New QPR head coach Gareth Ainsworth has admitted to LancsLive that the only two clubs he would have left Wycombe Wanderers for were either the West London side or his boyhood club Blackburn Rovers.
Ainsworth ended his successful 10-year tenure with the Chairboys this week to take over the reins at Loftus Road by agreeing to a three-and-a-half-year deal, replacing former Blackpool boss Neil Critchley who left the club on Sunday after only 12 games in charge.
The switch to West London sees the 49-year-old return to the club, this time as a head coach after a successful playing career with the R’s in which he scored 22 goals in 151 appearances for the club between 2003 and 2010.
👔 Returning as our new head coach.
Welcome (back), 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵! 🙌#QPR | #WildThing
— QPR FC (@QPR) February 21, 2023
Following his move to QPR, Ainsworth leaves Wycombe with the club currently sitting seventh in the League One table, three points behind Barnsley who occupy the final play-off place.
During his time at Wycombe, the 49-year-old took the club from the depths of League Two all the way up to the Championship for the first time in their history when they were promoted at Wembley in 2020, taking down Oxford United to claim a 2-1 victory.
Following Ainsworth’s exit from Adams Park, the club were quick to find his replacement with Wycombe appointing former player Matt Bloomfield from Colchester United, with the 39-year-old only spending five months in charge at the League Two side with his first game back at the Chairboys set to be a trip to Shrewsbury Town.
Wycombe Wanderers are thrilled to confirm the appointment of Matt Bloomfield as the club's new manager.
Richard Thomas and Lee Harrison also join Matt's management team at Adams Park.
Let's go!#Chairboys
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) February 22, 2023
In an interview ahead of his first match in charge of QPR coincidentally against Blackburn Rovers at Loftus Road, Ainsworth has admitted that the only other club that would’ve tempted him out of Wycombe is the Lancashire-based side in which Ainsworth became a season ticket holder at Ewood Park at the age of six.
Ainsworth told LancsLive: “It was a very tough decision to leave Wycombe, I don’t want anyone thinking it was an easy one. People know there are only two clubs that would prize me away. QPR being one of them and the team we play on Saturday being the other. That’s the irony of football.
“It’s a game that we need to win. I always look out for three results, one is Blackburn, one is QPR and one is Wycombe. But I will definitely want Blackburn to get beat on Saturday, believe me. It’s a tough game but the irony of football throws these things up.
“I am a Blackburn lad but I did leave quite a while ago. The accent still remains but the heart is with QPR and I look forward to taking the game on Saturday.”
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Writers View
Ainsworth’s move to QPR from Wycombe Wanderers can be seen as a solid appointment, especially as to the exceptional job he’s done at Adam’s Park for the best part of a decade where the club have come up leaps and bounds from League Two, all the way to the Championship and I’m sure Matt Bloomfield will continue the excellent work where Ainsworth left off.
The exception that he would only join Blackburn Rovers as opposed to QPR makes sense however, with Ainsworth being a supporter of the club all his life but at present, Ainsworth has a job on his hands to put a halt to QPR’s recent poor form as they slide further down the table in an objective I certainly feel he’s up for.
