QPR's Promotion and Long Term Prospects Under Dowie and Briatore - A Trilogy of Sunday Paper Profiles

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Three Sunday papers look at the new QPR:

I: Nick Townsend/Independent - Dowie bounces back as QPR go up in the world

Iain Dowie is confident he can guide the bookies' favourites back into the elite

When he introduced the word "bouncebackability" to the English language, Iain Dowie can scarcely have imagined how it would come to define his own managerial career. He coined it when he was the manager of Crystal Palace – specifically as a testament to his side's response in a match against Arsenal – and it was apposite that it should be originated by a man who displays such an admirable contempt for adversity. Which is why, despite his travails on the way, he will start the new Championship season as the managerof QPR, who are the bookmakers' favourites to rejoin the elite after an absence of 12 years.

After a period of relative obscurity – QPR finishing 14th, 18th and 21st in the last three seasons – the bookies' odds may surprise many as they survey an ultra-competitive league. Particularly given a manager whose life and times sometimes remind you of a catherine wheel affected by damp. It bursts into life, spins, sometimes spectacularly, then splutters before picking up again.

Favouritism is not uncon-nected to the fact that the men who have reignited the blue touchpaper of his career, the Renault F1 team principal Flavio Briatore, the F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone, oh, and the world's fifth wealthiest man, Lakshmi Mittal, yield to few in monied might. Though that fellow a few miles across London at Stamford Bridge may just have something to say about that.

Yet does such conspicuous financial clout create a desire for instant gratification that may be impossible to satisfy? After all, when Mittal bought 20 per cent of the club in late December, a statement referred to the "ambition of the current shareholders to reach the Premier League in the near future".

"Only time will tell about that," says Dowie. "Yes, it's a high-profile appointment, but I'd much prefer to take over at a club with expectations than one that hasn't." So, no Chelsea-like ultimatums then? "No, nothing like that... though clearly this is an ambitious club. We want success and that means getting us out of this division. But if we're in and around the play-offs and it's clear that everyone's pushing the right way, then that's great."

Thus far, the only money spent has been on the Latvian international defender Kaspars Gorkss from Blackpool. The arrivals of goalkeeper Radek Cerny (from Sparta Prague) and defender Peter Ramage (from Newcastle) were both free transfers. There have also been loan deals involving a 20-year-old midfielder, Emmanuel Jorge Ledesema (from Genoa) and a 19-year-old striker, Samuel Di Carmine (from Fiorentina).

Though many other names have been mentioned, from Ben Watson (Crystal Palace) to Luis Figo (Inter Milan), Dowie maintains: "I've always said it's about evolution, not revolution. We still want to try and pick up one or two more players, but you've got to be sensible and not goout and smash the wage budget. We want to do things sensibly and build week on week, year on year."

In a 10-year career, this is his sixth appointment already, if we include QPR as caretaker back in 1998, between the stewardships of Ray Harford and Gerry Francis. That was followed by Oldham, before he joined Crystal Palace, whose play-off final triumph propelled them into the Premier League. Relegation ensued and he resigned, before joining Charlton in circumstances that led to litigation with Palace's chairman, Simon Jordan. But Dowie only lasted 15 matches at The Valley. Next came Coventry City, before he arrived back at Loftus Road in May.

One senses that success here would be a pointed reminder of his abilities to certain chairmen. "The situation at Charlton was difficult. You can accept Richard Murray's decision. I've got no animosity about that. The Coventry one's different. I left the club eight points above relegation. They finished one point above relegation. If that's an improvement, I don't know the meaning of the word. Nonetheless, I've nothing to prove to the people at Coventry." Dowie adds, with a laugh: "I'm too old [43] to get bitter and twisted. We all know what football is today. It's a very short-term business. People make decisions. It's down to them to live with that. You have got to move on."

He forecasts that the Championship "will be as tight as it was last year", and anticipates promotion challenges from Birmingham, Reading and possibly Wolves. "It wouldn't even surprise me if Swansea, Nottingham Forest or Doncaster don't come up and have a little go. Palace finished very well, under Neil [Warnock]. Sheffield United had a great end of season. And Burnley and Barnsley have spent money."

Still, most eyes will be on QPR. "We [Dowie and his assistant, Tim Flowers] have come in here, worked very hard, and the players have embraced what we're trying to do. We'll be a fit, organised unit. Though there's other teams in the division who've spent more, that doesn't alter the fact that this club is run by eminently successful people, who want the same from QPR. I'm not naïve enough to think this doesn't bring pressure." Independent


II: SUNDAY TELEGRAPH/Clive White -Iain Dowie: I'll use my own formula to kick-start QPR

"Queens Park Rangers are a club that's going places." A year ago, such talk would have induced a wince and a sharp intake of breath as the spectre of relegation from the Championship and possible liquidation sprang to mind.

Coming now from the mouth of their new manager, Iain Dowie, the phrase symbolises the quiet confidence of the west London club as they mix with the jet-set and harbour dreams of playing in the Champions League, before facing a more immediate dose of reality – hosting Barnsley next Saturday on the opening day of the Championship season.

The financial investment that arrived at Loftus Road when Formula One magnates Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone formally announced their takeover last November has seen a complete overhaul of the club.

Twenty players have arrived in the subsequent nine months while an Italian manager, Luigi De Canio, has been and gone after proving unable to match the demands of owners who have thrived in the 'Piranha Club' of motor racing.

Add in the world's fourth-richest man, Indian Lakshmi Mittal, who now owns 20 per cent of the club, and you now have a team who are the bookmakers' favourites for promotion, despite finishing 23 points and 13 places off the leaders last season.

It is a pressure that Dowie, 43, welcomes easily. After weeks of fervent speculation, with the name of Zinedine Zidane whispered breathlessly as De Canio's potential successor, the appointment of Dowie was a reality check.

However, the former Crystal Palace and Charlton manager insists his new club will rise to the challenge of matching the lofty expectations.

"It doesn't frighten me," says Dowie, undaunted by yesterday's narrow 2-1 defeat by Serie A side Chievo in a friendly at Loftus Road. "The profile the owners bring to the club is one of expectation, and far be it from me to worry about that – you have to embrace it. It's much, much better to be a club with expectations than one without.

"Is talk of being favourites premature? Yes, it probably is. I think it's more to do with the hype that surrounds the club. But I'm not going to change the fact we're favourites, so why worry about it?

"People are going to try and knock us off our perch, but we have to use that as a positive. I'm building a team to get QPR out of the Championship; talk of building a team to survive in the Premier League, that's something we will be dealing with next summer in an ideal world."

The excitement was tangible when Briatore and Ecclestone launched their assault on English football last season and made seven scatter-gun signings to save the club from League One. John Gregory was dismissed as manager, with De Canio appearing an interested bystander as an assortment of recruits arrived. The feeling that the owners were doing the deals rather than the manager persisted when the likes of Argentine midfielder Emmanuel Jorge Ledesma and Samuel Di Carmine, an Italian striker, were signed this summer.

But Dowie insists he is in control, and he has dismissed any suggestion that the club's benefactors should mirror Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and throw limitless funds his way or even interfere in team selection.

"Look," he says, "Ledesma and Di Carmine are my signings. I've never had an issue or discussion [with the board] about selection. Not once. I pick the team, tell the owner what it is and he says, 'I'm looking forward to it'. I speak to Flavio two or three times a week. He comes down here to see training and will be at every game – that's no problem. Gianni [Paladini] is the day-to-day guy, he's the chairman so I speak to him up to three or four times a day. What's good about it is I can focus on what I'm good at on the training field.

"The owners should be given a lot of credit as they haven't come in and gone absolutely bananas. They've not spent £7 million on a player and given him £70,000-a-week wages.

"I don't think it would be right to splash £50 million on players. That wouldn't give you the right environment. A lot of clubs spend more money than us on wages. It's been done properly, and that's the right way to do it. If we're in a position where, God willing, we can get in the Premier League, then we will have the backing to cope. If you look at Chelsea then I can understand some of the [transfer] deals.

''But for a parallel, what about Arsene Wenger at Arsenal? What he's done is bring through young kids, and they all play with style. I love that – it's my ideal environment.

"I've been around football long enough to know it's becoming more precarious. If you work short-term and make short-term decisions ... well, I'm not like that. We are putting systems in place, and we are doing that for a reason."

QPR are a club on the move – and this time it looks likely to be up, rather than down.

Who's Who
Flavio Briatore Chairman
Multi-millionaire managing director of Renault Formula One team~
Bought 54 per cent of shares in the club for £540,000 in August 2007 as part of the £14m takeover. Has since sold 20 per cent to Lakshmi Mittal~
Worth: £120m

Bernie Ecclestone
Shareholder
F1 president and commercial rights holder
Bought 15 per cent of the club for £150,000 in August 2007 as part of the £14m takeover
Worth: £2,400m

Lakshmi Mittal
Shareholder
Indian billionaire businessman
Bought 20 per cent of the club from Briatore in December 2007
Worth: £45 billion

Amit Bhatia
Vice-chairman
Investment banker who was given a place on the club’s board by Mittal, his father-in-law Sunday Telegraph


III - And already posted, yesterday: "The Sunday Times/Brian Doogan - August 3, 2008 - QPR push for promotion Money is no object for QPR but they will not follow Chelsea’s example. - Full Times Article


Also: + The OBSERVER Club by Club: The Verdict: The ChampionshipChampionship fans reveal the players to watch, the likely boo-boys, who'll go up and who's set for the drop
...QPR
Last season 14th
Promotion 7-4 Relegation 33-1
Manager Iain Dowie
ONES TO WATCH It's too early to say. Some of our good players from last season, like Akos Buzsaky, have stayed and should push on. Matthew Connolly and Peter Ramage have strengthened the defence. Samuel Di Carmine and the other new youngsters might be bargains or flops. BOO-BOYS I'm too old for that kind of thing.
I'm not terribly optimistic. There's been a lot of hullaballoo, high expectations, and the bookies even made us favourites, though God knows why. Despite some progress in the squad, we're still some way from challenging for the play-offs. Iain Dowie doesn't have a bad managerial record, but I was surprised when he was appointed. However, we're moving slowly in the right direction and we'll do better than last season.
WE'LL FINISH 8th.
GOING UP Birmingham, Derby and Reading.
GOING DOWN Nottingham Forest, Doncaster and Barnsley.
Ray Schomberg Observer reader Obsever