Queens Park Rangers have sacked manager Steve McClaren after a dismal run of form dropped them to 17th in the Championship – but their former manager, Ian Holloway, says he has no sympathy for the man who replaced him at Loftus Road.
“He took my job,” Holloway told talkSPORT. “I still had another year left at the club. I’m still being paid by them now. [McClaren] was talking to the chairman while I was in the job saying what he’d do. He hasn’t been able to do that. What goes around comes around.”
McClaren, appointed at Loftus Road last May, has overseen just one win since Boxing Day – against Leeds – as the club fell within eight points of the relegation zone, capped by Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Bolton. Holloway also claimed that he felt as if McClaren had taken his family from him.
“He had my babies and took my kids,” Holloway said. “It means the world to me. I felt I was in the best position to do that job. The owners made their choice and that’s football at the end of the day. Would I go back? It depends who calls me. Les [Ferdinand] didn’t want me to go.”
McClaren, who managed England in 2006 and 2007, oversaw a poor start to the campaign as the team lost their opening four matches, including a 7-1 defeat to West Brom. They then went on to win eight of their next 11 matches but their slide has resulted in McClaren’s dismissal.
“Making a decision such as this is never easy, particularly when you are talking about someone as professional and dedicated as Steve,” said the club’s chief executive, Lee Hoos. “We are grateful to him for all his efforts during his time with us. It is well documented that we are in a period of transition as we work hard to make the club financially stable.
“With that comes challenges, not least the cutting of the wage bill while aiming to remain competitive. As we look to the future, and taking recent results into account, we feel now is the right time to re-evaluate where we are.”
The club’s director of football, Les Ferdinand, added: “Steve has worked incredibly hard during his time with us but as we start to make plans for next year we feel this change is necessary now, rather than wait until the end of the season, or risk having to make such a decision early in the new campaign.”
The assistant manager, John Eustace, has been put in temporary charge of the first team prior to their next game against league leaders Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday.
