, there's only one way for most of them if they get shown the door.
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davman added 20:28 - Nov 9 So many seem to be plumping for Olly and Birch on a short term deal, but what would be it for them? Yep, Birch would probably jump at the chance to come home to QPR, but maybe he woyldn'T want to give up 9n his US adventure that he appears to love for just 6 months work. I say give 'em the standard 1 year rolling contract and see where they take us. Looking for a new manager years ago was fun; as with all things QPR these days, it's another pretty shitty experience, isn't it?

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Northernr added 20:34 - Nov 9 Yeh obviously mate if it goes well you keep them on, I'm just saying right now it's all about the next six months and re-assess end of April.
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richranger added 21:02 - Nov 9 Olly now 1/2 favourite - you might get your wish :>)
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pedrosqpr added 21:15 - Nov 9 have a feeling it will be someone out of left field ,someone from Italy or Spain
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Aitch added 21:46 - Nov 9 I wouldn't go back to Olly unless it's shouted from the rooftops that it's until the end of the season and that's it. But that in itself is to kind of write off this season. Personally, I'd rather get someone in who can coach a squad of players. IE like LDC or Warnock. I believe Robinson could be that so I'd go for him.
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Aitch added 21:51 - Nov 9 Oh, and I also reckon that the squad of players we have is capable of much more attacking intent than it's shown so far. I'd rather watch a team that loses while trying to outscore its opponents than a team that loses by trying not to concede if you get my drift.
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Northernr added 22:02 - Nov 9 I do indeed mate. People are bored and uninspired. Many are not bothering any more at all.
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distortR added 23:19 - Nov 9 Maybe we could give the job to hilary clinton? If you don't get to run the "free world", managing QPR must be a close second? It's all bollocks really, isn't it?
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Hunterhoop added 23:34 - Nov 9 Thanks, Clive. Good right up. Of the short priced favourites, Olly backed by Bircham has its positives, in the short term at least. However, Robinson seems ideal to me. 2 years ago loads of people were banging on about him. He was the hottest young manager in England. Relegation, when all your players have been sold, for MK Dons, is not a failure. He'd be my first choice now. Saying all that, I do genuinely think Pearson would work here. He has a phenomenal win rate in the Championship and did a sterling job at Leicester. They played the type of quick, physical attacking football QPR fans would like to see. And he builds infrastructure, which we need.

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Myke added 01:09 - Nov 10 Can't see Birch coming back but Olli with either Ainsworth or Derry as his assistant would be an attractive option with the idea that they would be groomed for the top job when they are ready. The whole club (as opposed to the team) needs a boost and Olli's return would provide that. I don't share your concern that we could get embroiled in a relegation battle but do think we need a short term boost that could ultimately enhance the medium term future.

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BlackCrowe added 09:26 - Nov 10 Great synopsis mate. I was in the Clement or Rowett camp (if there's any remote chance of getting either) but think you're probably right - a massive lift of passion/desire/entertainment is really what is needed. I've missed 50% of our games this season. Yes i had reasons or excuses as to why i couldn't go. But similar reasons and excuses have never got in the way before, ever. And for that reason Olly and Birch till the end of the season seems like low risk, high entertainment potential.

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Northernr added 09:32 - Nov 10 I'd be excited by Clement I think. Rowett would be quite a coup to be fair. The longer you think about it the harder it is.
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PinnerPaul added 09:36 - Nov 10 Good and amusing summing up of each candidate - at least the positives will give us something to look back on when/if it goes wrong with the new man. My vote is for Ollie now, for much the same reasons as you, would be nice to have a bit of "atmosphere" at LR , even if only for 1 game!
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Antti_Heinola added 10:28 - Nov 10 Great report, cheers Clive. Hunter surprised about your support for Pearson. He is clearly psychotic. I actually am not sure any of that lot are much of an improvement on Hasselbaink to be honest. Olly is the romantic choice, but it's nice to seem him happy again on TV. Think he belongs there and should stay there for his own health.
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welwynhoop added 12:29 - Nov 10 Very interesting and enlightening report. I like your thoughts about Dougie Freedman and Steve Gallen- a good shout.
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A40Bosh added 14:11 - Nov 10 Question to TF....... Ok, so you have sacked JFH a third of the way in to his first complete season, why? Is it purely because the football was dull and boring and thus far consistently inconsistent? ............. or Is it because the football was dull and boring BUT more importantly QPR were not consistently parked in the play off positions and near enough to the top two and that was interpreted as an early indicator that the club risked not getting back in to the Premier League this season and we would face another year with depleted income and FFP scrutiny restricting our spending and thwarted ambitions for the owners grand schemes? Because despite what you say Tony, you still need to get QPR promoted don't you. I say need, not want. Because we have to be honest here and ask if the owners are being actually honest with the club. As Norf stated in an article, they have sacked a manager of a mid-table championship club for being mid-table in the championship after 16 games - ok so technically we are 17th as of this week, but we are 5 or 6 points off of the top 6 and similar to the bottom three and we certainly are not Rotherham style fooked at this stage of the season and have been up and down the leader board over a short period of weeks. I thought the reason for appointing someone like JFH when we did and recruiting the likes of lower Championship and League One talents for this season was to help bring back stability to the club over a period of years, not weeks - and that we had to learn to take our medicine for a few years to prove to the FFP authorities and the football world that we are repentant for our previous greedy ambitions on the top flight. So why the sudden panic to have to change now? Why not give the guy the full season to prove he can operate at this level and accept mid table mediocrity for a few seasons - yes the football IS crap this season so is the medicine actually harder to swallow for both owners and supporters and neither want to swallow it any longer. We want attractive football, Tony needs promotion. So what is stability Tony? Is stability actually nothing unless it involves being back in the Premier League and therefore bringing in the financial benefits and kudos of a top flight London Club that will allow the wider investment and redevelopment projects to move forward that deliver his bigger ambitions for "the club". Is it actually a case of publicly say one thing and then another to Les and LH behind the scenes. "Yeah, Yeah, Les, stability, living within our means, cutting our cloth....yeah........yeah.......all that yeah...........but I want us back in the Premier League next season so make sure you appoint someone this time who will deliver promotion this time. It's like Lynn at our office who was hired as a "Relationship Manager" not a "Sales Manager" and told at interview that her remit was to long term manage the client relationship and build over the medium term and then 6 months later was sacked for not hitting revenue targets she never knew she had been given or never agreed to. If the truth behind the sacking is the investors fear of not getting QPR promoted this season then they won't bring in risks like Olly and Birch, i.e. a manager who has gone on a downward trajectory since he left the club and spends most of his time as a pundit - you only bring them in as Clive said because you don't trust that JFH isn't out of his depth in the Championship and don't want to risk him getting the club actually relegated instead of promoted and want someone who will bring a bounce back to the club. If you want promotion then you have to take yet another gamble on a supposed experienced campaigner who convinces you during his interview that he can get the best out of a talented bunch that are currently only under-performing, but don't worry Les I won't need to spend too much in January..... whilst all the time reminding the club that if the initial contract is to only be a short one, then that has to be counter-balanced with a decent salary - because behind it all he is currently out of work and needs a job and will say anything to Les and TF get himself a pay cheque for a few months until he gets fired for not achieving the impossible. Is it more a case that we will eventually appoint someone who will want the job because put simply they need a job, because a number of other preferred candidates will hear stuff that they don't want to commit to and are willing to walk away from talks because they know they cannot deliver what the club needs them to achieve and know where it will eventually lead. Tony goes quiet for a period of time on Twitter and then throws a couple of tweets out and you know where it is going. Short term. Short term and more short term. If the rumours are that we are going after a manager currently in post at somewhere like Birmingham and in or around the play offs then to me it says that they still cannot accept life in the Championship and want us promoted and all that says to me is more short-term after short-term appointments over the coming seasons, until they get lucky or just decide to leave things alone and let someone just get on with it and develop a decent team over the next few years.

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derbyhoop added 14:48 - Nov 10 When I see that list, every one of which comes with considerable downsides, it makes me think we should have stuck with the guy we were very careful in selecting less than a year ago. I can't say that any of them really appeal. Nor do I see any of them as an improvement. As the article on the JFH departure outlines, he wasn't without flaws either. However he had got a mid-table club to a mid-table position, which is exactly what should have been expected. I can't help thinking he wasn't really sacked for pure football reasons, but because the level of entertainment was driving attendances down.

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londonscottish added 15:20 - Nov 10 As Aitch says lets get some attacking back on the agenda. I saw a couple of great home performances towards the end of last season - Brum and Derby IIRC - and the place was rocking. It's all gone backwards since. If it's Ollie it's Ollie. At least he'll give us a bit of that.
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QPRsince1968 added 23:17 - Nov 10 Thank you A40Bosh, I think you make some great points regarding what this is really about. The appointment about to be made will reveal whether Tony Fernandes and the board are interested in the club as it really is or just the money to be made from reaching the Premier League again.
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qprninja added 15:49 - Nov 12 "Licky Licky bum hole" - Ha!
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