Queens Park Rangers Director of Football, Les Ferdinand, has set his sights high this season with the Hoops.
QPR sit top of the Sky Bet Championship standings after 16 games, having enjoyed an impressive start to the season under boss Michael Beale, and Ferdinand is hoping the West Londoners can continue to set the pace.
“Anyone sitting in my seat wants to get promoted,” he said, speaking on the Official EFL Podcast. “There hasn’t been a year that I’ve been at the Club that we haven’t wanted that. We’re realistic about what we’re doing, where we are and how we do things. It’s always been about progression for us at QPR; are we progressing?"
“It’s Mick’s first job as a manager but he’s come in and I can see the progression and I can see the progression in the players and in the results. When we talk about progression, it’s about how the players are developing because that’s we need at QPR, as well as the results.
“I think, as a Director of Football, just how the team has started. Points are the main thing because if you can stay up and around where we are at the moment, that puts you in good stead and gives you a good feeling to the whole Football Club and the players, which is most important.”
The 55-year-old, who spent eight years at Loftus Road between 1987 and 1995, affectionately christened as ‘Sir Les’ during his time with the Club, returned in a new capacity in February 2015.
“I went into coaching at Tottenham when Harry Redknapp gave me an opportunity at coaching. Through that, I ended up doing all of my badges, so I got those things in place.
“I always had in the back of my mind that I do like the look the Director of Football role and what it does at Football Clubs. I did have half an eye on going in that direction of understanding what goes on behind the scenes at a Football Club rather than being at the forefront of it.
“It was just whether I’d get an opportunity and I’m fortunate that the owners of QPR understood what I wanted to do and gave me the opportunity to have a go at it.”
Now, his main aim is to get QPR back to the top-flight, but Ferdinand insisted that he is grounded in his beliefs.
He also praised the Club’s infrastructure which has allowed him to have a healthy relationship with those within QPR.
“We all want to be successful and the reason why I’ve been in the job for seven years is because the owners understand it as well,” he continued. “I’ve got a great CEO in Lee Hoos who has been in the game for a long time. I pick his brains and he picks mine, so we’ve got a good thing going at QPR.
“When we have conversations, as much as we want to go for it and want to do this and we want to do that, we’re all realistic about where we are, what we’re doing and how we’re trying to do that.
“My thought process about the whole role is to support the manager in the best possible way. I have to manage the manager’s expectations, but I also have to manage the owners’ expectations as well.”