QPR Mangerial Possibilities..."QPR Want Venables"

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UPDATED 11:00PM GMT

Additional names have been suggested on the various QPR messageoards. Certainly fans will be interested to see who Chairman Briatore selects, given the various rumours on the boards about his role. Have a view? Express it on the QPR Report Messageboard!


Telegraph/ Sandy Macaskill - Terry Venables favourite for Queens Park Rangers job
- Terry Venables has emerged as the front-runner to replace Iain Dowie as Queens Park Rangers manager.
- Dowie, the former Crystal Palace and Charlton manager, was sacked on Friday after just 15 games in charge.
- QPR have installed winger Gareth Ainsworth as caretaker manager but are expected to appoint a new manager, their fifth in two years, without delay, with former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli also being mentioned.
- It is Venables, however, who is considered most likely to be offered the position. The 65-year-old would be a popular appointment at Loftus Road, where he played between 1969-1974, making 179 appearances and scoring 19 goals.
- Venables also managed the club between 1980-84, guiding them to the top flight in 1983, an achievement that will not have escaped the attentions of the QPR board.
- Venables has as yet refused to make his position on the role public. Similarly, his representative was last night unwilling to comment on speculation.
- QPR are also expected to sound out Mancini. The Italian, who was replaced by Jose Mourinho at Inter this summer, is currently in the capital, ostensibly to attend Chelsea's Champions League match with Roma at Stamford Bridge and take English lessons. However, while club sources yesterday refused to dismiss the speculation outright, his representative Maurizio De Giorgis said that he had no intention of joining the club.
- "Is he interested in managing in the Championship? No, no, not at all," said De Giorgis.
Dowie was informed of the club's decision to sack him yesterday after conducting a morning training session at QPR's Harlington training ground. An announcement was then made on the club's website, which stated: "The board of Queens Park Rangers Football Club has terminated the contract of manager Iain Dowie with immediate effect."
- Dowie had been at odds with Briatore over the club's summer transfer policy, but underperforming on the pitch – they are ninth – proved to be the true sticking point.
Achievements such as qualifying for the last 16 of the League Cup by defeating Aston Villa were short-lived tonics. Dowie's final game in charge was a goalless draw at Swansea on Tuesday, an embarrassing result as the opposition played for more than an hour with defender Alan Tate in goal. That Tate was forced to make just one save must have been the final straw. Telegraph


Daily Mail/Andrew Fifield
Terry Venables is QPR's top target to replace sacked manager Iain Dowie
- Terry Venables has emerged as the leading contender to be Queens Park Rangers manager following Iain Dowie's sacking after just 15 games in charge.
- QPR are hopeful Venables, who turned down Newcastle's interim manager job, will return to his former club until the end of the season.
- He has been shortlisted with Roberto Mancini, QPR midfielder Damiano Tommasi, former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli and Millwall boss Kenny Jackett.
- Venables, 65, spent four seasons in charge at the club in the 1980s and would be the big name demanded by co-owners Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone.
- Briatore asserted his authority by sacking Dowie with the club ninth in the Championship and a Carling Cup trip to Manchester United looming.
The Renault Formula One boss wants to transform QPR but is aware he will struggle to attract names with the club in the Championship.
- He will demand Dowie's successor delivers promotion this season and maintain better relations with the club's powerbrokers.
- Briatore's relationship with Dowie broke down soon after his shock appointment in May.
- The manager was unhappy Briatore refused to let him give his brother, Bob, a scouting role, while signings were also made without his input.
- The manager was also furious at Briatore's demand for a more attacking line-up after a poor run of results. Daily Mail


Football 365 - HOOPS ON LOOKOUT AS DOWIE EXITS -
QPR are looking for their fifth manager in 12 months after Iain Dowie's brief reign came to an end on Friday.
Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Mancini and legendary former Hoops boss Terry Venables are among the early names linked with the role after chairman Flavio Briatore swung the axe just 12 games into the Coca-Cola Championship season.
Venables would be the popular choice if Briatore, who this week slashed ticket prices at Loftus Road following protests from supporters, wanted to continue his charm offensive.
The 65-year-old guided Rangers to promotion to the top flight and an FA Cup final in the early 1980s before moving on to Barcelona and then England.
Dowie, who was only appointed in May, took charge of just 15 games in all competitions - exactly the same number as during his ill-fated spell at Charlton two years ago.
The former Northern Ireland striker, 43, drove away from the club's Harlington training ground for the final time this afternoon with Rangers lying ninth in the Championship table.
They are also in the last 16 of the Carling Cup, where they face a trip to Manchester United after knocking out Aston Villa in the third round.
But the Hoops have won just one of their last six games, and were held to a goalless draw at Swansea on Tuesday night despite the opposition playing for more than an hour with defender Alan Tate in goal.
Dowie was also reported to have clashed with Briatore over the club's transfer policy earlier this season, with the likes of 34-year-old ex-Italy midfielder Damiano Tommasi brought in on a one-year contract but yet to make an appearance.
Briatore's contacts are also thought to have secured the signings of Daniel Parejo, on loan from Real Madrid, and Emmanuel Ledesma from Fiorentina, but neither have been in the starting line-up recently.
Former QPR defender Paul Parker felt Dowie's dismissal was on the cards with expectation at the club at an all-time high following the investment of Briatore, Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal.
"You hear they're not happy with their manager. You read bits in the paper and that adds to the unrest," Parker told Setanta Sports News.
"It's great that they've got themselves in a better state than they were 12 months ago, but it worries me that they're chasing a dream too quickly and having no patience.
"Money can't guarantee you promotion. It takes time, it takes a lot of work, and it takes planning. You don't just top the league with maximum points.
"They're only seven points away from automatic promotion, they aren't in a bad position. It's only October."
Veteran winger Gareth Ainsworth has been placed in temporary charge for the trip to Reading on Saturday evening. Football 365