Critchley confirmed as new QPR head coach

By

QPR have announced the appointment of Neil Critchley as the club’s new head coach.

West London Sport revealed prior to Mick Beale’s recent departure that former Blackpool boss Critchley, 44, was in line to take over at Loftus Road.

He has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract and brought in Mike Garrity, who has left his job as Lincoln City assistant boss, and Ian Brunskill, who was Critchley’s assistant at Blackpool..


Critchley has a similar background to Beale, having worked with him as an academy coach at Liverpool and replaced him as Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Aston Villa after Beale took over at QPR during the summer.

With Beale having left west London for Glasgow to become Rangers boss after just 21 league games at the helm, Critchley was available, having left after a short spell at Villa, who sacked Gerrard as manager in October.

Critchley led Blackpool to promotion and a 16th-place finish during his two years at Blackpool.

He quit that job to join Gerrard at Villa but is back in Championship management and inherits a QPR side which has lost four matches in a row and five of their past six.

“There have been some good foundations laid here and now it is my job to work as hard as I can to build on that,” Critchley told QPR’s website. 

“We want to move the club forward and ensure we are competing at the top end of the Championship table.”