• Premier League

Briatore: We did well at QPR but it was no fun

ESPN staff
April 23, 2013
Flavio Briatore has revealed Queens Park Rangers had too many people involved © Getty Images
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Former Queens Park Rangers co-owner Flavio Briatore claims he endured a difficult time at the club, but admits they were successful during his stint.

The Italian was a co-owner along with Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone for three years, and the former Renault team principal has revealed why the West London outfit dismissed nine managers in that period, and how he and Ecclestone turned the club's fortunes around.

"If you don't fire these coaches, you never go up. When you understand someone is not good enough to do the job, it is better you fire them immediately rather than waste another six months," Briatore told F1 Racing Magazine.

"I felt we were going nowhere with these guys. In the end, we made it. The most important thing in sport is the result.

"We took QPR from the bottom of the Championship. There was a four-year plan and we took them into the Premier League. I don't understand the fuss. We did it with not much money."

QPR are braced for life in the Championship as they are on the verge of relegation, and Briatore feels the foundations he and Ecclestone laid are still in place at the club.

He added: "After Bernie and I went away leaving Mr Lakshmi Mittal and Mr Tony Fernandes to run the show, and spend a lot of money, it's funny to see they still have six or seven players who were with us in the Championship.

"I believe we did it quite well but, I tell you, it was no fun at all. You need to treat football like a full-time job and not like an investor.

"There were too many people. The manager, the assistant manager and, always, you were dealing with the agents. In the end, we sold it."

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