Iain Dowie’s tenure at QPR came to an abrupt end Friday when his contract was terminated by the club’s board. Dowie was in charge for 15 games in all competitions, winning eight, and leaves QPR in ninth place in the Championship on goal differential. The club has slumped recently, with their only win in their last six Championship matches against bottom of the table Nottingham Forest. The timing of the decision is questionable, with Rangers facing promotion favorites Reading and Birmingham this week and going to Old Trafford on November 11th for the Carling Cup. Player/Coach Gareth Ainsworth has been appointed Caretaker Manager by the club, but former Inter coach Roberto Mancini has been linked with the position.
In what has become a common story this season, Dowie and Chairman Flavio Briatore clashed over the club’s transfer policy. Though QPR has billionaire owners, Briatore has mainly relied on his connections to bring in players. The Spanish U-21 international Daniel Parejo came on loan from Real Madrid, and Emmanuel Ledesma is on loan from Genoa. Their biggest signing was the veteran Damiano Tommasi, who arrived on a free transfer. Tommasi has yet to make an appearance for the club, while Parejo and Ledesma have been limited to substitute appearances recently.
Briatore has also clashed with the board, specifically Vice-Chairman Amit Bhatia. Bhatia is the son-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, who was the world’s fourth richest man before the credit crunch, and his appointment to the board was a condition of Mittal’s twenty percent stake in the club. It was Bhatia who said that the club would be eliminating the £50 and £40 category A and B tickets for Championship matches only a month after they were introduced. Bhatia was responding to widespread public disapproval, and fans that were angry at paying Premiership prices to watch a Championship side. Briatore was upset at being undermined by his Vice-Chairman, and talks between the board culminated in Dowie being fired.The Chairman expected Dowie to win promotion this season, but given the current squad at QPR that seems unfair. Dowie has done well to tighten the back line and with the arrival of Radek Cerny they have kept six clean sheets in all competitions, including their match against Aston Villa. The big issue has been a lack of goals, and their 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest was the only time they’ve scored more than once in their last eight games. Patrick Agyemang has struggled for fitness, and Dowie has been forced to rely on strikers that are all below 23. There are also questions about their midfield, with Parejo, Ledesma and Lee Cook signed to one year loan deals. It’s hard to inspire a team to fight for promotion when a number of players will be going back to bigger clubs at the end of the season.
With Briatore reluctant to spend, Dowie should be commended for his success rather than sacked. With teams bunched up this early in the season, QPR is only one point out of a playoff position. With three matches in the next week, now is not the time for a caretaker manager. After their big win against Aston Villa, Dowie should have at least been allowed to take the team to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. These days managers aren’t given a chance to succeed, and 15 games is how long Dowie was in charge of Charlton before being sacked in 2006. Dowie made for a good scapegoat, but questions are starting to be asked of Briatore and Sporting Director Gianni Paladini. The ticket hike spurred such negative publicity that it had to be reversed, and their summer signings have not seemed good enough to win the club promotion. With a number of owners and different personalities on the board, it’s difficult to decide the direction of the club. If Mancini joins the club it would be a big boost, but it is questionable whether he wants to go from a Scudetto winner to a club fighting for promotion. Dowie’s sacking shows just how much pressure there is on managers these days, that when the ship is struggling they are the first to be thrown overboard.
