Dowie rides back into Loftus Road
by Tom Kell, 14 May 2008
Iain Dowie has been confirmed as Luigi De Canio’s replacement as Queens Park Rangers first-team coach.
Loftus Road is familiar territory for Dowie having been there as a player before taking on a brief two-game stint as caretaker manager in the late 1990s and working as assistant to Gerry Francis.
Dowie has struggled to take forward his burgeoning reputation as a manager since taking Crystal Palace to The Premier League and was released from his contract at Coventry this season having taken the club to the lower echelons of The Championship.
He now finds himself as the man charged with spending Rangers’ billions and fulfilling the lofty ambitions of co-owners Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore.
"This is a very exciting long-term project,” the former Northern Ireland international, who signs a two-year contract, told the club's official website.
"I'm very privileged to have been given the opportunity under the new ownership to return to the club where I served my managerial apprenticeship.
"I've been thoroughly impressed by the new investors and their fresh, aggressive and innovative approach to all sporting matters, as well as the marketing and commercial aspect of this football club.
"QPR is a fantastic club, with a steep and successful history and I'm going to relish the challenge that lies ahead."