QPR announce appointment of De Souza

QPR have announced the appointment of Jon De Souza, who has effectively replaced Chris Ramsey at the club.

De Souza, who was previously at Brentford, where he worked under former R’s boss Mark Warburton, has been given the title of head of methodology.

The job will primarily involve overseeing coaching at all levels of the club’s academy and the transition of young players to the first team –  a role Ramsey performed as technical director.

Ramsey left QPR in January after nine years at Loftus Road.

De Souza spent five years in a youth-coaching role at Brentford, working with a number of players who progressed to the first-team squad, and he left in 2016 after the Bees decided to close their academy.

In 2019, he joined Colchester United, where he was director of performance before leaving in the spring of 2022, having faced criticism from some fans as the Essex club struggled near the bottom of League Two.

A brief spell at Charton followed and for the past two years he has worked at the Premier League in a role supporting coaches.

QPR chief executive Christian Nourry told the club website: “We ran a thorough, highly competitive process for the head of methodology role which has resulted in our decision to hire Jon – I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

“Jon’s deep knowledge of all the facets of the English game is matched by a tenaciousness that I was immediately drawn to.

“This appointment marks the latest step in delivering on our ambition to establish the necessary infrastructure around a club-led game model which has underpinned all the football strategy decisions that we have made since I first became involved with QPR.”