Ainsworth in the frame as QPR look to make quick appointment

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QPR have lined up Gareth Ainsworth to take over as manager. 

A popular figure at Rangers from his seven-year spell at the club, Wycombe boss Ainsworth has been approached following the sacking of Neil Critchley.

Contact has also been made with representatives of former Middlesbrough and Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.


Ainsworth, 49, was a cult hero among fans during his time as a player at Loftus Road and also served the club as a coach and caretaker manager.

He has spent a decade in charge at Wycombe, where he defied the odds to take the club from League Two to the Championship.

Rangers want to install a new manager before Saturday’s home match against Blackburn.

Another former R’s player, Shaun Derry, who recently left a coaching role at Crystal Palace, is keen on the job.

Critchley was dismissed following the 3-1 loss at Middlesbrough – Rangers’ third defeat in a row and fourth in five matches.

His assistants Iain Brunskill and Mike Garrity, who joined the club after his appointment, have also left.

Critchley was at the helm for only 12 matches and presided over just one win – an away victory at Preston in his first match in the job.

He arrived in the wake of Michael Beale quitting for Glasgow Rangers after just 22 games as R’s boss.

An awful run which began under Beale has seen QPR win just of one of their past 18 matches, sliding from top of the Championship to 17th in the table, just eight points above the relegation zone.