Football League World
·27 November 2022
Football League World
·27 November 2022
Former Blackpool manager Neil Critchley is currently under consideration at Loftus Road to become Queens Park Rangers’ new boss, according to yesterday’s report from West London Sport.
The 44-year-old is currently unemployed following his departure from Aston Villa last month, with his spell in the Midlands alongside Steven Gerrard failing to work out after a poor start to this season.
He has been linked with several jobs in recent weeks, with The Sun previously believing that Luton Town and Wigan Athletic were interested in him ahead of a potential approach.
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However, Luton have moved to appoint Rob Edwards and Wigan have focused on another candidate with Kolo Toure reportedly set to become the Latics’ new manager, even though the experienced Chris Wilder was also keen on the vacancy at the DW Stadium.
Critchley has been offered the chance to link up with AFC Bournemouth as their new assistant manager but with the 44-year-old unhappy with the contract that’s on the table, that could allow QPR to swoop in and secure his services.
Ahead of this potential appointment, we take a look at three reasons why Director of Football Les Ferdinand should be looking to make Critchley his man to replace the outgoing Michael Beale.
Ability to work within a limited budget
The likes of Mark Warburton and Beale didn’t have a huge amount of money to spend at Loftus Road and it’d be difficult to see Critchley having too much more freedom.
With the club still recovering from the financial effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ex-Blackpool boss may need to rely on cheap permanent signings and loanees as they look to return to the Premier League.
As former manager of the Seasiders, the 44-year-old didn’t have a huge budget to work with at Bloomfield Road and the fact he managed to do well despite that will make him an attractive option at Loftus Road.
Unlike Beale, Critchley has promotion-winning experience as a head coach and with QPR wanting to get themselves to the top flight, that can only be useful for the West London side.
Many young coaches including Russell Martin have done extremely well during their managerial careers so far – but haven’t managed to win promotion and that’s something Critchley has over others.
The fact he has a promotion on his CV at this early stage of his managerial journey is promising – and it could end up being useful if he takes the top job in the English capital.
At 44, you feel Critchley could stay at QPR for a considerable amount of time and certainly for longer than someone like Neil Warnock.
Of course the former’s decision to leave Blackpool for Villa will be a concern for Beale’s side’s supporters who will be keen to appoint someone who’s loyal – but this project is a promising one and that should persuade him to remain in the English capital for a few years at least.
Spending over two years at Bloomfield Road, that’s a decent amount of time for a manager nowadays and it’s not as if he was sacked, so there’s a real chance he could remain at Loftus Road for quite a while.
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