Holloway and Bircham set for QPR return

Ian Holloway is in line for a return to QPR.

The club are ready to offer the manager’s job to Holloway, who made more than 150 appearances for Rangers as a player and later had a five-year spell as boss.

That spell included a play-off final in 2003 and promotion to the Championship the following year.

He took over in 2001, shortly before QPR went into administration.

Rangers were relegated that season and Holloway, now 53, is widely credited with galvanising the club.

He was axed in 2006 and has since has won promotions at Blackpool and Crystal Palace and also managed Plymouth, Leicester and Millwall.

His appointment would pave the way for Marc Bircham to return to Loftus Road as assistant boss.

Bircham, a lifelong R’s fan who played for the club under Holloway and later had a coaching role, left to become Holloway’s right-hand man at Millwall in January 2014.

The door has opened for the pair because Rangers appear to have failed to lure Birmingham manager Gary Rowett to west London – for the second time.

Rangers wanted Rowett, 42, before appointing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in December last year.

Rowett opted to stay at St Andrews, having also been pursued by Fulham, and QPR subsequently turned to Hassebaink, who was sacked on Saturday.

This time they hoped to prise him away from Birmingham, where he previously spent two years as a player.

He took over as Blues boss after an impressive two-year spell at Burton, where he was succeeded, ironically, by Hasselbaink.

Rangers, currently 17th in the Championship table, spoke to Holloway earlier this week.

He was not initially regarded as a leading contender but became seen as an attractive option by the club’s owners, who are aware of his popularity among many fans.

Tim Sherwood was immediately installed as the odds-on favourite for the job after Hasselbaink was fired at the weekend, but the former Tottenham manager was never seriously in the running and on Thursday was unveiled as director of football at Swindon Town. 

Sherwood, a close friend of Les Ferdinand who worked with the Rangers director of football during their time together at Spurs, was among a number of potential candidates the Rangers hierarchy discussed.

They have long been interested in ex-Derby manager Paul Clement, now assistant to Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti.

The 44-year-old son of former QPR and England right-back Dave Clement was lined up to take over at Loftus Road following the departure of Harry Redknapp in February 2015.

At the time he was with Ancelotti at Real Madrid and wanted to see out the remaining months of his contract at the Spanish club.

Chris Ramsey was therefore installed at QPR initially as a stop-gap, but impressed during the early stages of his time in charge and was given the job on a permanent basis.

Clement subsequently took over as manager at Derby, who sacked him in February this year with the club fifth in the Championship table.

He was on a shortlist drawn up by QPR after the decision to ditch Hasselbaink, but Rowett was the top target and Holloway has emerged as the preferred back-up option.

Steve Cotterill, briefly on the coaching staff at Rangers under Redknapp, wants the job but has not been considered.

Karl Robinson, who recently left MK Dons, wants the job too and was interviewed on Tuesday.

Dougie Freedman, who began his career at QPR, has also applied.

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