Les Ferdinand Steps Down As DOF

QPR1st would like to place on record its thanks to Les Ferdinand for his efforts as Director of Football as he stands down after eight years in the role.

The news does not come as a surprise to most fans. The success of Ferdinand’s tenure has been debatable, although he is clearly not solely responsible. The story of the 22-23 season highlights how long term planning on the footballing side has faltered. QPR’s dramatic fall over the season in the face of managerial turbulence is clearly not the fault of one person.

We do give credit to Ferdinand for increasing diversity into the coaching setup, and being a staunch advocate of issues of inclusion and taking a firm stance against racism in the game. He was also at the forefront of the club’s response to the Grenfell disaster. We recognise that he has always had the best interests of the club and the community at heart.

We are interested to see how the club responds to this change. There are issues to address including scouting, player development and the size of the coaching setup. We ask the board and senior club officials to take the greatest of care to ensure we move in the right direction and avoid a repeat of last season.