Queens Park Rangers have appointed Steve McClaren as manager in place of Ian Holloway, sacked after the club finished 16th in the Championship.
McClaren has agreed a two-year contract at Loftus Road, having briefly worked at QPR as a first-team coach with Harry Redknapp in 2013. The 57-year-old has been away from English football since leaving Derby in March last year, with his last role as a consultant for Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel.
“It’s great to be back – and it’s a challenge that I’m excited by,” McClaren told the club’s website. “I’ve followed the club closely over the last five years, because of the three months I had here. From the outside I’ve seen the progress, work and changes that have gone on in streamlining the squad and getting the budget down. The board and owners deserve credit for that.
“The introduction of younger players has been a breath of fresh air and it’s exciting for the future,” the former England manager added. “I like to play attractive, attacking football – and we’ve got young, hungry footballers here who can play that way.”
Les Ferdinand, the club’s director of football, said McClaren is “the perfect fit” for QPR. “[Steve] has a fantastic reputation in the game for coaching and developing players,” he said.
“When you look at the average age of our squad, and the exciting young talent starting to emerge, he is the perfect fit for us. We want Steve to use his expertise and experience to help our players grow.”
QPR are the seventh club McClaren has managed in a nomadic coaching career. He won the Eredivisie with FC Twente and led Derby to the 2014 Championship play-off final – where they lost to QPR – but lasted only nine months at Newcastle and just 10 league games at Nottingham Forest.
