After ten-plus years of pushing the boundaries at Wycombe Wanderers, Gareth Ainsworth is stepping up to return to Championship side QPR.
The rocker has shown great patience in waiting for the right job. And he may well have found just that at Loftus Road.
For over 13 years, Gareth Ainsworth and Wycombe were joined at the hip, with Ainsworth taking on roles as player, manager and even both; a seven-month stretch as player-manager resulted in him guiding the League Two side to safety in 2012/13.
The 49-year-old was made to work on a shoestring budget throughout his time in charge, but he managed to shape the club around his image and carried Wycombe up the divisions pretty much on his own back.
The Chairboys punched above their weight in League One and pulled off the unthinkable to get promoted via the play-offs in 2019/20 as they finished ahead of Portsmouth, Peterborough United and Sunderland.
Wycombe were rightly the odds-on favourites to go down in the Championship the following season, and they did. But they did not get relegated with a whimper as they fought right up to the final day before finishing 22nd.
Ainsworth’s heroics have continued since then as Wycombe have battled around the play-off picture in League One and five wins in a row now have them on the cusp of the top six once again.
His achievements have been nothing short of remarkable. He was the second longest-serving manager in the Football League (behind Harrogate Town’s Simon Weaver) and you would be hard-pressed to pick out an individual job from a manager that has been more impressive than what Ainsworth pulled off at Wycombe.
Naturally, his work has caught the eye of clubs in the Championship over the years, and QPR have been linked with him on several occasions.
But Ainsworth has shown a great level of patience to hold fire and only move on when the right opportunity came along and he feels like he is ready to succeed elsewhere.
QPR are a club that have gone through the wringer this season. They pulled off an inspired appointment last summer as Michael Beale was plucked away from under Steven Gerrard’s shadow at Aston Villa to become a head coach himself.
His start to life in management was sensational as QPR were top of the Championship at one stage.
While Ainsworth has shown restraint when clubs have come calling, Beale jumped ship before his name plate was on the door when Rangers came calling. He had already rejected Wolves and spouted about staying loyal to QPR’s…
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