QPR chief Ferdinand hits back at critics
QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has hit back at his critics, insisting the way the club is being run is “not the Les Ferdinand show”.
Ferdinand has been the subject of strong criticism recently from some sections of supporters during a lengthy managerial search following the decision to part ways with former boss Mark Warburton.
Warburton was axed after a dreadful run of form to end the season, while a lack of opportunity for the club’s academy players under his management also played a part in his departure.
Michael Beale was named as the club’s new head coach earlier this week.
And discussing the managerial search, Ferdinand told the club website: “I’ve heard that it’s ‘Les’ agenda’. It’s not my agenda. This is not the Les Ferdinand show.
“Of course we’d all be happy if we had millions of pounds to spend but this is the way we simply have to operate.
“Financial fair play dictates what we’re able to do. For us, and the resource we have, being self-sufficient means we have to develop players.
“It’s about bringing the likes of Eze through the door. In an ideal world, we’d have loved to keep Ebere, but we couldn’t because selling him made the most financial sense for the football club.
“The facts speak for themselves. If I left this football club tomorrow, I’d like to think that it’s in a better place than it was when I came through the door in terms of the culture we now have here, the structure in place and the way we develop players.”
Establishing a wider pathway into the first team for the club’s young players will be a key part of Beale’s remit as QPR boss given his background in youth development at Chelsea and Liverpool.
But Ferdinand insists he is realistic about the involvement of young players in the first team, while he also wants the team to build on last season’s 11th-placed finish.
“We’re not saying we want a team full of homegrown players, however nice that would be,” he explained.
“You can have young players in a team but the important question is are they developing? Is there a pathway for them to make it into the first team?
“That’s all we’ve ever spoken about. We’re not unrealistic in that we think every player in our development teams are going to play in our first team. We know that’s not the case.
“We will try to improve on what we did last season. Everyone at the club felt we had a team capable of reaching the top six but we didn’t quite get there.”
22/08/2022 @ 1:35 pm
He should go good footballer crap what he’s doing now The club is going backwards and he’s to blame
06/06/2022 @ 3:59 pm
I understand what Joe is saying, however who was going to let Charlie slip through his fingers and who managed to get him here. I would want to see a manager who has his finger on the pulse and knows who is currently available, not someone who refused to accept the value of our academy players.
05/06/2022 @ 4:36 am
QPR should have stick with the manager and brought new players ln. Give Charlie Austin one more year on his contact and see how the new season will go. There was too many lnjuries last season. I hope QPR get promotion please. .
05/06/2022 @ 4:30 am
QPR should have stick with the manager and brought new players ln. Give Charlie Austin one more year on his contact and see how the new season will go.
03/06/2022 @ 4:10 pm
I don’t want Sir Les to go and I am a supporter of 61 years my son has his signed shirt and Trevor Sinclairs. I watched when we had great players coming through the youth team so I would prefer this again than spending millions on players who did it for the money Hughes and Rednapp time. Gerry Francis, clements,gillard, Micky Leach great memories from great players.
So carry on les hopefully a bit of experience in a few players and away we go.
03/06/2022 @ 2:57 pm
‘Les runs everything’ – there was I wondering what the hell he actually does. Replacement selection should have been well under way before Warbs went. I do not accept that the club is in a better place before he came, we WERE in a batter place just before MH, HR & JFH came and destroyed it, MH actually ignored the FFP rules, of all people, he should have known better.All these years later and we are still paying the penalty.
03/06/2022 @ 2:37 pm
Bottom line,if our new manager has to work under the same financial constraints as our previous manager then at the end of next season we will yet again fail to get out of the championship
03/06/2022 @ 1:35 pm
The club is in a far better place than when Les and Lee Hoos first came.
But most of this ‘Les runs everything’ nonsense comes from the worlds leading experts on everything who post on Twitter, or those who still don’t grasp or fail to accept the concept of either a Director of Football or the constraints of FFP.
Once you ignore both sets of those types of people you become much happier with the way things are being run.
03/06/2022 @ 1:05 pm
he need to be sack as D.O.F the fans what him to go we lost a good manager last season
03/06/2022 @ 12:40 pm
f the cap fits. The facts speak for themselves, one manager shown the door and only then the search for his replacement starts, according to reports from elsewhere, using computer generated data – a bit like employing a university graduate because he has had a good education, regardless of ability to do the job. Perhaps thats why Cambell & Greenwood were candidates.