Ferdinand To Serve As Director Of Football At QPR

 A former Rangers player, Ferdinand, will ‘particularly’ assist the R’s in the field of recruitment as well as oversee caretaker bosses Chris Ramsey and Kevin Bond until further notice. The 48-year-old had served in the capacity of Head of Football Operation since returning to the club in October.

He made 110 Premier League appearances for QPR between 1992 and 1995 following his move from Hayes five years earlier. The former England international striker is certified in football management with full backing by the PFA and FA.

Club chairman Tony Fernandes told www.qpr.co.uk: “I’ve been really impressed with the job Les has done in his short time here and as such I am keen for his role to evolve, with the clear mandate of assisting us in developing and evolving the footballing department, from the Academy to the First Team.”

Meanwhile, the duo of Glenn Hoddle and Joe Jordan has quit their positions at the Premier League club.

Former England manager Hoddle and Scottish football coach Jordan were part of Harry Redknapp’s management team at the west London club before the latter’s departure to attend to an imminent ankle surgery.

The former Southampton, Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur coach tendered his resignation on Tuesday morning with the club 19th in the table with 19 points from 23 games.


QPR became the first team to lose their opening 11 away games of a top-flight season since Liverpool in 1953/54. They have won just five games so far, the last under Redknapp being a 3-1 defeat by Stoke City.

There were no new arrivals during the winter transfer window, with their deadline day pursuit of a selection of targets, such as: Emmanuel Adebayor, Aaron Lennon and Matt Jarvis falling through.

“This is a new strategy for us. Our recruitment policy at QPR is changing,” Fernandes explained. “The recent addition of Ryan Manning to the Elite Development Squad is a sign of what we will be trying to do here.

“We want to develop a philosophy of buying young, hungry players, who can go on to forge decent careers with us.”

He added: “Premier League survival is our priority in the short term, but in the medium and long term we want to make sure everything is in place, from the Academy upwards, to create a culture and philosophy within the club that QPR fans can be proud of.”

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood has emerged frontrunner for the QPR job. Derby boss Steve McClaren and Real Madrid assistant coach Paul Clement are also much talked about to succeed Redknapp.

QPR will play Southampton and Sunderland in the space of four days before going for an 11-day break until Hull City on February 21.