Former Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton has been appointed as the new manager of Queens Park Rangers.
The 56-year-old has signed a two-year deal at Loftus Road, as announced by the club’s official site.
Warburton had been out of work since being sacked by the Reds on New Year’s Eve in 2017. But his 16-month break from football management ended this week, as he took over at Loftus Road.
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He isn’t the first ex-Forest boss to have taken over at QPR. In fact, he has directly taken over from one as Steve McClaren was sacked by the club just last month. He was dismissed after a dismal run of just one win in 15 matches.
It’s fair to say that Reds supporters will be intrigued to see how Warburton does at QPR. He is a manager who divided opinion at the City Ground, with a significant number of supporters becoming frustrated by his lack of a ‘Plan B’.
‘A magnificent club’
Speaking on his search for a new challenge to the club’s official site, Warburton said: “Nottingham Forest is a magnificent club.
“The expectation has to be right at a club. You get a lot of stick sometimes from supporters for saying that.
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“But it’s very, very genuine that you have to build. If you work with young players, for example, you have to give them time; you can’t rush them too quickly. It’s making sure their progress is appropriate. It’s making sure the foundations are put in place.
“Some of the club’s expectations are to be in play-offs immediately or ‘we must get promotion’. That’s fine if it’s right for the club and the budgets are right etc.
“But there’s been or or two clubs where it just wasn’t right.”
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Warburton was the first manager of the Evangelos Marinakis reign to be axed. The club’s hierarchy felt that the Reds should have been much closer to the play-off positions than they were at the time.
But Warburton felt the goalposts had changed, from building a young progressive team to being expected to challenge for promotion.
He’ll be hoping that he is given the opportunity to implement a long-term plan at Loftus Road.