Boardroom Blues

END OF WRIGHT ERA APPROACHES

Monday 21 June 2004

Chief executive David Davies is to leave Loftus Road "by mutual agreement" next month, and it is reported that directors Ross Jones and Nick Blackburn will soon follow. With their departure the QPR boardroom will finally be rid of Chris Wright's appointees.

The exact reasons for Davies' exit are not yet clear, although QPR's official website refers to a "restructuring" at the club. This is likely to mean that there are plans afoot to convert the plc into a private company and / or that cost-cutting measures off the pitch are underway (even with loan repayments to the ABC Corporation running at £1m a year many QPR supporters are baffled as to how the club, with vastly improved merchandise sales and record attendances, can still be losing money hand over fist).

During Davies' four years at Loftus Road numerous potential investors have come and gone, and Davies is on record as describing most of them as "men of straw" with two exceptions, both of whom he courted vigorously on behalf of the club. The first was Australian David Thorne, and Davies described it as a "hammer blow" when Thorne withdrew his offer to invest. The second was Milwaukee Wave owner Tim Krause: after 18 months of prevarication QPR have given Krause a deadline of today and there is still no sign whatsoever of his investment materialising.

Davies assumed more responsibility than most chief executives of league football clubs and was often left to deal with crises alone when you would have expected chairmen or directors to step in and take over or at least provide help. Consequently he leaves big footprints, and it will be interesting to see who fills them over the coming months.

Boardroom Blues believes that behind the scenes Gianni Paladini has been trying to restructure the club since April when he bought 22% of the plc shares and installed his representative, accountant Mohammed Azeem Malik, on the board of directors. It seems probable that Paladini has now persuaded directors Kevin McGrath and Bill Power to line up with him and outvote the old guard.

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