-
Visit the quasi-blog/messageboard for QPR and other football news (and nostalgia) and for posters' perspectives: The QPR Report Messageboard. No discussion about current events or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow posters. Just a (usually) intelligent focus on QPR and Football
No major QPR news or gossip thus far today...So in the interim: Posted on the QPR Report Messageboard
- 2001 Video: QPR's Last Game of Season at Loftus Road: Crushed
- Article: "Standing Up For The Fans"
- Magilton at Ipswich: Updated - Assessment and Flashback
- Bosnich to Norwich?
- Italian Club Owner Saying Coach Should Have followed His Tactics
- 2009-2010: Championship Football Odds
- 2009-2010 Schedule - Thus Far: Ten Days Till Fixtures Released
- A Premiership Club-by-club Look at Finances
- Football Finances: Deloitte's Annual Report - Including re Championship Clubs
- Portugal in Danger of Not Qualifying for the World Cup
- Naming Your Child After a Player
- Analysis of a Football Transfer: The Process
- Bargain Price to See Wycombe Friendly vs QPR In Style
From QPR Official Site - Summer of 2004
Some of the topics on the Official Site in June and July of 2004
LATEST PALACE FRIENDLY
Newly promoted Premiership side Crystal Palace will take on QPR at Loftus Road Stadium in a pre-season friendly in late July
LATEST DAVIES TALKS RANGERS
Rangers CEO David Davies reflects on a memorable season, and looks ahead to life in the First Division
LATEST GET INVOLVED
The QPR Live Editorial team are always trying to improve their offering and here is your chance to get involved, and win a signed Rangers shirt
LATEST FIVE RELEASED
Five players have been released by Rangers, including Steve Palmer, while several other players continue contract negotiations
LATEST OLLIE SIGNS
Ian Holloway will lead Rangers into the Coca Cola Championship in 2004/05
LATEST ROWLANDS REPUBLIC DEBUT
Martin Rowlands has made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in their 1-0 win over Romania
LATEST RANGERS PREPARE
QPR have added a pre-season tour of Scotland and a friendly against Bristol Rovers to their already confirmed visit by Dutch giants Ajax in the Summer
LATEST FURLONG SIGNS
Rangers striker Paul Furlong has signed a brand new one-year deal, keeping him at Loftus Road until the end of the 2004-05 season
LATEST TOUR OF SCOTLAND
QPR are teaming up with Lonsdale Travel to offer travel packages for the away tour in Scotland in July
LATEST BIRCH AGREES THREE YEAR DEAL
QPR midfielder Marc Bircham has agreed a new three year deal with the club which will keep him at Loftus Road until 2007
LATEST CARLISLE TO LEEDS
Representatives of Clarke Carlisle have informed Queens Park Rangers of the player's intention to sign for Leeds United
LATEST AJAX PRICES CONFIRMED
The Club have announced prices for Rangers' pre-season Loftus Road friendlies against Ajax and Premiership-bound Crystal Palace
LATEST DON'T MISS OUT
Rangers have confirmed that a maximum of 11,300 season tickets will be sold and supporters should purchase early to avoid disappointment
LATEST AWAY SEASON TICKET
Fans are reminded that if they want to purchase an away season ticket they need to send applications to the Box Office by Friday 2nd July
ATEST FIXTURES 2004/05
The fixture list is out and Rangers will welcome Rotherham United to Loftus Road on the opening day of the Coca Cola Championship season
LATEST BLACKBURN & JONES DEPART
Queens Park Rangers Football Club have announced the departure of Club Chairman Nick Blackburn and Plc Chairman Ross Jones
LATEST BEAN SIGNS NEW DEAL
Marcus Bean has signed his first Professional contract with Rangers, putting pen to paper on a one year extension to his existing one year deal
LATEST DAVIES DEPARTS
Queens Park Rangers FC can confirm that David Davies is to leave his role as Chief Executive next month
LATEST SAMANTHA TAYLOR DEPARTS
Commercial and Marketing Director Samantha Taylor has announced that she is to leave the Club
LATEST QPR 0 AJAX 1
Solitary goal wins pre-season friendly for Dutch champions against Rangers at Loftus Road
LATEST QPR WORLD LIVE
Two events for QPR World subscribers to enjoy this evening: a live Q&A with Chairman Bill Power and full commentary on Rangers v Ajax
LATEST BRING ON AJAX
After a gruelling week In Scotland, Ian Holloway can't wait for the game against Dutch champions Ajax
LATEST CAMP OFFER CONFIRMED
Queens Park Rangers can confirm that a formal offer has been made for Derby County goalkeeper Lee Camp
LATEST A FANTASTIC WEEK
QPR Fitness Coach Scott Rushton was delighted with the squad's trip to Scotland and the players' efforts both on and off the pitch
LATEST LINE UPS FROM LOFTUS ROAD
Ian Holloway has selected a strong starting XI as Rangers play host to Dutch Champions Ajax
LATEST TICKETS LATEST
Tickets are on sale for Rangers' first three home games of the season - plus details of the trips to Watford and Sunderland
LATEST LIVE Q&A WITH BILL POWER
Rangers Chairman Bill Power will be answering YOUR questions ahead of the Ajax game on Wednesday
LATEST ICT 1 QPR 1
Holloway 'delighted' after a second half Jamie Cureton equaliser earns Rangers a share of the spoils against Inverness Caledonian Thistle
LATEST CHAMPIONSHIP PROSPECTS #1
We bring you the first of a four-part analysis of Rangers' rivals in this season's Coca Cola Championship
LATEST DEVLIN ON ROTHERHAM TICKETS
QPR Chief Executive Mark Devlin has spoken about the suspension of tickets for the Rotherham game on Saturday afternoon
LATEST ROTHERHAM SALES SUSPENDED
Queens Park Rangers Football Club announce that ticket sales for the game against Rotherham have been temporarily suspended, with immediate effect
LATEST LIVE THE DREAM
Queens Park Rangers offer YOU the chance to receive your very own squad number for 2004/05 - now accepting payment by 'phone!
LATEST CHAMPIONSHIP PROSPECTS #4
The final instalment in qpr.co.uk's preview of Rangers' 23 Coca Cola Championship opponents for 2004-05
PAPER TALK DO THEY MEAN US?
QPR.CO.UK takes a look at the papers' view of Saturday's victory - plus a broadsheet's analysis of Rangers' prospects for the season
LATEST PREDICTION LEAGUE LATEST
The QPR Prediction Competition returns! Join nearly 300 other Rangers fans in predicting the outcome of all QPR's Coca-Cola Championship fixtures.
LATEST OLLIE REMAINS FOCUSED
Ian Holloway was delighted with his side's win over Crystal Palace, but remains focused on the job ahead
LATEST QPR 3 PALACE 0
On a sweltering day in west London Rangers hand out a three-goal drubbing to Premiership new boys Crystal Palace
LATEST LINE UPS FROM LOFTUS ROAD
Richard Johnson returns from injury along with Gareth Ainsworth, while Ian Holloway hands Jake Cole his first start in today's pre-season match against Crystal Palace
LATEST SANTOS SIGNS
Ipswich Town defender Georges Santos has signed a two-year deal with Queens Park Rangers
LATEST NAIRN COUNTY 0 QPR 3
Rangers secure comfortable victory on first game of Scottish tour with goals from Rowlands, Gallen and Thorpe
QPR Squad - July 2004
1 Chris Day
3 Gino Padula
5 Clarke Carlisle
6 Dan Shittu
7 Matthew Rose
8 Marc Bircham
9 Tony Thorpe
10 Kevin Gallen
11 Gareth Ainsworth
12 Marcus Bignot
13 Nicky Culkin
14 Martin Rowlands
16 Wesley Daly
17 Marcus Bean
20 Arthur Gnohere
21 Marien Ifura
22 Kevin McLeod
23 Richard Edghill
24 Jake Cole
25 John Fletcher
26 Ryan Johnson
28 Jamie Cureton
29 Paul Furlong
30 Richard Johnson
32 Jack Perry
40 Andrew Power
How Fixtures Are Prepared - With the fixtures out in ten days....
Originally from May 2007 - the Football League Play off programme, The Observer - Slightly adapted by each club. Change the year and the club and presumably pretty much the same now
How Football League Fixtures are Prepared
Bristol City Official Site - FIXTURES ALREADY BEING PROCESSED - Thu 31 May 2007
The 2006/07 football season may have just come to an end with three exciting play-off finals - but already the fixtures for the 2007/08 campaign are being compiled.
The process of building a season's fixture list is a complicated one, with fans eagerly waiting for their release on June 14th.
Football League fixture secretary David Cookson says: "I know that an awful lot of people wait for the day when the fixtures are released.
"Most of the hard work gets done during late May and June, right after the play-offs, but really it's an all-year thing."
The League begin by contacting FIFA and UEFA for their worldwide match calendar, which includes competitive and friendly international games. After that the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup dates are pumped into the computer.
Then the League can concentrate on its own games, working backwards from the May Bank Holiday for the play-offs. All other Saturday and Bank Holiday dates are then processed, before finally midweek dates are scheduled.
Cookson adds: "You can't have two neighbours (such as Bristol City and Bristol Rovers) playing at home on the same day, regardless of which divisions they are in."
That's an added complication. Worse follows when the League receives details of annual events such as Reading's V Festival, Shrewsbury's Flower Show, Brighton's Gay Pride and even Bristol's Ashton Court Balloon Fiesta.
These events use valuable police sources in their respective local areas and also cause traffic problems, so this has an impact on when home games can be scheduled.
For example, City are almost certain to be away on the opening day of the new Football League season as the Balloon Fiesta will be held in Ashton on the same day.
Cookson continued: "There are so many requests from clubs. We always try to accommodate any requests from the Police or clubs, but you can't please everybody.
"The requests are increasing each season and the demands are harder than ever to meet."
Fans often complain about having to travel long distances on Boxing Day or midweeks. But it's not always the fixture computer's fault.
"Derby games at Christmas are very much a thing of the past," Cookson admitted. "Often the local Police forces don't want them and the clubs don't want them either.
"While clubs don't want to travel too far, they also don't want to play their neighbours because at Christmas you're always going to get a good crowd, so why have your best fixture on the best day?
"More and more clubs are sending us a list of 13 or 14 clubs they don't want to play at Christmas, which makes our life almost impossible."
The same applies for Bank Holidays where Police forces charge double time. A high profile opponent on a Bank Holiday can send the club's bill through the roof.
Atos Origin are the company that supplies the fixture computer software, while Glenn Thompson is the man who devised the home and away match sequence.
A draft fixture list is produced before release day, which is ratified by The Football League, Premier League, six clubs and - on behalf of supporters everywhere - a representative from the Football Supporters Federation.
- However, with 92 clubs and several millions supporters waiting for the fixtures - you're never going to please everybody.
- "It works as well as it possibly can, bearing in mind all the external pressures," Cookson concluded. "You'll always miss something but I think we do a pretty good job of it, all things considered."
- Sources for this article: Football League play-off programme, The Observer. Bristol City
Flashback: Axing Dowie
"...You give a chance to people who deserve it," said Briatore. "Gareth deserves a chance. I gave Michael Schumacher a chance in Formula One, so it's ridiculous we need someone with experience.
"I was not happy with the football that Dowie was producing, simple as that...."
"Briatore also said Ainsworth is his own man, even though it appears evident that he has pressed for Tommasi, Parejo and Di Carmine to be brought in from the cold.
"The coach is important but the money is coming from us. If we had not made the decision about Dowie, the season could have been a big disaster. I'm not scared to make a decision. Not making a decision is often a bad decision." Huw Turberville - Telegraph Nov 3 2008
Welcome to QPR REPORT - A completely unofficial and unaffiliated fan site focusing on G-d's Chosen Team, Queen's Park Rangers (QPR) FC. (Visit also QPR Report Messageboard and Follow on Twitter.) QPR Report accepts no sponsorship, advertising or financial contributions. In 2008, QPR Report was named as one of the top two blogs in the Football League
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Football Snippets...Chris Coleman Reportedly Rejected Rangers
-
Visit the site for comination quasi-blog and messageboard for QPR and other football news (and nostalgia) and for posters' perspectives: The QPR Report Messageboard. No discussion about current events or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow posters. Just a (usually) intelligent focus on QPR and Football
No major QPR news or gossip thus far today...So in the interim: Posted on the QPR Report Messafeboard
- 2009-2010: Championship Football Odds
- 2009-2010 Schedule - Thus Far: Eleven Days Till Fixtures Released
- Magilton at Ipswich: Assessment and Flashback
- Flashback: The QPR Players of 2006-2007 Assessed
- Twenty-Five Years Ago, QPR Axe Gordon Jago (and Shortly-after, appoint Alan Mullery)
- Naming Your Child After a Player
- Analysis of a Football Transfer: The Process
- A Premiership Club-by-club Look at Finances
- Football Finances: Deloitte's Annual Report - Including re Championship Clubs
- Depressing Gascoigne Update
- Liverpool Football Losses
- Bargain Price to See Wycombe Friendly vs QPR In Style
- Video: Jim Magilton (The Player) Highlights
- Day IV: Where's Gareth Ainsworth?
- Where's QPR Youth Team Coach, Steve Brown?
- The ongoing Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread
- re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes
- Crystal Palace Warn of Fake Facebook Account for Palace Captain
- Clubs Better Equipped to Avoid Administration
- Internet Vote to Decide if To Sell a Player - Decide Not to
Coventry Evening Telegraph/Andy Turner - Chris Coleman turns down QPR offer
-COVENTRY CITY boss Chris Coleman has laughed off suggestions that he is favourite to take over as manager of home town club Swansea City FC - after turning down moneybags QPR.
- City chairman Ray Ranson revealed last night that Coleman also turned down the opportunity to switch to Queens Park Rangers.
- The billionaire London club last week asked permission to speak to Coleman about the vacancy at Loftus Road.
- But Coleman said he was wasn’t interested in a return to London and Rangers opted for former Ipswich manager Jim Magilton instead.
- Yesterday bookies were quoting Coleman as the 3-1 front-runner to take charge at Swansea when Roberto Martinez completes his move to Wigan to plug the gap left by Steve Bruce’s departure to Sunderland.
- But the Swans have not approached the Ricoh Arena for permission to speak to Coleman – and they will get the same answer as QPR if they do.
- Ranson said: “QPR’s chairman Gianni Paladini approached us last week and asked for permission to speak to Chris and I said ‘no’. I spoke to Chris and he said he wasn’t interested in going anywhere.
- “It just goes to show what a good manager we have got here – I said when I first appointed Chris that our problem would be keeping hold of him.
- “The interest from other clubs and speculation shows what a good job he is doing – he is a top-class manager and a great bloke....” QPR
And of course, David Bardsley was the latest endorser of the Magilton Appointment
QPR Official Site - BARDSLEY BACKS JIM APPOINTMENT
- Former R's right back David Bardsley knows what it takes to perform at the very highest level for both Club and country.
- So, when the former England defender popped into Loftus Road on Friday morning, www.qpr.co.uk was on hand to gauge his exclusive thoughts on the recent managerial appointment of Jim Magilton.
- "Jim was a great player and I have a lot of time for him," said Bardsley.
"It's great to see the Board give a younger Manager the opportunity to get this Club back to where they need to be and I wish him all the best."
Bardsley is currently working in the United States of America as Academy Director at Orlando FC, but keeps more than one eye on proceedings in W12.
And the 44 year-old, who made just shy of 300 appearances in all competitions for the R's during a nine year spell at Loftus Road, is predicting a bright future for the Super Hoops.
"Right now, obviously to get to Premier League standard it's all about the form we produce on the field," he said.
"The Club, for me, has always been a Premier League Club - and it always should be.
"There's a lot of hard work to do to get back there, but belief is a massive thing.
"As fans, you've got to back the new Manager; back the new people at the top; and hopefully, one, day, we will achieve that status again."
Bardsley, however, is aware of the complexity of the task facing the R's next term, adding: "You can't be naive in the fact that it's going to take a huge amount of commitment by the Club to be able to compete with the big teams that have dropped out of the Premier League this year.
"The playing staff alone will need to have a belief in themselves that they can compete at the top of this division. No matter what team they face, they need to believe.
"With Jim and his ideas - obviously he's had good experience at Ipswich too, which will help - we've got a chance.
"This is a great Club. It will always be my Club, and there's nobody more than me that wants to see us move forward." QPR
Visit the site for comination quasi-blog and messageboard for QPR and other football news (and nostalgia) and for posters' perspectives: The QPR Report Messageboard. No discussion about current events or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow posters. Just a (usually) intelligent focus on QPR and Football
No major QPR news or gossip thus far today...So in the interim: Posted on the QPR Report Messafeboard
- 2009-2010: Championship Football Odds
- 2009-2010 Schedule - Thus Far: Eleven Days Till Fixtures Released
- Magilton at Ipswich: Assessment and Flashback
- Flashback: The QPR Players of 2006-2007 Assessed
- Twenty-Five Years Ago, QPR Axe Gordon Jago (and Shortly-after, appoint Alan Mullery)
- Naming Your Child After a Player
- Analysis of a Football Transfer: The Process
- A Premiership Club-by-club Look at Finances
- Football Finances: Deloitte's Annual Report - Including re Championship Clubs
- Depressing Gascoigne Update
- Liverpool Football Losses
- Bargain Price to See Wycombe Friendly vs QPR In Style
- Video: Jim Magilton (The Player) Highlights
- Day IV: Where's Gareth Ainsworth?
- Where's QPR Youth Team Coach, Steve Brown?
- The ongoing Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread
- re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes
- Crystal Palace Warn of Fake Facebook Account for Palace Captain
- Clubs Better Equipped to Avoid Administration
- Internet Vote to Decide if To Sell a Player - Decide Not to
Coventry Evening Telegraph/Andy Turner - Chris Coleman turns down QPR offer
-COVENTRY CITY boss Chris Coleman has laughed off suggestions that he is favourite to take over as manager of home town club Swansea City FC - after turning down moneybags QPR.
- City chairman Ray Ranson revealed last night that Coleman also turned down the opportunity to switch to Queens Park Rangers.
- The billionaire London club last week asked permission to speak to Coleman about the vacancy at Loftus Road.
- But Coleman said he was wasn’t interested in a return to London and Rangers opted for former Ipswich manager Jim Magilton instead.
- Yesterday bookies were quoting Coleman as the 3-1 front-runner to take charge at Swansea when Roberto Martinez completes his move to Wigan to plug the gap left by Steve Bruce’s departure to Sunderland.
- But the Swans have not approached the Ricoh Arena for permission to speak to Coleman – and they will get the same answer as QPR if they do.
- Ranson said: “QPR’s chairman Gianni Paladini approached us last week and asked for permission to speak to Chris and I said ‘no’. I spoke to Chris and he said he wasn’t interested in going anywhere.
- “It just goes to show what a good manager we have got here – I said when I first appointed Chris that our problem would be keeping hold of him.
- “The interest from other clubs and speculation shows what a good job he is doing – he is a top-class manager and a great bloke....” QPR
And of course, David Bardsley was the latest endorser of the Magilton Appointment
QPR Official Site - BARDSLEY BACKS JIM APPOINTMENT
- Former R's right back David Bardsley knows what it takes to perform at the very highest level for both Club and country.
- So, when the former England defender popped into Loftus Road on Friday morning, www.qpr.co.uk was on hand to gauge his exclusive thoughts on the recent managerial appointment of Jim Magilton.
- "Jim was a great player and I have a lot of time for him," said Bardsley.
"It's great to see the Board give a younger Manager the opportunity to get this Club back to where they need to be and I wish him all the best."
Bardsley is currently working in the United States of America as Academy Director at Orlando FC, but keeps more than one eye on proceedings in W12.
And the 44 year-old, who made just shy of 300 appearances in all competitions for the R's during a nine year spell at Loftus Road, is predicting a bright future for the Super Hoops.
"Right now, obviously to get to Premier League standard it's all about the form we produce on the field," he said.
"The Club, for me, has always been a Premier League Club - and it always should be.
"There's a lot of hard work to do to get back there, but belief is a massive thing.
"As fans, you've got to back the new Manager; back the new people at the top; and hopefully, one, day, we will achieve that status again."
Bardsley, however, is aware of the complexity of the task facing the R's next term, adding: "You can't be naive in the fact that it's going to take a huge amount of commitment by the Club to be able to compete with the big teams that have dropped out of the Premier League this year.
"The playing staff alone will need to have a belief in themselves that they can compete at the top of this division. No matter what team they face, they need to believe.
"With Jim and his ideas - obviously he's had good experience at Ipswich too, which will help - we've got a chance.
"This is a great Club. It will always be my Club, and there's nobody more than me that wants to see us move forward." QPR
Friday, June 05, 2009
QPR Snippets...Vine Optimism....Magilton Against Delaney Sale.....Magilton and Loans...Healy on Magilton....Ex-QPR Goalie Turns Sixty
-
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR and Football - Including:
- Bargain Price to See Wycombe Friendly vs QPR In Style
- Video: Jim Magilton (The Player) Highlights
- Day III: Where's Gareth Ainsworth?
- Where's QPR Youth Team Coach, Steve Brown?
- Some of the Other Managers Who Tabloids Linked to QPR
- The ongoing Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread
- re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes
- Flashback: Two Golden Profiles of QPR's New Manager, Paulo Sousa
- Les Ferdinand on What Happened to Newcastle
- Crystal Palace Warn of Fake Facebook Account for Palace Captain
- Fans Should Accept The Reality of Football Transfers
- Football Finances: Deloitte's Annual Report - Including re Championship Clubs
- Clubs Better Equipped to Avoid Administration
- Internet Vote to Decide if To Sell a Player
- La Liga - Team of The Season
- The Greatest Fifty Players Ever List
QPR Official Site: Rowan Vine - INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS
- Rowan Vine is relishing life under Jim Magilton.
- Following the appointment of the new R's gaffer on Wednesday afternoon, Vine says he can't wait for pre-season to start so that the squad can get in shape for what promises to be an important campaign for the Club.
"I think this is a good appointment, and it's nice for the guessing games to be over," Vine told www.qpr.co.uk.
"Jim has got a lot of experience; he's played loads of games in this league as well as in the Premiership, and I think it's got all the ingredients of a good decision."
Magilton spent nearly three years managing Ipswich Town in the Championship, and Vine believes the knowledge his new boss attained in that time will be of great benefit to the R's.
"Jim knows this division inside-out, so he knows most of the players as well as the teams.
"He'll have a great understanding of what the Championship is all about. He's got everything you need to be a success here.
"That knowledge he's got is vital."
Having seen the way Magilton's sides operate at close quarters, Vine is excited by the prospect of QPR adopting a similar style of play.
"I've played against his Ipswich teams a few times and, in my eyes, they always played the game the right way, with high energy.
"I remember playing for Luton against them live on TV - and they beat us 5-0! There was a real gulf between the sides that day, and I was really impressed by his team.
"He was a good player himself with plenty of ability and I think his managerial style reflects that. Hopefully we can play some of the good football that we know this squad is capable of."
With pre-season less than four weeks away, Vine says he's pleased the appointment has been made now.
"It's important that he's come in now because it gives him time to set everything up as he wants it before we all come back.
"It's vital to have that structure in place from the start.
"He's got plenty of time to really stamp his authority on the place, and I think we'll be well prepared come August.
"I am really looking forward to meeting him and any staff he brings in, to see what they want and expect from us. Hopefully we can kick on straight away."
Vine is certainly doing everything in his power to be in top shape for the new season.
Rather than waiting for the official preparation to begin at the start of July, the 26 year-old has been a regular at the Club's training ground since the 2008/09 campaign ended.
"You can't keep me away from the place," Vine said following another self-induced training session.
"I am raring to go. I've missed a lot of football over the past year and now I'm chomping at the bit to get out there and make up for it." QPR
East Anglia Daily Times/Derek Davis - Jim set to block Town move
- JIM Magilton will try to block any further attempt by his old club Ipswich Town to land QPR left back Damien Delaney.
- The former Blues boss is well aware of Roy Keane's interest in the Irish defender and has been told Rangers would be willing to sell if they can recoup the £1.2m they paid Hull City for him in January 2008.
- Delaney struggled to hold down his place at the end of the season, when Matt Connolly was converted from his preferred central defender's berth to play at left-back.
- But Magilton, who was himself interested in landing the27-year-old when he was at Portman Road, does not want to sell to the club who sacked him and who will be a main rival for a top six place in the coming season.
- Although the final decision is not his to take, sporting director Giovanni Paladini, deals with the buying and selling of players with co-owner and chairman Flavio Briatore in overall command, Magilton's views will be taken into consideration
- Delaney is from Keane's home town of Cork but that is about as far as any connection goes.
- With two years left on his current contract Delaney is relaxed about his future and while flattered by Keane's interest has not been told he can talk to any other clubs as yet.
- He said: “There's not much you can say extra about Roy Keane is there? He's Roy Keane and a bit of a legend - but we've only met a couple of times.
- "I don't want to go shooting my mouth off about Ipswich without knowing whether they really want me - and whether Rangers want to let me go.
- "It's one thing to be wanted - it's another for clubs to agree a transfer."
- Delaney is not the only one who could be blocked from moving on.
- Nottingham Forest want Dextor Blackstock who impressed while on loan but the £1.8m asking price has yet to be met and Magilton may want the chance to use the former Southampton striker.... East Anglia Daily Times
Clubcall - Boss' loan record on line
- Jim Magilton is ready to work the loan market to improve QPR's squad and is ready to target two Man Utd defenders.
- The ex-Ipswich boss established a good record of picking up Premier League reserves while at Portman Road, signing Giovani Dos Santos from Spurs, and will look to bolster Rangers' options that way later this summer.
- His Northern Ireland connections have already alerted him to the potential availability of Old Trafford duo Craig Cathcart, 20, and Corry Evans, 18, who are both highly-rated by Sir Alex Ferguson.
- Cathcart spent most of last season on loan at Plymouth Argyle and established himself as a first-team regular and crowd favourite for his composed displays at centre-back.
- Evans, younger brother of Northern Ireland international Jonny Evans, was shortlisted for United's reserve team player of the year and has captained the youth team - playing in a number of positions at the back and in midfield.
-Magilton, who tried to sign his brother for Ipswich the season before last, is hoping to persuade Ferguson to let one, or both, come Rangers way next season.
ClubCall
David Healy/Belfast Telegraph -
- "...Another appointment this week saw my old international team-mate Jim Magilton given the job at QPR.
Jim could have a few quid to spend as well given the riches at Loftus Road.
I was shocked when Jim was sacked by Ipswich but always felt he would make a quick return and that has happened.
I’m backing him to do well at QPR." Belfast Telegraph
Ex-QPR goalie, Alan Spratley Turns 60.
- Born June 5, 1949, Spratley made his first team debut in QPR's FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa in January 1969. Perhaps not one of the best known of ex-QPR players - and certainly he didn't play that many league games for the club (about 30 games) but in the the 1968/69 "First Division Disaster season" and QPR's promotion challenging 1969/1970 season, he played about 1/3 of each of those two seasons in goal. Spratley was the backup goalie first to Mike Kelly and then to Phil Parkes.
- Spratley eventually signed for Swindon in the 1973/74 Season.
- Among the games Spratley played for QPR:
March 19, 1969 - Manchester United 8 QPR 1
Spratley Clement Hazell Hunt Watson Glover I.Morgan Sibley Clarke Marsh Leach Sub: Keetch
[Manchester United - Willie Morgan 3, George Best 2, John Aston, Brian Kidd and Nobby Stiles got the goals. Man Ut's Team included: Stepney, Fitzpatrick, Dunne, Crerand, James, Stiles, Morgan, Kidd, Aston, Law, Best]
- And QPR's final game of their First Division Season at Chelsea 19th April 1969 Chelsea 2 QPR 1 Scorers: Baldwin (2); Bridges
QPR: Alan Spratley, Dave Clement, Alan Harris, Ian Watson, Ron Hunt, Tony Hazell, Ian Morgan, Mike Leach, Frank Clarke, Rodney Marsh, Barry Bridges
Chelsea: Peter Bonetti, David Webb, Eddie McCreadie, Ron Harris, John Dempsey, Peter Osgood (Charlie Cooke), Tommy Baldwin, Alan Birchenall, Ian Hutchinson, Bobby Tambling, Peter Houseman
And in the 1970/71 season: Spratley played in the opening game a 2-1 loss at Birmingham (Mike Kelly had just been sold and Spratley was preferred to Parkes)
Spratley - The other goalie in the photo!
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR and Football - Including:
- Bargain Price to See Wycombe Friendly vs QPR In Style
- Video: Jim Magilton (The Player) Highlights
- Day III: Where's Gareth Ainsworth?
- Where's QPR Youth Team Coach, Steve Brown?
- Some of the Other Managers Who Tabloids Linked to QPR
- The ongoing Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread
- re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes
- Flashback: Two Golden Profiles of QPR's New Manager, Paulo Sousa
- Les Ferdinand on What Happened to Newcastle
- Crystal Palace Warn of Fake Facebook Account for Palace Captain
- Fans Should Accept The Reality of Football Transfers
- Football Finances: Deloitte's Annual Report - Including re Championship Clubs
- Clubs Better Equipped to Avoid Administration
- Internet Vote to Decide if To Sell a Player
- La Liga - Team of The Season
- The Greatest Fifty Players Ever List
QPR Official Site: Rowan Vine - INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS
- Rowan Vine is relishing life under Jim Magilton.
- Following the appointment of the new R's gaffer on Wednesday afternoon, Vine says he can't wait for pre-season to start so that the squad can get in shape for what promises to be an important campaign for the Club.
"I think this is a good appointment, and it's nice for the guessing games to be over," Vine told www.qpr.co.uk.
"Jim has got a lot of experience; he's played loads of games in this league as well as in the Premiership, and I think it's got all the ingredients of a good decision."
Magilton spent nearly three years managing Ipswich Town in the Championship, and Vine believes the knowledge his new boss attained in that time will be of great benefit to the R's.
"Jim knows this division inside-out, so he knows most of the players as well as the teams.
"He'll have a great understanding of what the Championship is all about. He's got everything you need to be a success here.
"That knowledge he's got is vital."
Having seen the way Magilton's sides operate at close quarters, Vine is excited by the prospect of QPR adopting a similar style of play.
"I've played against his Ipswich teams a few times and, in my eyes, they always played the game the right way, with high energy.
"I remember playing for Luton against them live on TV - and they beat us 5-0! There was a real gulf between the sides that day, and I was really impressed by his team.
"He was a good player himself with plenty of ability and I think his managerial style reflects that. Hopefully we can play some of the good football that we know this squad is capable of."
With pre-season less than four weeks away, Vine says he's pleased the appointment has been made now.
"It's important that he's come in now because it gives him time to set everything up as he wants it before we all come back.
"It's vital to have that structure in place from the start.
"He's got plenty of time to really stamp his authority on the place, and I think we'll be well prepared come August.
"I am really looking forward to meeting him and any staff he brings in, to see what they want and expect from us. Hopefully we can kick on straight away."
Vine is certainly doing everything in his power to be in top shape for the new season.
Rather than waiting for the official preparation to begin at the start of July, the 26 year-old has been a regular at the Club's training ground since the 2008/09 campaign ended.
"You can't keep me away from the place," Vine said following another self-induced training session.
"I am raring to go. I've missed a lot of football over the past year and now I'm chomping at the bit to get out there and make up for it." QPR
East Anglia Daily Times/Derek Davis - Jim set to block Town move
- JIM Magilton will try to block any further attempt by his old club Ipswich Town to land QPR left back Damien Delaney.
- The former Blues boss is well aware of Roy Keane's interest in the Irish defender and has been told Rangers would be willing to sell if they can recoup the £1.2m they paid Hull City for him in January 2008.
- Delaney struggled to hold down his place at the end of the season, when Matt Connolly was converted from his preferred central defender's berth to play at left-back.
- But Magilton, who was himself interested in landing the27-year-old when he was at Portman Road, does not want to sell to the club who sacked him and who will be a main rival for a top six place in the coming season.
- Although the final decision is not his to take, sporting director Giovanni Paladini, deals with the buying and selling of players with co-owner and chairman Flavio Briatore in overall command, Magilton's views will be taken into consideration
- Delaney is from Keane's home town of Cork but that is about as far as any connection goes.
- With two years left on his current contract Delaney is relaxed about his future and while flattered by Keane's interest has not been told he can talk to any other clubs as yet.
- He said: “There's not much you can say extra about Roy Keane is there? He's Roy Keane and a bit of a legend - but we've only met a couple of times.
- "I don't want to go shooting my mouth off about Ipswich without knowing whether they really want me - and whether Rangers want to let me go.
- "It's one thing to be wanted - it's another for clubs to agree a transfer."
- Delaney is not the only one who could be blocked from moving on.
- Nottingham Forest want Dextor Blackstock who impressed while on loan but the £1.8m asking price has yet to be met and Magilton may want the chance to use the former Southampton striker.... East Anglia Daily Times
Clubcall - Boss' loan record on line
- Jim Magilton is ready to work the loan market to improve QPR's squad and is ready to target two Man Utd defenders.
- The ex-Ipswich boss established a good record of picking up Premier League reserves while at Portman Road, signing Giovani Dos Santos from Spurs, and will look to bolster Rangers' options that way later this summer.
- His Northern Ireland connections have already alerted him to the potential availability of Old Trafford duo Craig Cathcart, 20, and Corry Evans, 18, who are both highly-rated by Sir Alex Ferguson.
- Cathcart spent most of last season on loan at Plymouth Argyle and established himself as a first-team regular and crowd favourite for his composed displays at centre-back.
- Evans, younger brother of Northern Ireland international Jonny Evans, was shortlisted for United's reserve team player of the year and has captained the youth team - playing in a number of positions at the back and in midfield.
-Magilton, who tried to sign his brother for Ipswich the season before last, is hoping to persuade Ferguson to let one, or both, come Rangers way next season.
ClubCall
David Healy/Belfast Telegraph -
- "...Another appointment this week saw my old international team-mate Jim Magilton given the job at QPR.
Jim could have a few quid to spend as well given the riches at Loftus Road.
I was shocked when Jim was sacked by Ipswich but always felt he would make a quick return and that has happened.
I’m backing him to do well at QPR." Belfast Telegraph
Ex-QPR goalie, Alan Spratley Turns 60.
- Born June 5, 1949, Spratley made his first team debut in QPR's FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa in January 1969. Perhaps not one of the best known of ex-QPR players - and certainly he didn't play that many league games for the club (about 30 games) but in the the 1968/69 "First Division Disaster season" and QPR's promotion challenging 1969/1970 season, he played about 1/3 of each of those two seasons in goal. Spratley was the backup goalie first to Mike Kelly and then to Phil Parkes.
- Spratley eventually signed for Swindon in the 1973/74 Season.
- Among the games Spratley played for QPR:
March 19, 1969 - Manchester United 8 QPR 1
Spratley Clement Hazell Hunt Watson Glover I.Morgan Sibley Clarke Marsh Leach Sub: Keetch
[Manchester United - Willie Morgan 3, George Best 2, John Aston, Brian Kidd and Nobby Stiles got the goals. Man Ut's Team included: Stepney, Fitzpatrick, Dunne, Crerand, James, Stiles, Morgan, Kidd, Aston, Law, Best]
- And QPR's final game of their First Division Season at Chelsea 19th April 1969 Chelsea 2 QPR 1 Scorers: Baldwin (2); Bridges
QPR: Alan Spratley, Dave Clement, Alan Harris, Ian Watson, Ron Hunt, Tony Hazell, Ian Morgan, Mike Leach, Frank Clarke, Rodney Marsh, Barry Bridges
Chelsea: Peter Bonetti, David Webb, Eddie McCreadie, Ron Harris, John Dempsey, Peter Osgood (Charlie Cooke), Tommy Baldwin, Alan Birchenall, Ian Hutchinson, Bobby Tambling, Peter Houseman
And in the 1970/71 season: Spratley played in the opening game a 2-1 loss at Birmingham (Mike Kelly had just been sold and Spratley was preferred to Parkes)
Spratley - The other goalie in the photo!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
"How Long Has Magilton Got?"...Delaney's Future Unknown
-
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR - Including: Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread.....re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes
Chris Charles/BBC Blog How long has Magilton got?
Breaking news...Jim Magilton sacked. Thought I'd get that in now to save me writing it at Christmas.
The QPR messageboards are awash with sweepstakes taking a punt on which date the new boss will be fired - ranging from Aug 14 all the way to mid-December. Although one optimist suggested it would be the summer of 2011, when Jimbo will be poached by Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement.
Meanwhile, Dan the fan from Great Yarmouth wrote on the Daily Mail website: "This is how I see this appointment panning out... July 18th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Juventus; July 25th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Bolton; Aug 1st Friendly: QPR 0-2 Celtic; Aug 5th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Ipswich Town Res; Aug 8th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Formula 1 Drivers' X1; Aug 11th Friendly: QPR 1-2 Shepherd's Bush under-14's; Aug 17th MAGILTON SACKED."
I can't say I'm overwhelmed with the appointment - in fact I'm not even whelmed. When Paulo Sousa was curiously shown the door, the names being bandied about as his replacement included Sven-Goran Eriksson, Big Phil Scolari and, latterly, Zico (stop sniggering at the back).
In the event we get the bloke who was deemed not good enough for Ipswich, after failing to lead them into the play-offs in three attempts - and the time it took to appoint him was only a little less than Iain Dowie lasted in his first full season at the helm.
Jim Magilton
As one wag pointed out on a fan site: "It takes two months to appoint a manager, so should the board start the interviews around now?"
Meanwhile when Sky Sports news ran the story, they produced an alarming list of stats which showed the average tenure of a QPR manager (including caretakers) since Briatore et al took control was a whole 14 games. Sir Alex Ferguson, since you ask, has presided over 1276 at Manchester United.
Still, I'm prepared to give Magsy a go - he knows the Championship inside out and you never know, he might just have all his knockers eating humble pie come May next year.
In fact I'm even prepared to do a Gareth Barry and write an open letter to our new messiah: 'Dear Jim, please can you fix it for me to be watching Premier League football at Championship prices next season? All my love, Chris'.
Incidentally, I'm still awaiting a reply to the request I sent to the other Jim back in 1977 to spend a day with Gerry Francis, Stan Bowles et al. Maybe it got lost in the post.
Whether I fork out £600 to see Magilton weave his magic in the flesh will depend on the chances of me finding the key to the padlock on my credit card which the other half has wisely squirreled away.
In the meantime I'll look on enviously as the club immediately below us in the owners' rich list compete with Real Madrid for the services of Kaka, while the only one above us snap up Gareth Barry and continue to be linked with just about every player on the planet.
Not that I'm bitter, of course. I just hope that we can improve on this assessment from another QPR fan last season - "We must be the only club in the world that have got worse since we became owned by billionaires." BBC
Delaney in limbo over £1m switch to ipswich town
Jun 3 2009 By Paul Warburton, London Informer
DAMIEN DELANEY was in limbo this morning over a prospective £1million move to Ipswich Town.
The QPR left-back admitted he "didn't know what was happening" - but was hopeful a new manager would be appointed as soon as possible, to let the Republic of Ireland international get a clearer idea of whether he was coming or literally going.
Your favourite local paper learned Ipswich have been in touch to ask about Delaney's availability but were told final decisions over his or anyone's move would only be decided when a new team supremo was appointed.
Ipswich boss Roy Keane and Delaney both come from Cork - but the Rangers defender knows little else about the Irish folk hero.
He said: "There's not much you can say extra about Roy Keane is there? He's Roy Keane and a bit of a legend - but we've only met a couple of times.
"I don't want to go shooting my mouth off about Ipswich without knowing whether they really want me - and whether Rangers want to let me go.
"It's one thing to be wanted, it's another for clubs to agree a transfer."
Delaney struggled to hold down his place at the end of the season, when Matt Connolly was converted from his preferred central defend-er's berth to play at left-back.
But the hitch in any lucrative switch for Delaney is Rs will try to recoup as much as they can of the
£1.2m they paid Hull for him in January 2008, when the 27-year-old signed a three-and-a-half year contract.
Meanwhile, Rs insiders insist paper talk linking the club with Paolo Maldini, former Brazilian ace Zico, and ex-Malaga boss Antonio
Tapia as the much-awaited new manager is wide of the mark.
Chairman Flavio Briatore arrived back from other business in Rome on Tuesday and was expected to announce one from Jim Magilton, Aidy Boothroyd, Steve Cotterill, or Lugi Di Canio in the next few days - although there have been two false alarms already over the appointment in the last three weeks alone.
A source said: "It's complicated, with all the usual difficulty over length of contract, budget and expectations all rolled into one." London Informer
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR - Including: Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread.....re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes
Chris Charles/BBC Blog How long has Magilton got?
Breaking news...Jim Magilton sacked. Thought I'd get that in now to save me writing it at Christmas.
The QPR messageboards are awash with sweepstakes taking a punt on which date the new boss will be fired - ranging from Aug 14 all the way to mid-December. Although one optimist suggested it would be the summer of 2011, when Jimbo will be poached by Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement.
Meanwhile, Dan the fan from Great Yarmouth wrote on the Daily Mail website: "This is how I see this appointment panning out... July 18th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Juventus; July 25th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Bolton; Aug 1st Friendly: QPR 0-2 Celtic; Aug 5th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Ipswich Town Res; Aug 8th Friendly: QPR 0-2 Formula 1 Drivers' X1; Aug 11th Friendly: QPR 1-2 Shepherd's Bush under-14's; Aug 17th MAGILTON SACKED."
I can't say I'm overwhelmed with the appointment - in fact I'm not even whelmed. When Paulo Sousa was curiously shown the door, the names being bandied about as his replacement included Sven-Goran Eriksson, Big Phil Scolari and, latterly, Zico (stop sniggering at the back).
In the event we get the bloke who was deemed not good enough for Ipswich, after failing to lead them into the play-offs in three attempts - and the time it took to appoint him was only a little less than Iain Dowie lasted in his first full season at the helm.
Jim Magilton
As one wag pointed out on a fan site: "It takes two months to appoint a manager, so should the board start the interviews around now?"
Meanwhile when Sky Sports news ran the story, they produced an alarming list of stats which showed the average tenure of a QPR manager (including caretakers) since Briatore et al took control was a whole 14 games. Sir Alex Ferguson, since you ask, has presided over 1276 at Manchester United.
Still, I'm prepared to give Magsy a go - he knows the Championship inside out and you never know, he might just have all his knockers eating humble pie come May next year.
In fact I'm even prepared to do a Gareth Barry and write an open letter to our new messiah: 'Dear Jim, please can you fix it for me to be watching Premier League football at Championship prices next season? All my love, Chris'.
Incidentally, I'm still awaiting a reply to the request I sent to the other Jim back in 1977 to spend a day with Gerry Francis, Stan Bowles et al. Maybe it got lost in the post.
Whether I fork out £600 to see Magilton weave his magic in the flesh will depend on the chances of me finding the key to the padlock on my credit card which the other half has wisely squirreled away.
In the meantime I'll look on enviously as the club immediately below us in the owners' rich list compete with Real Madrid for the services of Kaka, while the only one above us snap up Gareth Barry and continue to be linked with just about every player on the planet.
Not that I'm bitter, of course. I just hope that we can improve on this assessment from another QPR fan last season - "We must be the only club in the world that have got worse since we became owned by billionaires." BBC
Delaney in limbo over £1m switch to ipswich town
Jun 3 2009 By Paul Warburton, London Informer
DAMIEN DELANEY was in limbo this morning over a prospective £1million move to Ipswich Town.
The QPR left-back admitted he "didn't know what was happening" - but was hopeful a new manager would be appointed as soon as possible, to let the Republic of Ireland international get a clearer idea of whether he was coming or literally going.
Your favourite local paper learned Ipswich have been in touch to ask about Delaney's availability but were told final decisions over his or anyone's move would only be decided when a new team supremo was appointed.
Ipswich boss Roy Keane and Delaney both come from Cork - but the Rangers defender knows little else about the Irish folk hero.
He said: "There's not much you can say extra about Roy Keane is there? He's Roy Keane and a bit of a legend - but we've only met a couple of times.
"I don't want to go shooting my mouth off about Ipswich without knowing whether they really want me - and whether Rangers want to let me go.
"It's one thing to be wanted, it's another for clubs to agree a transfer."
Delaney struggled to hold down his place at the end of the season, when Matt Connolly was converted from his preferred central defend-er's berth to play at left-back.
But the hitch in any lucrative switch for Delaney is Rs will try to recoup as much as they can of the
£1.2m they paid Hull for him in January 2008, when the 27-year-old signed a three-and-a-half year contract.
Meanwhile, Rs insiders insist paper talk linking the club with Paolo Maldini, former Brazilian ace Zico, and ex-Malaga boss Antonio
Tapia as the much-awaited new manager is wide of the mark.
Chairman Flavio Briatore arrived back from other business in Rome on Tuesday and was expected to announce one from Jim Magilton, Aidy Boothroyd, Steve Cotterill, or Lugi Di Canio in the next few days - although there have been two false alarms already over the appointment in the last three weeks alone.
A source said: "It's complicated, with all the usual difficulty over length of contract, budget and expectations all rolled into one." London Informer
Magilton Assessments and Comments...Ainsworth Removed From Staff Directory
-
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR - Including: Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread.....re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes/.....Reading Appointing Rodgers and Play Chelsea Pre-Season
As noted yesterday: Gareth Ainsworth No Longer Listed on QPR Staff Directory
UPDATED STAFF DIRECTORY
Contacts
QPR Holdings Limited Chairman - Flavio Briatore
QPR Holdings Limited Vice-Chairman - Amit Bhatia
Sporting Director - Gianni Paladini
Managing Director - Alejandro Agag
Deputy Managing Director - Ali Russell
Stadium Director - John MacDonald
Finance Director - Gavin Taylor
First Team Staff
First Team Manager - Jim Magilton
Performance Manager - John Harbin
Coach - David Rouse
Kit Man - Gary Doyle
Physiotherapist - Paul Hunter
Assistant Physiotherapist - Shane Annun
Youth
Centre of Excellence Manager - Keith Ryan QPR
- Discussion - Ainsworth No Longer Listed on Staff Directory
QPR Official Site JIM: WE WANT TO GO PLACES
- New R's boss Jim Magilton insists he is as desperate for success as the loyal QPR fan-base.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, the 40 year-old - who was appointed into the managerial hot-seat on Wednesday lunchtime - outlined his blueprint for next season.
- "Myself, Mr Briatore, Mr Ecclestone, Mr Mittal and Mr Bhatia are all of the same opinion - we want to go places.
- "We are an ambitious group and we share the supporters' desperation for success.
- "If we all stick together, which is very, very important, we'll be fine. Of course, there'll be up's and down's along the way, but if we show that winning mentality, success will surely follow.
- "I think it's important that we bring that winning mentality into the Club, starting now."
- Magilton added: "We've got to go out there and produce the goods next season.
- "There's always pressure on you as a player, as there is as a Manager. QPR is something of a scalp nowadays and we have to deal with that.
- "My job is to allay fear and get the players going. Certainly if we can do that, we will improve on eleventh." QPR
Londonist - QPR And Chelsea: A Tale Of Two Football Teams
Two cash-rich, patience-poor west London football clubs unveiled their sixth managers in as many years this week. Yet the new appointments at Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers couldn't be more divergent: while the Blues' Carlo Ancelotti brings continental class, a stackload of trophies and AC Milan on his CV, the Hoops' new boss, Jim Magilton, boasts a middling playing career, a decent stab of things as Ipswich boss, and not a great deal more.
While Chelsea fans may regard an FA-Cup winning season as a disappointment, QPR fans have had nothing like the success promised to them. Upon Roman Abramovich's purchase of Chelsea in July 2003, it took the Blues less than two years to win the Premier League crown. This August will mark the two-year anniversary of QPR's buyout by a group including Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore (later joined by Lakshmi Mittal), which at the time made the club the richest in the world. Yet that wealth hasn't yet been displayed in the transfer market, and such frugality, combined with a haphazard approach to the club's coaching structure -- including caretaker managers, the club has chopped through eight bosses in the past three years -- has resulted in two seasons of mid-table obsolescence in the Championship.
Comparisons with Chelsea's success may be widely off the mark, yet in the 1990s Fulham were the subject of a similar buyout from a foreign personality. Muhammad al-Fayad bought the club in 1997, and by the close of the 2000-2001 season his team had clawed their way from the old Second Division (the third tier of English football) into the Premier League, amassing points records and plaudits along the way. Yet that achievement took a lot of money, alongside the tactical wizardry of one Kevin Keegan (don't laugh -- he got the England job based on his work at Craven Cottage). As discussed, the group propping up QPR's coffers seem ill-disposed to shovelling cash into the club, and Jim Magilton's managerial record thus far leaves little to be excited about. Chairman Briatore's description of the former Northern Ireland international as the "stand-out candidate" reflects the paucity of qualified candidates willing to get involved with a parsimonious club that so readily defenestrates failing managers.
Magilton's task is tough: take the Hoops back to the Premier League for the first time since 1996, in a season when the Championship will be dominated by three relegated clubs eager and capable to jump back up at the first opportunity. A difficult job that will only be made easier with funds to invest in a weak squad. That Magilton has been appointed at the start of summer, with three months of wheeling and dealing in the transfer market to go, augers well for the club's long-suffering fans. Londonist
East Anglia Daily Times
Jim wants Walters and Norris at QPR
DEREK DAVIS
Last updated: 6/4/2009 9:35:00 AM
JIM Magilton starts works as the new QPR boss today and will look to make Jon Walters and David Norris his first two signings.
The former Ipswich Town manager, who was sacked after failing to take the Blues to the play-offs during his three years in charge, became the fifth manager appointed by co-owner and chairman Flavio Briatore.
Magilton was handed a two-year contract at Loftus Road by Briatore and is expected to name his new assistant manager, understood to be John Gorman, this week.
He immediately pin-pointed the players he wants to bring in to improve on Rangers' 11th-placed finish from last season.
Magilton said: “There is a very strong group here and with one or two additions we can expect to be in a position to drastically improve upon last season."
“The board are highly ambitious, but they are very realistic at the same time. I have huge ambitions to achieve as a manager though, and our aim is to keep progressing, year after year."
Magilton signed Norris from Plymouth and Walters from Chester City and sources close to the Irishman claim he wants both with him at Loftus Road.
He is also keen to sign Paul McShane from Sunderland, after missing out on him when he was the Town boss when the defender chose West Brom instead of Ipswich.
Magilton will be expected to take the Hoops into the play-offs and succeed where John Gregory, Luigi De Canio, Iain Dowie and Paulo Sousa, have all failed since Briatore took over in October 2007.
Briatore has also appointed Mick Harford and Gareth Ainsworth, twice, as caretaker-managers and with fellow investors Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal at the club's disposal, Magilton will be expected to mount a swift challenge.
While QPR fans were expecting a bigger name appointment Briatore was impressd with Magilton during his four interviews.
The Italian said: “We had an incredibly high number of applicants, but Jim was the stand-out candidate for the role.
“We (the board) sat down with him on four separate occasions over the last month to discuss our goals and ambitions and he has really impressed with his knowledge, understanding and passion for football.
“He did a very good job at Ipswich Town, playing some fine, attacking football, and he has great ambition to achieve in this next chapter of his managerial career. We are all really looking forward to working with him.” East Anglia Daily Times
Bradley Allen/BBC - Magilton 'must be quick starter'
- Former Queens Park Rangers striker Bradley Allen has warned new manager Jim Magilton that he must hit the ground running at Loftus Road.
- Magilton became the fifth permanent manager appointed since the arrival of Flavio Briatore as owner in 2007.
- Allen told BBC London 94.9: "It's a big job at Queens Park Rangers. These new owners want success, instant success.
- "How long he's going to be given to move Rangers towards those play-offs is going to be interesting."
- Allen, who played for QPR between 1988 and 1996, added: "It's a very, very tough league - the Championship. If they can get off to a good start and make Loftus Road a real fortress, which is going to be important, you never know.
- "But there's some big, strong teams in that league this season and it's going to be hard for Jim."
- Magilton left his previous role at Ipswich in April and replaces Paulo Sousa as QPR manager after the former Portugal midfielder spent just five months in charge.
- Allen, now the Under-14 coach at Tottenham Hotspur, added: "I just felt (with) the continual change at QPR that they might have gone for someone with a bit more experience.
- "My old manager at Charlton, who's been out of a job since he left West Ham, Alan Curbishley, has got it on his CV to get a club out of the Championship.
- "But just perhaps he would have wanted an element of more control, that's why somebody like Alan hasn't gone for that job.
- "Whereas with regards to Jim, someone new to it, he would accept to a degree certain decisions being made and that just seems to be the case at Rangers at the moment." BBC
- Past re Magilton and Ipswich
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR - Including: Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread.....re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes/.....Reading Appointing Rodgers and Play Chelsea Pre-Season
As noted yesterday: Gareth Ainsworth No Longer Listed on QPR Staff Directory
UPDATED STAFF DIRECTORY
Contacts
QPR Holdings Limited Chairman - Flavio Briatore
QPR Holdings Limited Vice-Chairman - Amit Bhatia
Sporting Director - Gianni Paladini
Managing Director - Alejandro Agag
Deputy Managing Director - Ali Russell
Stadium Director - John MacDonald
Finance Director - Gavin Taylor
First Team Staff
First Team Manager - Jim Magilton
Performance Manager - John Harbin
Coach - David Rouse
Kit Man - Gary Doyle
Physiotherapist - Paul Hunter
Assistant Physiotherapist - Shane Annun
Youth
Centre of Excellence Manager - Keith Ryan QPR
- Discussion - Ainsworth No Longer Listed on Staff Directory
QPR Official Site JIM: WE WANT TO GO PLACES
- New R's boss Jim Magilton insists he is as desperate for success as the loyal QPR fan-base.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, the 40 year-old - who was appointed into the managerial hot-seat on Wednesday lunchtime - outlined his blueprint for next season.
- "Myself, Mr Briatore, Mr Ecclestone, Mr Mittal and Mr Bhatia are all of the same opinion - we want to go places.
- "We are an ambitious group and we share the supporters' desperation for success.
- "If we all stick together, which is very, very important, we'll be fine. Of course, there'll be up's and down's along the way, but if we show that winning mentality, success will surely follow.
- "I think it's important that we bring that winning mentality into the Club, starting now."
- Magilton added: "We've got to go out there and produce the goods next season.
- "There's always pressure on you as a player, as there is as a Manager. QPR is something of a scalp nowadays and we have to deal with that.
- "My job is to allay fear and get the players going. Certainly if we can do that, we will improve on eleventh." QPR
Londonist - QPR And Chelsea: A Tale Of Two Football Teams
Two cash-rich, patience-poor west London football clubs unveiled their sixth managers in as many years this week. Yet the new appointments at Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers couldn't be more divergent: while the Blues' Carlo Ancelotti brings continental class, a stackload of trophies and AC Milan on his CV, the Hoops' new boss, Jim Magilton, boasts a middling playing career, a decent stab of things as Ipswich boss, and not a great deal more.
While Chelsea fans may regard an FA-Cup winning season as a disappointment, QPR fans have had nothing like the success promised to them. Upon Roman Abramovich's purchase of Chelsea in July 2003, it took the Blues less than two years to win the Premier League crown. This August will mark the two-year anniversary of QPR's buyout by a group including Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore (later joined by Lakshmi Mittal), which at the time made the club the richest in the world. Yet that wealth hasn't yet been displayed in the transfer market, and such frugality, combined with a haphazard approach to the club's coaching structure -- including caretaker managers, the club has chopped through eight bosses in the past three years -- has resulted in two seasons of mid-table obsolescence in the Championship.
Comparisons with Chelsea's success may be widely off the mark, yet in the 1990s Fulham were the subject of a similar buyout from a foreign personality. Muhammad al-Fayad bought the club in 1997, and by the close of the 2000-2001 season his team had clawed their way from the old Second Division (the third tier of English football) into the Premier League, amassing points records and plaudits along the way. Yet that achievement took a lot of money, alongside the tactical wizardry of one Kevin Keegan (don't laugh -- he got the England job based on his work at Craven Cottage). As discussed, the group propping up QPR's coffers seem ill-disposed to shovelling cash into the club, and Jim Magilton's managerial record thus far leaves little to be excited about. Chairman Briatore's description of the former Northern Ireland international as the "stand-out candidate" reflects the paucity of qualified candidates willing to get involved with a parsimonious club that so readily defenestrates failing managers.
Magilton's task is tough: take the Hoops back to the Premier League for the first time since 1996, in a season when the Championship will be dominated by three relegated clubs eager and capable to jump back up at the first opportunity. A difficult job that will only be made easier with funds to invest in a weak squad. That Magilton has been appointed at the start of summer, with three months of wheeling and dealing in the transfer market to go, augers well for the club's long-suffering fans. Londonist
East Anglia Daily Times
Jim wants Walters and Norris at QPR
DEREK DAVIS
Last updated: 6/4/2009 9:35:00 AM
JIM Magilton starts works as the new QPR boss today and will look to make Jon Walters and David Norris his first two signings.
The former Ipswich Town manager, who was sacked after failing to take the Blues to the play-offs during his three years in charge, became the fifth manager appointed by co-owner and chairman Flavio Briatore.
Magilton was handed a two-year contract at Loftus Road by Briatore and is expected to name his new assistant manager, understood to be John Gorman, this week.
He immediately pin-pointed the players he wants to bring in to improve on Rangers' 11th-placed finish from last season.
Magilton said: “There is a very strong group here and with one or two additions we can expect to be in a position to drastically improve upon last season."
“The board are highly ambitious, but they are very realistic at the same time. I have huge ambitions to achieve as a manager though, and our aim is to keep progressing, year after year."
Magilton signed Norris from Plymouth and Walters from Chester City and sources close to the Irishman claim he wants both with him at Loftus Road.
He is also keen to sign Paul McShane from Sunderland, after missing out on him when he was the Town boss when the defender chose West Brom instead of Ipswich.
Magilton will be expected to take the Hoops into the play-offs and succeed where John Gregory, Luigi De Canio, Iain Dowie and Paulo Sousa, have all failed since Briatore took over in October 2007.
Briatore has also appointed Mick Harford and Gareth Ainsworth, twice, as caretaker-managers and with fellow investors Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal at the club's disposal, Magilton will be expected to mount a swift challenge.
While QPR fans were expecting a bigger name appointment Briatore was impressd with Magilton during his four interviews.
The Italian said: “We had an incredibly high number of applicants, but Jim was the stand-out candidate for the role.
“We (the board) sat down with him on four separate occasions over the last month to discuss our goals and ambitions and he has really impressed with his knowledge, understanding and passion for football.
“He did a very good job at Ipswich Town, playing some fine, attacking football, and he has great ambition to achieve in this next chapter of his managerial career. We are all really looking forward to working with him.” East Anglia Daily Times
Bradley Allen/BBC - Magilton 'must be quick starter'
- Former Queens Park Rangers striker Bradley Allen has warned new manager Jim Magilton that he must hit the ground running at Loftus Road.
- Magilton became the fifth permanent manager appointed since the arrival of Flavio Briatore as owner in 2007.
- Allen told BBC London 94.9: "It's a big job at Queens Park Rangers. These new owners want success, instant success.
- "How long he's going to be given to move Rangers towards those play-offs is going to be interesting."
- Allen, who played for QPR between 1988 and 1996, added: "It's a very, very tough league - the Championship. If they can get off to a good start and make Loftus Road a real fortress, which is going to be important, you never know.
- "But there's some big, strong teams in that league this season and it's going to be hard for Jim."
- Magilton left his previous role at Ipswich in April and replaces Paulo Sousa as QPR manager after the former Portugal midfielder spent just five months in charge.
- Allen, now the Under-14 coach at Tottenham Hotspur, added: "I just felt (with) the continual change at QPR that they might have gone for someone with a bit more experience.
- "My old manager at Charlton, who's been out of a job since he left West Ham, Alan Curbishley, has got it on his CV to get a club out of the Championship.
- "But just perhaps he would have wanted an element of more control, that's why somebody like Alan hasn't gone for that job.
- "Whereas with regards to Jim, someone new to it, he would accept to a degree certain decisions being made and that just seems to be the case at Rangers at the moment." BBC
- Past re Magilton and Ipswich
Annual English Football Finances Report
-
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR - Including the Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread.....re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes/.....Reading Appointing Rodgers and Play Chelsea Pre-Season
- Deloitte's Annual Report on Football Finances has been released. The primary focus in the Foreword and Highlights is on the Premiership Clubs, but still some interesting items re The Football League...
Deloitte - Annual Review of Football Finance 2009
FOREWORD -
- ....We publish this year’s edition amidst the gloomiest
global economic environment for decades. The
consensus among economic forecasters seems to be
that the UK economy will decline by at least 4% in
2009, the most severe contraction in a single year since
the Second World War, and other countries are
expected to suffer a similar, or worse, fate. Despite a
recent improvement in the 2010 outlook, football clubs
face extraordinarily turbulent conditions.
The long, hot summer
The Premier League itself was born during the last
recession in the UK. 1991/92 was the last season of the
old First Division. Between 1992 and 2008 the UK
economy experienced an extended bull run, growing at
an average rate of 5.4% in nominal terms. By
comparison the growth rates achieved by England’s
football leagues have been stratospheric.
The Premier League leads the way, its domestic and
international profile reaching unprecedented levels and
in turn driving the clubs’ revenues upwards. Its clubs
have transformed their stadia into state of the art
venues, while the league now attracts the world’s
greatest players, who have attracted a new and
increased fanbase, delivering a virtuous circle of growth.
The collective revenues of the 20 Premier League clubs
have grown at a compound annual rate of over 16%
and in 2007/08 are now more than eleven times those
of the then 22 clubs in 1991/92. Premier League club
revenues now stand on the verge of £2 billion, an
average of £100m per club. This is a telling reminder of
football’s extraordinary performance in revenue terms.
Meanwhile, Football League clubs have also performed
strongly. With the difficulties of the ITV Digital episode
now largely consigned to history, the Championship has
resumed its path of steady growth which has seen
annual revenue growth of almost 12%, while Leagues 1
and 2 have grown at around 10%. In almost any other
industry this would be lauded as outstanding
performance, and the Football League and its member
clubs should be proud of how far they have come.
Despite revenues having grown so strongly, improved
profitability has remained stubbornly elusive. In 1992/93,
the first year of the Premier League, cumulative operating
profits were £33m with 15 of the 22 clubs in the black.
By 2007/08 operating profits stood at £185m with only
11 of the 20 clubs delivering a positive return. Despite
the increases in revenue, the fiercely competitive nature
of the league has seen potential profits quickly competed
away, with operating margins falling from 16% to below
10%. For many owners, Premier League clubs represent
‘trophy assets’ with the potential to deliver a long term
return but which at best break even annually, rather than
a cash cow delivering an ongoing ‘dividend’.
The Sting
Clubs will face significant challenges in the short term to
maintain current performance given the economic
environment. Football is lucky, to date, to have been
largely insulated from the economic downturn by the
primarily seasonal nature of ticketing and corporate
packages, but the summer renewal period is likely to
present a significant stress test of demand. For larger
clubs, playing to sold out stadia, with strong demand for
corporate packages and wide commercial appeal, the
impact may be limited. However, for smaller clubs, where
demand is more variable, and where significant excess
capacity exists, the downside may be more pronounced.
By the time the 2009/10 season begins in August many
clubs will have a clear indicator of their overall
performance. Price is one of the few variables over
which clubs have complete control and clubs will have
been carefully reviewing marketing and pricing
strategies during the season. In an effort to boost sales,
and perhaps to show solidarity with their key
stakeholders, we have seen a change in policy almost
across the board, with price freezes or even reductions
commonplace for 2009/10.
Although conditions are likely to be difficult it is timely
to remember that the fundamentals supporting the
Game remain strong. Football occupies a key part of
England’s national identity and is deeply integrated into
many people’s everyday lives. Some emerging figures
are encouraging – in the Football League, attendances
exceeded 16m in 2008/09 for the fifth successive season
and some clubs have reported strong demand despite
disappointing on-pitch performances – Norwich City, for
example, have sold over 18,000 season tickets for
2009/10 despite being relegated to League 1. We will
monitor clubs’ performances with interest as the
summer develops.
Football remains a relatively inexpensive hospitality
option compared to other one-off events and seasonal
packages present a variety of individual opportunities.
Furthermore, many corporate hospitality buyers are
small businesses, fans in their own right who have
‘traded up’, rather than large enterprises which may
have weaker brand loyalty.
Some comfort may come from a welcome boost to
broadcasting revenues for many clubs – which may help
to offset any impact on matchday and commercial
revenues. Football League clubs will be looking forward
to a new deal from 2009/10 at more than double its
current value, while a new UEFA Champions League deal
will bring benefits to the leading Premier League clubs.
Looking further ahead, the value of live UK Premier
League rights (for the seasons 2010/11 to 2012/13)
increased by 4%, an excellent performance under the
circumstances, with international deals – likely to show
the strongest growth rates – yet to be concluded.
Road to Perdition
As we have seen in previous turbulent periods, there will
be casualties. In 2009 we have already seen Chester City,
Darlington, Southampton and Stockport County enter
Administration, and there may be others to follow. Since
2004/05, clubs which have entered Administration
receive Sporting Sanctions in terms of points penalties
handed down by the Football League. In 2008/09 AFC
Bournemouth, Luton Town, Rotherham United and the
aforementioned Darlington and Stockport County all
received points sanctions, while Luton also received
further penalties in respect of other transgressions, which
contributed to their relegation from the League itself.
While unfortunate, we do not feel that the penalties are
unreasonable. Allowing clubs to enter/exit
Administration without penalty could be seen as a form
of financial ‘doping’ whereby a club could, theoretically,
irresponsibly overspend in search of an on-pitch
advantage, then, if that failed, clear its debts and
emerge reborn and unscathed. This presents a clear
challenge to the integrity of the competition, especially
when other clubs may be working tirelessly to balance
the books on an ongoing basis – even if that means
putting a brake on their sporting aspirations. The
sanctions present a realistic deterrent to unsustainable
operating practices. We do not see how sanctions
should be seen as a barrier to responsible inward
investment, indeed their moderating impact on
competitor behaviour may provide comfort to potential
new investors.
In addition to the Football League’s well publicised steps
we are seeing further, if at times tentative, steps to
enhance the Game’s off-pitch image. In some cases these
move beyond Sporting Sanctions towards the
development and application of certain financial
regulations, fit and proper person tests for club ownership
and incentives in respect of the development of home
grown players. We applaud these initiatives, which can
only help the Game to further demonstrate its capacity to
regulate itself and achieve common goals.
However, the challenges that the application of criteria
on a supra national basis present should not be
underestimated. Clubs competing in European
competitions are drawn from a wide variety of countries
with significant social, economic and legal
circumstances, different accounting, financial reporting
and auditing environments and wide ranging business
cultures. The development of a centralised system of
financial control may be more challenging to achieve in
practice than in theory....."
DELOITTE HIGHLIGHTS
Europe’s premier leagues•
The total European football market grew by €1 billion
to €14.6 billion in 2007/08. This was primarily due to
a €0.7 billion increase in the ‘big five’ European
leagues’ revenues to €7.7 billion (England’s Premier
League, France’s Ligue 1, Germany’s Bundesliga,
Spain’s Primera and Italy’s Serie A), and the staging of
UEFA Euro 2008....
Revenue and profitability
• The overall revenues of the top 92 English
professional clubs increased by 21% to £2,458m.• Total Premier League revenues increased by £402m
(26%) in 2007/08 to £1,932m, with the average club
expected to have generated revenue of £100m in
2008/09.
• Championship revenues increased 2% to £336m in
2007/08. Total revenues of the 72 Football League
clubs exceeded £500m for the first time.• The increased revenues under the new broadcasting
contracts were the main driver of growth in the
Premier League. Their member clubs received £767m
from central broadcasting distributions (£464m in
2006/07). Additional monies, primarily from the UEFA
Champions League helped increase total broadcasting
revenues to £931m.
• Premier League clubs increased commercial revenue
to £447m (up 12%). Matchday revenue grew only
modestly to £554m (up 3%) as a result of a number
of clubs freezing ticket prices in 2007/08.
Revenue and profitability
• The overall revenues of the top 92 English
professional clubs increased by 21% to £2,458m.
• Total Premier League revenues increased by £402m
(26%) in 2007/08 to £1,932m, with the average club
expected to have generated revenue of £100m in
2008/09.
• Championship revenues increased 2% to £336m in
2007/08. Total revenues of the 72 Football League
clubs exceeded £500m for the first time
The increased revenues under the new broadcasting
contracts were the main driver of growth in the
Premier League. Their member clubs received £767m
from central broadcasting distributions (£464m in
2006/07). Additional monies, primarily from the UEFA
Champions League helped increase total broadcasting
revenues to £931m.
• Premier League clubs increased commercial revenue
to £447m (up 12%). Matchday revenue grew only
modestly to £554m (up 3%) as a result of a number
of clubs freezing ticket prices in 2007/08.
The distribution mechanism for Premier League
broadcasting revenue meant that all clubs benefited
from marked revenue increases. Even the bottom
placed club, Derby County, received £29.5m in
broadcasting revenue from the Premier League. By
comparison Watford received £16.7m when finishing
bottom in 2006/07.
• We estimate that Premier League clubs’ revenues in
2008/09 will have exceeded £2 billion. In 2009/10 we
still expect some revenue growth will be driven by the
stepped increase in domestic broadcasting deals and
higher UEFA Champions League distributions, but
with relatively flat commercial and matchday revenues
due to the economic climate. The relegation of
Newcastle United to the Championship will also have
a dampening effect on aggregate Premier League
revenue growth.
• Operating profits for the Premier League increased to
a record £185m in 2007/08. 11 Premier League clubs
recorded operating profits, up from eight in 2006/07.
• An increase of £85m in other operating costs
(i.e. excluding wage costs) in 2007/08 dampened the
increase in operating profits. This total has now
increased by £164m (42%) in two years suggesting
renewed emphasis must be placed on controlling
these costs.
• Operating losses for Championship clubs increased
from £75m to a record £102m despite increased
parachute payments to relegated clubs, and the first
solidarity payment to the rest of the Football League.
The new improved Football League broadcasting deal
which starts in 2009/10 provides a much needed
opportunity to address the losses in the Championship.
• The total tax take from the 92 professional football
clubs in 2007/08 increased by 21% to a record
£860m, and is expected to exceed £1 billion per year
with the introduction of the 50% tax rate on earnings
over £150,000. The total taxes borne by the top 92
clubs since the Premier League began in 1992/93 is
now in excess of £6.5 billion.•
In 2006/07, Manchester United were the first English
club to earn revenue of over £200m in a season. In
2007/08 they increased revenues by 21% to a record
£257m, with both Arsenal and Chelsea also breaking
the £200m threshold.
• In order to maintain operating profits, clubs will need
to really focus on controlling wage inflation. It is
unlikely that overall revenues will experience
significant growth in the current economic climate,
and therefore focussing on controlling costs will
become increasingly important.
Wages and transfers
• Wage costs in the Premier League exceeded £1 billion
for the first time in 2007/08, reaching £1.2 billion.
The increase in total wage costs of £227m (23%) is
the biggest annual absolute increase recorded by the
Premier League.
• Premier League clubs’ increase in total wages of
£342m in the two years to 2007/08 is broadly
equivalent to the £351m increase in their broadcast
revenue over this period repeating the experience of
previous significant increases in broadcasting deals.
• Despite the increase in wage costs, the surplus of
revenue over wages for Premier League clubs has
increased to a record high of £736m (2006/07:
£561m). The wages/revenue ratio for the Premier
League fell slightly to 62% in 2007/08 (2006/07: 63%),
as revenue growth of 26% outpaced wages growth.
• Chelsea, with wage costs of £172m remains the
highest spender by some distance, over £50m above
the next highest club, Manchester United, who spent
£121m. The other top five wages spenders in 2007/08
are, for the sixth season in succession, Arsenal £101m,
Liverpool £90m, and Newcastle United £75m.
• Championship clubs’ total wage costs increased by
£32m (12%) in 2007/08 to £291m, the second
consecutive year of double digit growth. The increase
in wages over the last two seasons has been over
three times greater than the increase in revenue
resulting in the wages/revenue ratio increasing to
87% (2006/07:79%; 2005/06: 72%).Across Premier League clubs there is a relatively strong
correlation between wages and league position.
However, in the Championship there is no clear link,
which highlights the division’s unpredictability and
proof that high wages are not a guarantee of onpitch
success at this level.
• Player wages across the 92 top professional clubs
exceeded £1 billion for the first time in 2007/08,
increasing by £158m (18%) to reach £1,050m.
Growth is driven by the £118m (18%) increase in
player wages of Premier League clubs however, there
has been a significant year on year increase across
each division (Championship up 17%; League 1 up
27%; and League 2 up 8%).
• Gross transfer spending across the 92 top professional
clubs grew to £779m in 2007/08, up 35% from
2006/07, the vast majority was spent by Premier
League clubs – £664m (2006/07: £492m).
• The majority of Premier League clubs’ transfer
spending continues to be with overseas clubs, with
£351m spent in 2007/08 (2006/07: £275m), however
the proportion of intra Premier League transfers has
increased. Once Football League clubs are considered
the net transfer spending leaving English football (to
non-English clubs and agents) remained steady at
£276m (2006/07: £277m).
• Chelsea became the first club to report over £80m
gross transfer spending in one season. Three others,
Liverpool (£70m), Manchester City (£62m)
and Portsmouth (£53m) had gross transfer
spend in excess of £50m.
• The net transfer movement between the
Premier League and the Football League
in 2007/08 was a net outflow from the
Premier League of £59m, an increase
of 69% from £35m in 2006/07.
• Total transfer spending by Football
League clubs has increased by 34%
to £115m (2006/07: £86m),
with ten clubs recording
transfer fees in excess of £5m
Stadia developments and operations
• Aggregate 2008/09 attendances for the Premier
League and Football League of 29.9m equalled
2007/08 levels illustrating the apparent resilience, to
date, of English football to the economic downturn.
• In the Premier League total aggregate attendances of
13.5m and an average attendance level of 35,594
per match are the second highest figures in Premier
League history, beaten only by the 13.7m from
2007/08, and underline the competition’s continued
pulling power.
• At 92%, capacity utilisation in the Premier League
stayed above the 90% mark for the 12th season in a
row with half the clubs in the Premier League
achieving capacity utilisation of more than 96% –
effectively representing a sold-out stadium.
• In the Football League 2008/09 attendances were
above 16m for the fifth year in a row, with a 1% yearon-
year increase to 16.4m. The Championship
increased attendances by 5% and is now the third
best attended league in Europe.
• Many clubs are freezing or reducing ticket prices for
2009/10 and introducing finance schemes to ease the
burden on their fans’ potentially constricted matchday
budgets arising from the economic climate. Initiatives
to attract the next generation of fans are also
increasingly evident across a number of clubs.
• Despite the absence of new landmark projects on a
scale seen in prior years, English football clubs
continue to improve their stadia and associated
facilities with £187m being invested in 2007/08. This
is the eleventh year in a row that total investment
levels have exceeded £150m.
• Cumulative investment in stadium facilities across all
professional English clubs since 1992/93 has now
comfortably exceeded £2.5 billion and we expect
investment by Premier League clubs to pass the
£2 billion mark when we compile our analysis of
the 2008/09 season’s results.
Investment in facilities over the last 16 years has led
to an aggregate stadium capacity across the season
for all 92 professional clubs of 43m, the highest level
since well before the introduction of all-seater stadia.
• Football League clubs invested £50m in facilities in
2007/08, with Championship clubs spending £43m.
Since 2007 MK Dons, Shrewsbury Town and
Colchester United have all opened new stadia and
Cardiff City are due to join them for the 2009/10
season. Brighton & Hove Albion and Chesterfield have
also begun construction on their new stadia.
Enabling development and/or the support of local
government have been important factors in the
opening of these stadia.
• As construction costs are now falling the biggest
barrier to larger stadia projects is the inability of clubs
to secure sufficient finance given the impact of the
credit crunch on debt markets.
Club financing
• Net debt in respect of Premier League clubs at the
end of the 2007/08 season increased to £3.1 billion
(2007: £2.7 billion). This includes £1.2 billion of noninterest
bearing soft loans from club owners. If these
soft loans were reclassified as, or swapped for, equity,
the total net debt in respect of Premier League clubs
would reduce by almost 40%.
• Almost two-thirds (almost £2.0 billion) of the total net
debt related to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and
Manchester United. On the positive side of the
balance sheet, in aggregate these four clubs had a
carrying value of £1 billion in respect of investment in
facilities, and a carrying value of £450m from
investment in players.
• Net interest charges in respect of Premier League
clubs in 2007/08 were £188m. The non-interest
bearing nature of loans at a number of clubs help to
keep the net debt service charge at around 6% of the
overall debt balance.
Around £1.5 billion has changed hands in respect of
over 20 changes of ownership of English clubs in the
top two divisions since the start of 2005. By the end
of 2007/08 around £250m had been injected into
clubs from these new owners to help fund operations
and investment (in facilities and playing talent).
Looking forward, this figure may increase significantly,
particularly in respect of the new owner’s investment
plans at Manchester City.
• As well as this, Roman Abramovich injected a further
£123m into Chelsea in 2007/08, to take his overall
investment in the club to around £760m in the five
years under his control. Chelsea’s management have
stated the target is for zero cash funding from the
owner in 2009/10.
• Net debt in respect of the 22 Championship clubs
who reported results at the end of the 2007/08
season was £326m (2007: £298m in respect of 20
clubs). In general, a Championship club can only hope
to significantly reduce its net debt in the
short/medium term via either promotion to the
Premier League or an injection of equity funding from
its owner.•
Below the top two divisions, managing a club’s
financial position remains a challenge from one
season to the next. Legacy debt issues and the risks
taken by some boards of directors will, without
correction, inevitably lead to a continuing flow of
insolvency cases in the seasons to come.
• The economic downturn, driven and compounded by the unprecedented liquidity crisis, has led to a reduction in the amount of active investor interest in
football clubs, and has also made some clubs’
proposed refinancing and fundraising more difficult to
achieve until credit market conditions improve in due
course. However, the fundamentals underpinning the
development of the football business in England
remain strong.
See Deloitte's Annual Report
Deloitte
- Deloitte Press Release
[Purchase a copy of the report
Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2009 Price: £600 per copy
Students Students can purchase the report at a discounted rate Price: £60 per copy
Overseas Deloitte staff only Deloitte staff from our overseas offices (outside the UK) can purchase the report at a discounted rate: Price: £60 per copy - Deloitte
See Also: - BBC - Premier League revenues near £2bn
See Also re Deloitte reports re 2008 and 2007
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR - Including the Rodney Marsh Q&A Thread.....re OneQPR-Club Meeting Minutes/.....Reading Appointing Rodgers and Play Chelsea Pre-Season
- Deloitte's Annual Report on Football Finances has been released. The primary focus in the Foreword and Highlights is on the Premiership Clubs, but still some interesting items re The Football League...
Deloitte - Annual Review of Football Finance 2009
FOREWORD -
- ....We publish this year’s edition amidst the gloomiest
global economic environment for decades. The
consensus among economic forecasters seems to be
that the UK economy will decline by at least 4% in
2009, the most severe contraction in a single year since
the Second World War, and other countries are
expected to suffer a similar, or worse, fate. Despite a
recent improvement in the 2010 outlook, football clubs
face extraordinarily turbulent conditions.
The long, hot summer
The Premier League itself was born during the last
recession in the UK. 1991/92 was the last season of the
old First Division. Between 1992 and 2008 the UK
economy experienced an extended bull run, growing at
an average rate of 5.4% in nominal terms. By
comparison the growth rates achieved by England’s
football leagues have been stratospheric.
The Premier League leads the way, its domestic and
international profile reaching unprecedented levels and
in turn driving the clubs’ revenues upwards. Its clubs
have transformed their stadia into state of the art
venues, while the league now attracts the world’s
greatest players, who have attracted a new and
increased fanbase, delivering a virtuous circle of growth.
The collective revenues of the 20 Premier League clubs
have grown at a compound annual rate of over 16%
and in 2007/08 are now more than eleven times those
of the then 22 clubs in 1991/92. Premier League club
revenues now stand on the verge of £2 billion, an
average of £100m per club. This is a telling reminder of
football’s extraordinary performance in revenue terms.
Meanwhile, Football League clubs have also performed
strongly. With the difficulties of the ITV Digital episode
now largely consigned to history, the Championship has
resumed its path of steady growth which has seen
annual revenue growth of almost 12%, while Leagues 1
and 2 have grown at around 10%. In almost any other
industry this would be lauded as outstanding
performance, and the Football League and its member
clubs should be proud of how far they have come.
Despite revenues having grown so strongly, improved
profitability has remained stubbornly elusive. In 1992/93,
the first year of the Premier League, cumulative operating
profits were £33m with 15 of the 22 clubs in the black.
By 2007/08 operating profits stood at £185m with only
11 of the 20 clubs delivering a positive return. Despite
the increases in revenue, the fiercely competitive nature
of the league has seen potential profits quickly competed
away, with operating margins falling from 16% to below
10%. For many owners, Premier League clubs represent
‘trophy assets’ with the potential to deliver a long term
return but which at best break even annually, rather than
a cash cow delivering an ongoing ‘dividend’.
The Sting
Clubs will face significant challenges in the short term to
maintain current performance given the economic
environment. Football is lucky, to date, to have been
largely insulated from the economic downturn by the
primarily seasonal nature of ticketing and corporate
packages, but the summer renewal period is likely to
present a significant stress test of demand. For larger
clubs, playing to sold out stadia, with strong demand for
corporate packages and wide commercial appeal, the
impact may be limited. However, for smaller clubs, where
demand is more variable, and where significant excess
capacity exists, the downside may be more pronounced.
By the time the 2009/10 season begins in August many
clubs will have a clear indicator of their overall
performance. Price is one of the few variables over
which clubs have complete control and clubs will have
been carefully reviewing marketing and pricing
strategies during the season. In an effort to boost sales,
and perhaps to show solidarity with their key
stakeholders, we have seen a change in policy almost
across the board, with price freezes or even reductions
commonplace for 2009/10.
Although conditions are likely to be difficult it is timely
to remember that the fundamentals supporting the
Game remain strong. Football occupies a key part of
England’s national identity and is deeply integrated into
many people’s everyday lives. Some emerging figures
are encouraging – in the Football League, attendances
exceeded 16m in 2008/09 for the fifth successive season
and some clubs have reported strong demand despite
disappointing on-pitch performances – Norwich City, for
example, have sold over 18,000 season tickets for
2009/10 despite being relegated to League 1. We will
monitor clubs’ performances with interest as the
summer develops.
Football remains a relatively inexpensive hospitality
option compared to other one-off events and seasonal
packages present a variety of individual opportunities.
Furthermore, many corporate hospitality buyers are
small businesses, fans in their own right who have
‘traded up’, rather than large enterprises which may
have weaker brand loyalty.
Some comfort may come from a welcome boost to
broadcasting revenues for many clubs – which may help
to offset any impact on matchday and commercial
revenues. Football League clubs will be looking forward
to a new deal from 2009/10 at more than double its
current value, while a new UEFA Champions League deal
will bring benefits to the leading Premier League clubs.
Looking further ahead, the value of live UK Premier
League rights (for the seasons 2010/11 to 2012/13)
increased by 4%, an excellent performance under the
circumstances, with international deals – likely to show
the strongest growth rates – yet to be concluded.
Road to Perdition
As we have seen in previous turbulent periods, there will
be casualties. In 2009 we have already seen Chester City,
Darlington, Southampton and Stockport County enter
Administration, and there may be others to follow. Since
2004/05, clubs which have entered Administration
receive Sporting Sanctions in terms of points penalties
handed down by the Football League. In 2008/09 AFC
Bournemouth, Luton Town, Rotherham United and the
aforementioned Darlington and Stockport County all
received points sanctions, while Luton also received
further penalties in respect of other transgressions, which
contributed to their relegation from the League itself.
While unfortunate, we do not feel that the penalties are
unreasonable. Allowing clubs to enter/exit
Administration without penalty could be seen as a form
of financial ‘doping’ whereby a club could, theoretically,
irresponsibly overspend in search of an on-pitch
advantage, then, if that failed, clear its debts and
emerge reborn and unscathed. This presents a clear
challenge to the integrity of the competition, especially
when other clubs may be working tirelessly to balance
the books on an ongoing basis – even if that means
putting a brake on their sporting aspirations. The
sanctions present a realistic deterrent to unsustainable
operating practices. We do not see how sanctions
should be seen as a barrier to responsible inward
investment, indeed their moderating impact on
competitor behaviour may provide comfort to potential
new investors.
In addition to the Football League’s well publicised steps
we are seeing further, if at times tentative, steps to
enhance the Game’s off-pitch image. In some cases these
move beyond Sporting Sanctions towards the
development and application of certain financial
regulations, fit and proper person tests for club ownership
and incentives in respect of the development of home
grown players. We applaud these initiatives, which can
only help the Game to further demonstrate its capacity to
regulate itself and achieve common goals.
However, the challenges that the application of criteria
on a supra national basis present should not be
underestimated. Clubs competing in European
competitions are drawn from a wide variety of countries
with significant social, economic and legal
circumstances, different accounting, financial reporting
and auditing environments and wide ranging business
cultures. The development of a centralised system of
financial control may be more challenging to achieve in
practice than in theory....."
DELOITTE HIGHLIGHTS
Europe’s premier leagues•
The total European football market grew by €1 billion
to €14.6 billion in 2007/08. This was primarily due to
a €0.7 billion increase in the ‘big five’ European
leagues’ revenues to €7.7 billion (England’s Premier
League, France’s Ligue 1, Germany’s Bundesliga,
Spain’s Primera and Italy’s Serie A), and the staging of
UEFA Euro 2008....
Revenue and profitability
• The overall revenues of the top 92 English
professional clubs increased by 21% to £2,458m.• Total Premier League revenues increased by £402m
(26%) in 2007/08 to £1,932m, with the average club
expected to have generated revenue of £100m in
2008/09.
• Championship revenues increased 2% to £336m in
2007/08. Total revenues of the 72 Football League
clubs exceeded £500m for the first time.• The increased revenues under the new broadcasting
contracts were the main driver of growth in the
Premier League. Their member clubs received £767m
from central broadcasting distributions (£464m in
2006/07). Additional monies, primarily from the UEFA
Champions League helped increase total broadcasting
revenues to £931m.
• Premier League clubs increased commercial revenue
to £447m (up 12%). Matchday revenue grew only
modestly to £554m (up 3%) as a result of a number
of clubs freezing ticket prices in 2007/08.
Revenue and profitability
• The overall revenues of the top 92 English
professional clubs increased by 21% to £2,458m.
• Total Premier League revenues increased by £402m
(26%) in 2007/08 to £1,932m, with the average club
expected to have generated revenue of £100m in
2008/09.
• Championship revenues increased 2% to £336m in
2007/08. Total revenues of the 72 Football League
clubs exceeded £500m for the first time
The increased revenues under the new broadcasting
contracts were the main driver of growth in the
Premier League. Their member clubs received £767m
from central broadcasting distributions (£464m in
2006/07). Additional monies, primarily from the UEFA
Champions League helped increase total broadcasting
revenues to £931m.
• Premier League clubs increased commercial revenue
to £447m (up 12%). Matchday revenue grew only
modestly to £554m (up 3%) as a result of a number
of clubs freezing ticket prices in 2007/08.
The distribution mechanism for Premier League
broadcasting revenue meant that all clubs benefited
from marked revenue increases. Even the bottom
placed club, Derby County, received £29.5m in
broadcasting revenue from the Premier League. By
comparison Watford received £16.7m when finishing
bottom in 2006/07.
• We estimate that Premier League clubs’ revenues in
2008/09 will have exceeded £2 billion. In 2009/10 we
still expect some revenue growth will be driven by the
stepped increase in domestic broadcasting deals and
higher UEFA Champions League distributions, but
with relatively flat commercial and matchday revenues
due to the economic climate. The relegation of
Newcastle United to the Championship will also have
a dampening effect on aggregate Premier League
revenue growth.
• Operating profits for the Premier League increased to
a record £185m in 2007/08. 11 Premier League clubs
recorded operating profits, up from eight in 2006/07.
• An increase of £85m in other operating costs
(i.e. excluding wage costs) in 2007/08 dampened the
increase in operating profits. This total has now
increased by £164m (42%) in two years suggesting
renewed emphasis must be placed on controlling
these costs.
• Operating losses for Championship clubs increased
from £75m to a record £102m despite increased
parachute payments to relegated clubs, and the first
solidarity payment to the rest of the Football League.
The new improved Football League broadcasting deal
which starts in 2009/10 provides a much needed
opportunity to address the losses in the Championship.
• The total tax take from the 92 professional football
clubs in 2007/08 increased by 21% to a record
£860m, and is expected to exceed £1 billion per year
with the introduction of the 50% tax rate on earnings
over £150,000. The total taxes borne by the top 92
clubs since the Premier League began in 1992/93 is
now in excess of £6.5 billion.•
In 2006/07, Manchester United were the first English
club to earn revenue of over £200m in a season. In
2007/08 they increased revenues by 21% to a record
£257m, with both Arsenal and Chelsea also breaking
the £200m threshold.
• In order to maintain operating profits, clubs will need
to really focus on controlling wage inflation. It is
unlikely that overall revenues will experience
significant growth in the current economic climate,
and therefore focussing on controlling costs will
become increasingly important.
Wages and transfers
• Wage costs in the Premier League exceeded £1 billion
for the first time in 2007/08, reaching £1.2 billion.
The increase in total wage costs of £227m (23%) is
the biggest annual absolute increase recorded by the
Premier League.
• Premier League clubs’ increase in total wages of
£342m in the two years to 2007/08 is broadly
equivalent to the £351m increase in their broadcast
revenue over this period repeating the experience of
previous significant increases in broadcasting deals.
• Despite the increase in wage costs, the surplus of
revenue over wages for Premier League clubs has
increased to a record high of £736m (2006/07:
£561m). The wages/revenue ratio for the Premier
League fell slightly to 62% in 2007/08 (2006/07: 63%),
as revenue growth of 26% outpaced wages growth.
• Chelsea, with wage costs of £172m remains the
highest spender by some distance, over £50m above
the next highest club, Manchester United, who spent
£121m. The other top five wages spenders in 2007/08
are, for the sixth season in succession, Arsenal £101m,
Liverpool £90m, and Newcastle United £75m.
• Championship clubs’ total wage costs increased by
£32m (12%) in 2007/08 to £291m, the second
consecutive year of double digit growth. The increase
in wages over the last two seasons has been over
three times greater than the increase in revenue
resulting in the wages/revenue ratio increasing to
87% (2006/07:79%; 2005/06: 72%).Across Premier League clubs there is a relatively strong
correlation between wages and league position.
However, in the Championship there is no clear link,
which highlights the division’s unpredictability and
proof that high wages are not a guarantee of onpitch
success at this level.
• Player wages across the 92 top professional clubs
exceeded £1 billion for the first time in 2007/08,
increasing by £158m (18%) to reach £1,050m.
Growth is driven by the £118m (18%) increase in
player wages of Premier League clubs however, there
has been a significant year on year increase across
each division (Championship up 17%; League 1 up
27%; and League 2 up 8%).
• Gross transfer spending across the 92 top professional
clubs grew to £779m in 2007/08, up 35% from
2006/07, the vast majority was spent by Premier
League clubs – £664m (2006/07: £492m).
• The majority of Premier League clubs’ transfer
spending continues to be with overseas clubs, with
£351m spent in 2007/08 (2006/07: £275m), however
the proportion of intra Premier League transfers has
increased. Once Football League clubs are considered
the net transfer spending leaving English football (to
non-English clubs and agents) remained steady at
£276m (2006/07: £277m).
• Chelsea became the first club to report over £80m
gross transfer spending in one season. Three others,
Liverpool (£70m), Manchester City (£62m)
and Portsmouth (£53m) had gross transfer
spend in excess of £50m.
• The net transfer movement between the
Premier League and the Football League
in 2007/08 was a net outflow from the
Premier League of £59m, an increase
of 69% from £35m in 2006/07.
• Total transfer spending by Football
League clubs has increased by 34%
to £115m (2006/07: £86m),
with ten clubs recording
transfer fees in excess of £5m
Stadia developments and operations
• Aggregate 2008/09 attendances for the Premier
League and Football League of 29.9m equalled
2007/08 levels illustrating the apparent resilience, to
date, of English football to the economic downturn.
• In the Premier League total aggregate attendances of
13.5m and an average attendance level of 35,594
per match are the second highest figures in Premier
League history, beaten only by the 13.7m from
2007/08, and underline the competition’s continued
pulling power.
• At 92%, capacity utilisation in the Premier League
stayed above the 90% mark for the 12th season in a
row with half the clubs in the Premier League
achieving capacity utilisation of more than 96% –
effectively representing a sold-out stadium.
• In the Football League 2008/09 attendances were
above 16m for the fifth year in a row, with a 1% yearon-
year increase to 16.4m. The Championship
increased attendances by 5% and is now the third
best attended league in Europe.
• Many clubs are freezing or reducing ticket prices for
2009/10 and introducing finance schemes to ease the
burden on their fans’ potentially constricted matchday
budgets arising from the economic climate. Initiatives
to attract the next generation of fans are also
increasingly evident across a number of clubs.
• Despite the absence of new landmark projects on a
scale seen in prior years, English football clubs
continue to improve their stadia and associated
facilities with £187m being invested in 2007/08. This
is the eleventh year in a row that total investment
levels have exceeded £150m.
• Cumulative investment in stadium facilities across all
professional English clubs since 1992/93 has now
comfortably exceeded £2.5 billion and we expect
investment by Premier League clubs to pass the
£2 billion mark when we compile our analysis of
the 2008/09 season’s results.
Investment in facilities over the last 16 years has led
to an aggregate stadium capacity across the season
for all 92 professional clubs of 43m, the highest level
since well before the introduction of all-seater stadia.
• Football League clubs invested £50m in facilities in
2007/08, with Championship clubs spending £43m.
Since 2007 MK Dons, Shrewsbury Town and
Colchester United have all opened new stadia and
Cardiff City are due to join them for the 2009/10
season. Brighton & Hove Albion and Chesterfield have
also begun construction on their new stadia.
Enabling development and/or the support of local
government have been important factors in the
opening of these stadia.
• As construction costs are now falling the biggest
barrier to larger stadia projects is the inability of clubs
to secure sufficient finance given the impact of the
credit crunch on debt markets.
Club financing
• Net debt in respect of Premier League clubs at the
end of the 2007/08 season increased to £3.1 billion
(2007: £2.7 billion). This includes £1.2 billion of noninterest
bearing soft loans from club owners. If these
soft loans were reclassified as, or swapped for, equity,
the total net debt in respect of Premier League clubs
would reduce by almost 40%.
• Almost two-thirds (almost £2.0 billion) of the total net
debt related to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and
Manchester United. On the positive side of the
balance sheet, in aggregate these four clubs had a
carrying value of £1 billion in respect of investment in
facilities, and a carrying value of £450m from
investment in players.
• Net interest charges in respect of Premier League
clubs in 2007/08 were £188m. The non-interest
bearing nature of loans at a number of clubs help to
keep the net debt service charge at around 6% of the
overall debt balance.
Around £1.5 billion has changed hands in respect of
over 20 changes of ownership of English clubs in the
top two divisions since the start of 2005. By the end
of 2007/08 around £250m had been injected into
clubs from these new owners to help fund operations
and investment (in facilities and playing talent).
Looking forward, this figure may increase significantly,
particularly in respect of the new owner’s investment
plans at Manchester City.
• As well as this, Roman Abramovich injected a further
£123m into Chelsea in 2007/08, to take his overall
investment in the club to around £760m in the five
years under his control. Chelsea’s management have
stated the target is for zero cash funding from the
owner in 2009/10.
• Net debt in respect of the 22 Championship clubs
who reported results at the end of the 2007/08
season was £326m (2007: £298m in respect of 20
clubs). In general, a Championship club can only hope
to significantly reduce its net debt in the
short/medium term via either promotion to the
Premier League or an injection of equity funding from
its owner.•
Below the top two divisions, managing a club’s
financial position remains a challenge from one
season to the next. Legacy debt issues and the risks
taken by some boards of directors will, without
correction, inevitably lead to a continuing flow of
insolvency cases in the seasons to come.
• The economic downturn, driven and compounded by the unprecedented liquidity crisis, has led to a reduction in the amount of active investor interest in
football clubs, and has also made some clubs’
proposed refinancing and fundraising more difficult to
achieve until credit market conditions improve in due
course. However, the fundamentals underpinning the
development of the football business in England
remain strong.
See Deloitte's Annual Report
Deloitte
- Deloitte Press Release
[Purchase a copy of the report
Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2009 Price: £600 per copy
Students Students can purchase the report at a discounted rate Price: £60 per copy
Overseas Deloitte staff only Deloitte staff from our overseas offices (outside the UK) can purchase the report at a discounted rate: Price: £60 per copy - Deloitte
See Also: - BBC - Premier League revenues near £2bn
See Also re Deloitte reports re 2008 and 2007
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Assessing QPR's Magilton Appointment
-
-
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! - [Click for Messageboard registration]
- Meanwhile: Gareth Ainsworth is Removed from the Staff Directory
Assessing QPR's Magilton Appointment
Dave McIntyre/BBC606 - The last man standing
-
So, Jim Magilton is the latest man handed the task of never losing a home game watched by Flavio Briatore.
His predecessors discovered that while embarrassing Briatore in front of his guests at Loftus Road doesn’t itself get you sacked, it does lead to your card being well and truly marked.
For Paulo Sousa, that point of no return was reached in February against Ipswich, whose manager that day has ended up succeeding him at Rangers.
Perhaps this time, given that the credibility of QPR’s owners is under more scrutiny than the manager’s, the axe won’t fall quite as quickly.
Magilton’s appointment has shades of Ian Holloway’s back in 2001.
A manager just sacked by another club, who few initially considered a realistic contender for QPR given his recent failure elsewhere and the other names linked with the job.
For Holloway then, read Magilton now.
The biggest similarity is that, like Holloway, Magilton quickly declared that he wanted the job and eventually got it after the club’s interest in a number of others came to nothing.
Of the other interested British candidates, only Aidy Boothroyd seems to have been seriously considered having guided Watford to promotion in 2006.
A number of foreigners have been considered, including former QPR coach Luigi De Canio who was a serious contender until recently.
In the end, the players’ preference for an English-speaking manager with Championship experience appears to have held some sway.
A departure from that would perhaps have been justified had a big name or an impressive European coach like Antonio Tapia, who established Malaga in La Liga, been prised to London.
Otherwise, a British manager with knowledge of the Championship was a sensible option, and Magilton arguably fits the bill.
His spell at Ipswich means his stock is not as high as other managers who weren’t interested or the likes of Neil Warnock and Kevin Blackwell, who weren’t obtainable.
That Magilton failed at a stable, well-run club like Ipswich has to be a concern now he has been thrown into the very different set-up at Rangers.
He has also been criticised for hesitation in the transfer market – something that will not go down well at all at QPR, a club that can’t stop and won’t stop signing players.
On the other hand, Magilton was at Ipswich a long time and many have found the going tough at clubs where they have gone straight from being a player to a manager.
Other potential positives include the fact that Magilton believes in a brand of football that would please most QPR fans as well as key players like Akos Buzsaky and Rowan Vine.
Managers take the blame when things go wrong and get the credit when they go right. That’s the nature of the game. But the bottom line is that the game is about players, and the main task for any manager is to get the best out of them.
If Magilton has learned lessons at Ipswich, then good man-management and, frankly, some basic commonsense could be enough at a club that has some very good players but has been held back by shoddiness and a general lack of direction and stability.
A definite positive is that despite being a newcomer to QPR, Magilton will not be going into the job completely blind – and that’s very important.
As a close friend of Iain Dowie, he will know what he’s getting himself into and some of the problems he is about to encounter.
And as someone who has faced QPR in recent seasons, he will already know a good deal about the squad and no doubt have ideas about how to take it forward.
Another important factor is that Rangers have taken so long over this appointment, a manager with a grasp of realistic transfer targets is needed because most clubs – certainly those who’ll challenge for promotion - tend have their summer signings in the bag or close to it long before June.
Even more importantly, he already has a good knowledge of other Championship clubs.
This is crucial, because Rangers’ scouting network needs improving and any shortcomings are more likely to be exploited with an inexperienced or foreign coach at the helm.
This was a real problem during De Canio’s brief spell, although improvements made by Dowie and Gareth Ainsworth helped Sousa after his arrival.
A new man, like any manager, can work with team reports that land on his desk.
But without a background knowledge, they are reliant on that team fielding the same players and doing the same things as when a scout happened to watch them.
You can be an outstanding coach but if the opposition change shape and bring on players you’ve never even heard of because they didn’t play when your man was watching, you’ve got a problem.
This, I believe, has been a major issue for Rangers in the past and was partly responsible for so many late goals being conceded and points dropped under De Canio.
Magilton should be given the time and support to improve the club’s whole infrastructure rather than simply being a hostage to results or the misguided opinions of his bosses.
If that happens, Rangers could be stronger a year from now.
In the meantime, that background knowledge of the Championship is vital - and many of the seemingly stronger contenders didn't have it. BBC606
-
Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! - [Click for Messageboard registration]
- Meanwhile: Gareth Ainsworth is Removed from the Staff Directory
Assessing QPR's Magilton Appointment
Dave McIntyre/BBC606 - The last man standing
-
So, Jim Magilton is the latest man handed the task of never losing a home game watched by Flavio Briatore.
His predecessors discovered that while embarrassing Briatore in front of his guests at Loftus Road doesn’t itself get you sacked, it does lead to your card being well and truly marked.
For Paulo Sousa, that point of no return was reached in February against Ipswich, whose manager that day has ended up succeeding him at Rangers.
Perhaps this time, given that the credibility of QPR’s owners is under more scrutiny than the manager’s, the axe won’t fall quite as quickly.
Magilton’s appointment has shades of Ian Holloway’s back in 2001.
A manager just sacked by another club, who few initially considered a realistic contender for QPR given his recent failure elsewhere and the other names linked with the job.
For Holloway then, read Magilton now.
The biggest similarity is that, like Holloway, Magilton quickly declared that he wanted the job and eventually got it after the club’s interest in a number of others came to nothing.
Of the other interested British candidates, only Aidy Boothroyd seems to have been seriously considered having guided Watford to promotion in 2006.
A number of foreigners have been considered, including former QPR coach Luigi De Canio who was a serious contender until recently.
In the end, the players’ preference for an English-speaking manager with Championship experience appears to have held some sway.
A departure from that would perhaps have been justified had a big name or an impressive European coach like Antonio Tapia, who established Malaga in La Liga, been prised to London.
Otherwise, a British manager with knowledge of the Championship was a sensible option, and Magilton arguably fits the bill.
His spell at Ipswich means his stock is not as high as other managers who weren’t interested or the likes of Neil Warnock and Kevin Blackwell, who weren’t obtainable.
That Magilton failed at a stable, well-run club like Ipswich has to be a concern now he has been thrown into the very different set-up at Rangers.
He has also been criticised for hesitation in the transfer market – something that will not go down well at all at QPR, a club that can’t stop and won’t stop signing players.
On the other hand, Magilton was at Ipswich a long time and many have found the going tough at clubs where they have gone straight from being a player to a manager.
Other potential positives include the fact that Magilton believes in a brand of football that would please most QPR fans as well as key players like Akos Buzsaky and Rowan Vine.
Managers take the blame when things go wrong and get the credit when they go right. That’s the nature of the game. But the bottom line is that the game is about players, and the main task for any manager is to get the best out of them.
If Magilton has learned lessons at Ipswich, then good man-management and, frankly, some basic commonsense could be enough at a club that has some very good players but has been held back by shoddiness and a general lack of direction and stability.
A definite positive is that despite being a newcomer to QPR, Magilton will not be going into the job completely blind – and that’s very important.
As a close friend of Iain Dowie, he will know what he’s getting himself into and some of the problems he is about to encounter.
And as someone who has faced QPR in recent seasons, he will already know a good deal about the squad and no doubt have ideas about how to take it forward.
Another important factor is that Rangers have taken so long over this appointment, a manager with a grasp of realistic transfer targets is needed because most clubs – certainly those who’ll challenge for promotion - tend have their summer signings in the bag or close to it long before June.
Even more importantly, he already has a good knowledge of other Championship clubs.
This is crucial, because Rangers’ scouting network needs improving and any shortcomings are more likely to be exploited with an inexperienced or foreign coach at the helm.
This was a real problem during De Canio’s brief spell, although improvements made by Dowie and Gareth Ainsworth helped Sousa after his arrival.
A new man, like any manager, can work with team reports that land on his desk.
But without a background knowledge, they are reliant on that team fielding the same players and doing the same things as when a scout happened to watch them.
You can be an outstanding coach but if the opposition change shape and bring on players you’ve never even heard of because they didn’t play when your man was watching, you’ve got a problem.
This, I believe, has been a major issue for Rangers in the past and was partly responsible for so many late goals being conceded and points dropped under De Canio.
Magilton should be given the time and support to improve the club’s whole infrastructure rather than simply being a hostage to results or the misguided opinions of his bosses.
If that happens, Rangers could be stronger a year from now.
In the meantime, that background knowledge of the Championship is vital - and many of the seemingly stronger contenders didn't have it. BBC606
Minutes of QPR Fan Groups Meeting With Club
-
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! -[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.]
- Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
- The Jim Magilton Appointed QPR Manager Articles
Released: OneQPR - Club Meeting: Report/Minutes
Meeting with the Club 15th April 2009
- ONEQPR met with the club on the 15th April 2009.
Below are the minutes of the meeting as provided by the Club.
Click here to view the Minutes
VIDEOS
- Video: QPR Dismantling of Manchester United at Loftus Road
- Video: Dave Sexton's QPR's Crushing of FC Cologne
- QPR Video from several games from 1982 and 83
- Video Compilation from Ian Holloway's QPR of 2004-2005
- Video: Terry Venables' 1983 QPR Crushing First Division Opponents
- Video: QPR vs Aylesbury
- Various Other QPR Video Links
- The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Years
- Report of ongoing Libel Case involving Ken Bates
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! -[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.]
- Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
- The Jim Magilton Appointed QPR Manager Articles
Released: OneQPR - Club Meeting: Report/Minutes
Meeting with the Club 15th April 2009
- ONEQPR met with the club on the 15th April 2009.
Below are the minutes of the meeting as provided by the Club.
Click here to view the Minutes
VIDEOS
- Video: QPR Dismantling of Manchester United at Loftus Road
- Video: Dave Sexton's QPR's Crushing of FC Cologne
- QPR Video from several games from 1982 and 83
- Video Compilation from Ian Holloway's QPR of 2004-2005
- Video: Terry Venables' 1983 QPR Crushing First Division Opponents
- Video: QPR vs Aylesbury
- Various Other QPR Video Links
- The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Years
- Report of ongoing Libel Case involving Ken Bates
Loftus Road Decision-Time: QPR Appoint Jim Magilton Manager
-
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! -[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.]
- Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
QPR Official Site EXCLUSIVE: MAGILTON APPOINTED
- Queens Park Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Jim Magilton as the Club's new Manager.
- The 40 year-old, who made over 50 appearances for Northern Ireland during an illustrious playing career for both Club and country, has put pen to paper on a two year deal at Loftus Road.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, QPR Holdings Ltd Chairman, Flavio Briatore, expressed his delight at Magilton's arrival, commenting: "We had an incredibly high number of applicants, but Jim was the stand-out candidate for the role.
- "We (the Board) sat down with him on four separate occasions over the last month to discuss our goals and ambitions and he has really impressed myself, Mr Ecclestone, Mr Mittal and Mr Bhatia with his knowledge, understanding and passion for football.
- "He did a very good job at Ipswich Town, playing some fine, attacking football, and he has great ambition to achieve in this next chapter of his managerial career. We are all really looking forward to working with him."
- Magilton enjoyed three seasons at the helm at Portman Road, inspiring the Tractor Boys to an eighth place finish in season 2007/08, before guiding them towards a comfortable top-half finish prior to his departure in April.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, the R's new boss said: "I'm really looking forward to the challenge of managing this great Football Club.
- "The Board are highly ambitious, but they are very realistic at the same time. I have huge ambitions to achieve as a Manager though, and our aim is to keep progressing, year after year.
- "There is a very strong group of players at the Club and with one or two additions over the summer, we can expect to be in a position to drastically improve upon the eleventh place finish secured last season."
Magilton will be joined at the Club by a new Assistant Manager in the coming weeks.
*The Club will be making no further comment at this stage. QPR
QPR Official Site JIM MAGILTON: IN PROFILE
- Born in Belfast in 1969, James 'Jim' Magilton served as an apprentice at Liverpool.
However, he failed to make a single appearance for the Anfield Club and was transferred to Oxford United in 1990, at the age of 21.
He went on to make 173 appearances in all competitions, scoring 42 goals, before moving to Southampton.
Arriving at The Dell as Alan Ball's second signing following his recent appointment as Manager, Magilton established himself as a key component of the Saints' midfield, with his exquisite range of passing really coming to the forefront.
- He was an ever-present for the South Coast side in the 1994/95 campaign, and went on to feature regularly under both David Merrington and Graeme Souness.
However, his decision not to sign a new contract following the appointment of Dave Jones in the summer of 1997 resulted in a £1.6million move to Sheffield Wednesday.
Magilton enjoyed mixed fortunes at Hillsborough though and soon moved to Ipswich Town on loan.
It was there that he enjoyed arguably the finest chapter of his playing career, making more than 300 appearances in all competitions, and firmly establishing his place in Tractor Boys folklore.
Sandwiched in between his time at the four aforementioned Clubs, Magilton made 52 starts for his native Northern Ireland, scoring five goals.
As his playing days reached a conclusion, Magilton made a tentative approach to fill the vacant managerial role following Joe Royle's departure and he was officially handed the role in early June 2006.
He guided the Tractor Boys to a 14th place finish in his first campaign at the helm, before leading Town to a highly satisfactory eighth place finish 12 months later.
Town were desperately unlucky not to book their place in the end of season play-off's, falling just one point shy of the top six, with an exemplary home record.
However, following changes at Boardroom level at Portman Road towards the end of last season, Magilton was relieved of his duties in April 2009, with the Club in ninth place. QPR
- Magilton Background)
Daily Mirror - Jim Magilton appointed fifth QPR manager since October 2007
- QPR have named former Ipswich boss Jim Magilton as their new manager.
- The 40-year-old, who was sacked by the Tractor Boys in April after failing to guide them into the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs, has signed a two-year deal at Loftus Road.
- Magilton will now be expected to ensure Rangers are challenging for promotion back to the Barclays Premier League after a disappointing 11th-placed finish last term.
- "There is a very strong group here and with one or two additions we can expect to be in a position to drastically improve upon last season," he said.
- Magilton becomes the fifth permanent manager at the west London club since chairman and co-owner Flavio Briatore arrived on the scene in October 2007.
- John Gregory, Luigi De Canio, Iain Dowie and Paulo Sousa have all come and gone, along with caretakers Mick Harford and Gareth Ainsworth - who has been at the helm twice.
- With the wealth of Briatore and fellow investors Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal at the club's disposal, Magilton will be expected to mount a swift challenge.
- The former Northern Ireland, Ipswich and Southampton midfielder was given funds at Portman Road, but despite falling short last season he has impressed Briatore.
- "We had an incredibly high number of applicants, but Jim was the stand-out candidate for the role," said Briatore.
- "We (the board) sat down with him on four separate occasions over the last month to discuss our goals and ambitions and he has really impressed with his knowledge, understanding and passion for football.
"He did a very good job at Ipswich Town, playing some fine, attacking football, and he has great ambition to achieve in this next chapter of his managerial career. We are all really looking forward to working with him."
Magilton, who will name his assistant manager in the coming weeks, added: "I'm really looking forward to the challenge of managing this great football club.
"The board are highly ambitious, but they are very realistic at the same time. I have huge ambitions to achieve as a manager though, and our aim is to keep progressing, year after year." Daily Mirror
LONDON INFORMER/Paul Warburton - Magilton named new QPR boss
- JIM MAGILTON has beaten a score of candidates to secure a two-year contract and become QPR’s eighth manager in three years.
- The former Ipswich boss signed on the dotted line this morning – and starts work on rebuilding the team immediately.
- The appointment of the ex-Northern Ireland international comes almost two months after Paulo Sousa became the last incumbent of the Loftus Road hot-seat to feel the wrath of the board and get sacked.
- Magilton beat off the likes of Aidy Boothroyd, Steve Cotterill, Colin Calderwood, former boss Luigi Di Canio, not to mention another 16 or so managers who also chucked their names into the hat, ‘because he has the finger on the pulse of what championship football is all about’ according to one Rs insider.
- The source added: "He has exactly the background for Championship success – and after three years with Ipswich, he knows what to do.
- "He’s twice come very close with Ipswich – and QPR believe he can take the final step up and take the team into the Premiership."
- Chairman Flavio Britaore privately admitted he got burned by appointing Sousa, who came with a recommendation from Fabio Capello, but no knowledge of the second tier of English football.
- Interestingly, Magilton was reportedly fired by the Tractor Boys in April because he failed to get them in the play-offs despite heavy investment in the team.
- Briatore is reluctant to shell out millions in order to secure a dream return by Rangers to the top-flight after 13 years.
- So the new man at the helm has been told he needs to wheel-and-deal with the squad he’s inherited or pick up Bosmans to change the team into his own image.
- Magilton’s first decision is to decide whether to go ahead with the combined £2.5 million switch of Dexter Blackstock and Lee Camp to Nottingham Forest, as well as allowing Roy Keane to buy Damien Delaney and spirit the defender away to of all places – Ipswich. London Informer
VIDEOS
- Video: QPR Dismantling of Manchester United at Loftus Road
- Video: Dave Sexton's QPR's Crushing of FC Cologne
- QPR Video from several games from 1982 and 83
- Video Compilation from Ian Holloway's QPR of 2004-2005
- Video: Terry Venables' 1983 QPR Crushing First Division Opponents
- Video: QPR vs Aylesbury
- Various Other QPR Video Links
- The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Years
- Report of ongoing Libel Case involving Ken Bates
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! -[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.]
- Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
QPR Official Site EXCLUSIVE: MAGILTON APPOINTED
- Queens Park Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Jim Magilton as the Club's new Manager.
- The 40 year-old, who made over 50 appearances for Northern Ireland during an illustrious playing career for both Club and country, has put pen to paper on a two year deal at Loftus Road.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, QPR Holdings Ltd Chairman, Flavio Briatore, expressed his delight at Magilton's arrival, commenting: "We had an incredibly high number of applicants, but Jim was the stand-out candidate for the role.
- "We (the Board) sat down with him on four separate occasions over the last month to discuss our goals and ambitions and he has really impressed myself, Mr Ecclestone, Mr Mittal and Mr Bhatia with his knowledge, understanding and passion for football.
- "He did a very good job at Ipswich Town, playing some fine, attacking football, and he has great ambition to achieve in this next chapter of his managerial career. We are all really looking forward to working with him."
- Magilton enjoyed three seasons at the helm at Portman Road, inspiring the Tractor Boys to an eighth place finish in season 2007/08, before guiding them towards a comfortable top-half finish prior to his departure in April.
- Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, the R's new boss said: "I'm really looking forward to the challenge of managing this great Football Club.
- "The Board are highly ambitious, but they are very realistic at the same time. I have huge ambitions to achieve as a Manager though, and our aim is to keep progressing, year after year.
- "There is a very strong group of players at the Club and with one or two additions over the summer, we can expect to be in a position to drastically improve upon the eleventh place finish secured last season."
Magilton will be joined at the Club by a new Assistant Manager in the coming weeks.
*The Club will be making no further comment at this stage. QPR
QPR Official Site JIM MAGILTON: IN PROFILE
- Born in Belfast in 1969, James 'Jim' Magilton served as an apprentice at Liverpool.
However, he failed to make a single appearance for the Anfield Club and was transferred to Oxford United in 1990, at the age of 21.
He went on to make 173 appearances in all competitions, scoring 42 goals, before moving to Southampton.
Arriving at The Dell as Alan Ball's second signing following his recent appointment as Manager, Magilton established himself as a key component of the Saints' midfield, with his exquisite range of passing really coming to the forefront.
- He was an ever-present for the South Coast side in the 1994/95 campaign, and went on to feature regularly under both David Merrington and Graeme Souness.
However, his decision not to sign a new contract following the appointment of Dave Jones in the summer of 1997 resulted in a £1.6million move to Sheffield Wednesday.
Magilton enjoyed mixed fortunes at Hillsborough though and soon moved to Ipswich Town on loan.
It was there that he enjoyed arguably the finest chapter of his playing career, making more than 300 appearances in all competitions, and firmly establishing his place in Tractor Boys folklore.
Sandwiched in between his time at the four aforementioned Clubs, Magilton made 52 starts for his native Northern Ireland, scoring five goals.
As his playing days reached a conclusion, Magilton made a tentative approach to fill the vacant managerial role following Joe Royle's departure and he was officially handed the role in early June 2006.
He guided the Tractor Boys to a 14th place finish in his first campaign at the helm, before leading Town to a highly satisfactory eighth place finish 12 months later.
Town were desperately unlucky not to book their place in the end of season play-off's, falling just one point shy of the top six, with an exemplary home record.
However, following changes at Boardroom level at Portman Road towards the end of last season, Magilton was relieved of his duties in April 2009, with the Club in ninth place. QPR
- Magilton Background)
Daily Mirror - Jim Magilton appointed fifth QPR manager since October 2007
- QPR have named former Ipswich boss Jim Magilton as their new manager.
- The 40-year-old, who was sacked by the Tractor Boys in April after failing to guide them into the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs, has signed a two-year deal at Loftus Road.
- Magilton will now be expected to ensure Rangers are challenging for promotion back to the Barclays Premier League after a disappointing 11th-placed finish last term.
- "There is a very strong group here and with one or two additions we can expect to be in a position to drastically improve upon last season," he said.
- Magilton becomes the fifth permanent manager at the west London club since chairman and co-owner Flavio Briatore arrived on the scene in October 2007.
- John Gregory, Luigi De Canio, Iain Dowie and Paulo Sousa have all come and gone, along with caretakers Mick Harford and Gareth Ainsworth - who has been at the helm twice.
- With the wealth of Briatore and fellow investors Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal at the club's disposal, Magilton will be expected to mount a swift challenge.
- The former Northern Ireland, Ipswich and Southampton midfielder was given funds at Portman Road, but despite falling short last season he has impressed Briatore.
- "We had an incredibly high number of applicants, but Jim was the stand-out candidate for the role," said Briatore.
- "We (the board) sat down with him on four separate occasions over the last month to discuss our goals and ambitions and he has really impressed with his knowledge, understanding and passion for football.
"He did a very good job at Ipswich Town, playing some fine, attacking football, and he has great ambition to achieve in this next chapter of his managerial career. We are all really looking forward to working with him."
Magilton, who will name his assistant manager in the coming weeks, added: "I'm really looking forward to the challenge of managing this great football club.
"The board are highly ambitious, but they are very realistic at the same time. I have huge ambitions to achieve as a manager though, and our aim is to keep progressing, year after year." Daily Mirror
LONDON INFORMER/Paul Warburton - Magilton named new QPR boss
- JIM MAGILTON has beaten a score of candidates to secure a two-year contract and become QPR’s eighth manager in three years.
- The former Ipswich boss signed on the dotted line this morning – and starts work on rebuilding the team immediately.
- The appointment of the ex-Northern Ireland international comes almost two months after Paulo Sousa became the last incumbent of the Loftus Road hot-seat to feel the wrath of the board and get sacked.
- Magilton beat off the likes of Aidy Boothroyd, Steve Cotterill, Colin Calderwood, former boss Luigi Di Canio, not to mention another 16 or so managers who also chucked their names into the hat, ‘because he has the finger on the pulse of what championship football is all about’ according to one Rs insider.
- The source added: "He has exactly the background for Championship success – and after three years with Ipswich, he knows what to do.
- "He’s twice come very close with Ipswich – and QPR believe he can take the final step up and take the team into the Premiership."
- Chairman Flavio Britaore privately admitted he got burned by appointing Sousa, who came with a recommendation from Fabio Capello, but no knowledge of the second tier of English football.
- Interestingly, Magilton was reportedly fired by the Tractor Boys in April because he failed to get them in the play-offs despite heavy investment in the team.
- Briatore is reluctant to shell out millions in order to secure a dream return by Rangers to the top-flight after 13 years.
- So the new man at the helm has been told he needs to wheel-and-deal with the squad he’s inherited or pick up Bosmans to change the team into his own image.
- Magilton’s first decision is to decide whether to go ahead with the combined £2.5 million switch of Dexter Blackstock and Lee Camp to Nottingham Forest, as well as allowing Roy Keane to buy Damien Delaney and spirit the defender away to of all places – Ipswich. London Informer
VIDEOS
- Video: QPR Dismantling of Manchester United at Loftus Road
- Video: Dave Sexton's QPR's Crushing of FC Cologne
- QPR Video from several games from 1982 and 83
- Video Compilation from Ian Holloway's QPR of 2004-2005
- Video: Terry Venables' 1983 QPR Crushing First Division Opponents
- Video: QPR vs Aylesbury
- Various Other QPR Video Links
- The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Years
- Report of ongoing Libel Case involving Ken Bates
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
QPR Snippets - Several Videos
-
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! -[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.]
- Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
- As QPR fans wait for the announcement of the new Manager (Strongly, strongly rumoured to be Jim Magilton (Magilton Background), recently axed by Ipswich....)
- QPR Official Site REGISTER FOR NEW MANAGER UPDATES!
- If you want official news on our next Manager instantly, then sign up to our text message service and get breaking news texted straight to you as it happens.
- That way, whenever you're away from your lap-top or computer, you'll be able to stay in touch with all the latest news from Loftus Road..." QPR
- Video: QPR Dismantling of Manchester United at Loftus Road
- Video: Dave Sexton's QPR's Crushing of FC Cologne
- QPR Video from several games from 1982 and 83
- Video Compilation from Ian Holloway's QPR of 2004-2005
- Video: Terry Venables' 1983 QPR Crushing First Division Opponents
- Video: QPR vs Aylesbury
- News of Ex-QPRs: Dichio, Padula and Pickens.
- Premiership Clubs 3 Billion Pounds in Debt
- Darren Ferguson Refused Permission to Speak to Reading
- Gerry Francis and Stoke City
- The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Years
- Report of ongoing Libel Case involving Ken Bates
- Various Other QPR Video Links
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-- Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)! -[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.]
- Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
- As QPR fans wait for the announcement of the new Manager (Strongly, strongly rumoured to be Jim Magilton (Magilton Background), recently axed by Ipswich....)
- QPR Official Site REGISTER FOR NEW MANAGER UPDATES!
- If you want official news on our next Manager instantly, then sign up to our text message service and get breaking news texted straight to you as it happens.
- That way, whenever you're away from your lap-top or computer, you'll be able to stay in touch with all the latest news from Loftus Road..." QPR
- Video: QPR Dismantling of Manchester United at Loftus Road
- Video: Dave Sexton's QPR's Crushing of FC Cologne
- QPR Video from several games from 1982 and 83
- Video Compilation from Ian Holloway's QPR of 2004-2005
- Video: Terry Venables' 1983 QPR Crushing First Division Opponents
- Video: QPR vs Aylesbury
- News of Ex-QPRs: Dichio, Padula and Pickens.
- Premiership Clubs 3 Billion Pounds in Debt
- Darren Ferguson Refused Permission to Speak to Reading
- Gerry Francis and Stoke City
- The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Years
- Report of ongoing Libel Case involving Ken Bates
- Various Other QPR Video Links
Monday, June 01, 2009
QPR Reportedly Close to Managerial Announcement....Blackstock Supposedly Signing for Nottingham Forest
-
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)!
-[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.] Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
- Blackstock to Nottingham Forest supposedly done deal [If so in contrast to another report today, saying may not be moving!]
Dave McIntyre/Kilburn Times - Rangers turn to overseas option
- QPR are expected to finally appoint a new coach in the next 48 hours.
owner Flavio Briatore is set to fly to London early this week and install a successor to Paulo Sousa, whose contract was terminated in April following a number of behind-the-scenes problems.
- Former Rs coach Luigi De Canio has been considered for the job and confirmed his departure from Italian club Lecce on Sunday, while Briatore is believed to be keen on Paolo Maldini now the AC Milan legend's playing career has finished.
- And Antonio Tapia, who has suggested QPR are interested in him, resigned as coach of Spanish club Malaga on Sunday evening.
- Rangers have edged closer to hiring a foreigner after their interest in various experienced British managers came to nothing.
- Neil Warnock and Kevin Blackwell were targets but committed their futures to Crystal Palace and Sheffield United respectively, with Rangers reluctant to pay compensation for another club's manager.
- Former Charlton and West Ham boss Alan Curbishley and ex-Wigan manager Paul Jewell were not keen on the job and several other British candidates failed to impress.
- Aidy Boothroyd was considered, having guided Watford to promotion from the Championship in 2006, while Jim Magilton, recently sacked by Ipswich, was among those also interviewed. Kilburn Times
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
- Damion Stewart (and his Jamaica Teammates) 0 EL Salvador 0
- Crystal Palace Have One Point Deducted
Rumoured QPR Target (and according to Tapia, a one-time target), Antonio Tapia Resigns as Malaga Coach. Resignation Also: Tapia's QPR comments from a couple of months
- Another rumoured QPR target, former QPR manager, Luigi De Canio also resigns as Lecce Coach
- Gordon Macey's The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Period
Nottingham Forest reportedly pursue striker. Dexter Blackstock's QPR Future Unclear
16 Days Till Carling Cup Draw...17 Days Till 2009-2010 Fixtures Released
One of the "linked to QPR" Names: Profile of Steve Cotterill as Burnley Manager
Gerry Francis' Stoke Future Unclear
- How Bad Football Fan Racism Used to Be
- What Does An Agent Do? Q&A
- Gone from QPR (Departure not yet Announced): QPR Youth Coach, Steve Brown
- Flashback: Peter Winkelman Wanting QPR in Milton Keynes
- Dean Parrett Came on As Late Sub for England U-19
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Rodney Marsh Answers Some Questions. (Ask your own)!
-[ Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.] Also: Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread.
- Blackstock to Nottingham Forest supposedly done deal [If so in contrast to another report today, saying may not be moving!]
Dave McIntyre/Kilburn Times - Rangers turn to overseas option
- QPR are expected to finally appoint a new coach in the next 48 hours.
owner Flavio Briatore is set to fly to London early this week and install a successor to Paulo Sousa, whose contract was terminated in April following a number of behind-the-scenes problems.
- Former Rs coach Luigi De Canio has been considered for the job and confirmed his departure from Italian club Lecce on Sunday, while Briatore is believed to be keen on Paolo Maldini now the AC Milan legend's playing career has finished.
- And Antonio Tapia, who has suggested QPR are interested in him, resigned as coach of Spanish club Malaga on Sunday evening.
- Rangers have edged closer to hiring a foreigner after their interest in various experienced British managers came to nothing.
- Neil Warnock and Kevin Blackwell were targets but committed their futures to Crystal Palace and Sheffield United respectively, with Rangers reluctant to pay compensation for another club's manager.
- Former Charlton and West Ham boss Alan Curbishley and ex-Wigan manager Paul Jewell were not keen on the job and several other British candidates failed to impress.
- Aidy Boothroyd was considered, having guided Watford to promotion from the Championship in 2006, while Jim Magilton, recently sacked by Ipswich, was among those also interviewed. Kilburn Times
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
- Damion Stewart (and his Jamaica Teammates) 0 EL Salvador 0
- Crystal Palace Have One Point Deducted
Rumoured QPR Target (and according to Tapia, a one-time target), Antonio Tapia Resigns as Malaga Coach. Resignation Also: Tapia's QPR comments from a couple of months
- Another rumoured QPR target, former QPR manager, Luigi De Canio also resigns as Lecce Coach
- Gordon Macey's The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Period
Nottingham Forest reportedly pursue striker. Dexter Blackstock's QPR Future Unclear
16 Days Till Carling Cup Draw...17 Days Till 2009-2010 Fixtures Released
One of the "linked to QPR" Names: Profile of Steve Cotterill as Burnley Manager
Gerry Francis' Stoke Future Unclear
- How Bad Football Fan Racism Used to Be
- What Does An Agent Do? Q&A
- Gone from QPR (Departure not yet Announced): QPR Youth Coach, Steve Brown
- Flashback: Peter Winkelman Wanting QPR in Milton Keynes
- Dean Parrett Came on As Late Sub for England U-19
Rodney Marsh: Questions and Answers
-
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
- QPR's Greatest: Rodney Marsh Offers Some Answers to Some Questions!
- Rodney Marsh - G-d! - recently very kindly and graciously agreed to became the latest Global Moderator of the QPR Report Messageboard. To read ongong Rodney Marsh answers to some posters questions Rodney Marsh: Answers Some Questions! [Note: Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.
- See also: The Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread. (Feel free to add)
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
Rumoured QPR Target (and according to Tapia, a one-time target), Antonio Tapia Resigns as Malaga Coach
"Antonio Tapia quit as Malaga coach after leading the club to eighth place in the Primera Liga, their second best finish ever....Tapia was promoted from reserve team coach when Gregorio Manzano was sacked in January 2005 and moved on halfway through the 2005-06 season before the club were relegated. He returned again this term and eighth spot equalled their result in the 2000-01 season and was one short of their best finish of seventh in the 1970s. Guardian
Also: Tapia's QPR comments from a couple of months
- Another rumoured QPR target, former QPR manager, Luigi De Canio also resigns as Lecce Coach
- Gordon Macey's The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Period
- Nottingham Forest reportedly pursue striker. Dexter Blackstock's QPR Future Unclear
- 16 Days Till Carling Cup Draw...17 Days Till 2009-2010 Fixtures Released
- One of the "linked to QPR" Names: Profile of Steve Cotterill as Burnley Manager
- Gerry Francis' Stoke Future Unclear
- How Bad Football Fan Racism Used to Be
- What Does An Agent Do? Q&A
- Gone from QPR (Departure not yet Announced): QPR Youth Coach, Steve Brown
- Flashback: Peter Winkelman Wanting QPR in Milton Keynes
- Dean Parrett Came on As Late Sub for England U-19
- Visit the site for QPR news, nostalgia and nattering: The QPR Report Messageboard. No focus on politics or films or music or food. And no ad-hominem attacks on fellow QPR posters. Just a focus on QPR!
- RODNEY MARSH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
- QPR's Greatest: Rodney Marsh Offers Some Answers to Some Questions!
- Rodney Marsh - G-d! - recently very kindly and graciously agreed to became the latest Global Moderator of the QPR Report Messageboard. To read ongong Rodney Marsh answers to some posters questions Rodney Marsh: Answers Some Questions! [Note: Click Here to Register for the Messageboard.
- See also: The Remembering Rodney Marsh the QPR Player Thread. (Feel free to add)
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
Rumoured QPR Target (and according to Tapia, a one-time target), Antonio Tapia Resigns as Malaga Coach
"Antonio Tapia quit as Malaga coach after leading the club to eighth place in the Primera Liga, their second best finish ever....Tapia was promoted from reserve team coach when Gregorio Manzano was sacked in January 2005 and moved on halfway through the 2005-06 season before the club were relegated. He returned again this term and eighth spot equalled their result in the 2000-01 season and was one short of their best finish of seventh in the 1970s. Guardian
Also: Tapia's QPR comments from a couple of months
- Another rumoured QPR target, former QPR manager, Luigi De Canio also resigns as Lecce Coach
- Gordon Macey's The History of QPR: The 1965-1972 Period
- Nottingham Forest reportedly pursue striker. Dexter Blackstock's QPR Future Unclear
- 16 Days Till Carling Cup Draw...17 Days Till 2009-2010 Fixtures Released
- One of the "linked to QPR" Names: Profile of Steve Cotterill as Burnley Manager
- Gerry Francis' Stoke Future Unclear
- How Bad Football Fan Racism Used to Be
- What Does An Agent Do? Q&A
- Gone from QPR (Departure not yet Announced): QPR Youth Coach, Steve Brown
- Flashback: Peter Winkelman Wanting QPR in Milton Keynes
- Dean Parrett Came on As Late Sub for England U-19
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)