QPR have confirmed the departure of Marc Bircham.
West London Sport revealed last month that Bircham was likely to reach financial agreement to leave the club because he did not want a reduced role, and revealed on Friday morning that an agreement had been reached for him to go.
The former R’s midfielder, 40, amicably moves on following the recent appointment of John Eustace as Steve McClaren’s assistant.
Rangers’ owners indicated to Bircham that they wanted him to stay at the club.
However, McClaren is keen to bring in more new faces following the arrival of Eustace.
It left Bircham, who has been first-team coach since Ian Holloway returned in November 2016 for a second spell as Rangers manager, effectively facing a demotion if he remained at Loftus Road.
He made 167 appearances for Rangers and had spells as youth coach and Under-21 boss.
He is well liked by the club’s owners, who believe he played a major role in the emergence of several youngsters last season under Holloway, who was sacked two weeks ago and replaced by McClaren.
But Bircham has ambitions to be a manager and, having had a significant input under Holloway, did not want a reduced role.
And he confirmed to QPR’s website: “The club offered me a role to stay. They wanted me to work between the academy and first team to help bring the younger players through.
“I’m grateful to them for that. It shows they recognise the work I have done but it was more academy-based and I see my future at first-team level.”
Bircham, a lifelong Rangers fan, added: “This isn’t the end of the love affair for me.
“I have been a fan all my life and spent more than a decade of my career as player or coach with the R’s.
“QPR will always be my club and who knows what the future holds – maybe I’ll be back again one day.”
This post was last modified on 12/06/2018