Dowie Sacked Iain Dowie has been sacked as manager of QPR with the club currently ninth in the Championship. He had been in charge for just 15 matches.
A statement on the official QPR website read: “The board of Queens Park Rangers Football Club has terminated the contract of manager Iain Dowie with immediate effect.
“Player/coach Gareth Ainsworth has been appointed caretaker manager on a temporary basis and will take charge of first-team affairs until further notice.
“The club will be making no further comment at this stage.”
Former Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini and ex-QPR player and manager Terry Venables have both been linked with the job recently.
Dowie was sacked as Coventry City manager in February when the club were struggling to get clear of the relegation zone, having been appointed Sky Blues manager in February 2007.
Nearly two years ago, in November 2006, Dowie was relieved of his duties at Charlton Athletic after being in charge for only 12 Premiership games. He had been recruited in May 2006 within days of leaving Crystal Palace.
Speculation has been swirling around Loftus Road for some time regarding the job security of Dowie, who said only yesterday that he could handle the huge weight of expectation on his shoulders at the Championship club.
His position began to look more vulnerable following a poor run of only one win in six league games for Rangers. .
QPR were widely expected to be among the Championship front-runners this season because of their sudden riches. Formula One tycoons Flavio Briatore, the chairman, and Bernie Ecclestone took the club over and a key shareholder is the world's fourth richest man, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.
With that sort of financial clout comes massive expectations, making Dowie's role that much tougher and putting him constantly under scrutiny.
There has also been talk that Briatore wants to take a more hands-on role with the team.
After drawing with Swansea in midweek, Rangers are ninth in the Championship table, but a win over Reading at the weekend could see them rise to fourth.
Yesterday Dowie told Sky Sports News: "Modern football with message boards, phone lines and the media outlets, what is an opinion often becomes a widely-held fact.
"The fact of the matter is we've not spent a great deal of money, we're one point off fourth and we're in the last 16 of the Carling Cup.
"I've said all along that I'd rather come to a club with expectation than without it. Is there a big expectation at this club? Yes, there is.
"My view is that transmits to a bit of anxiety at times. I'm not someone who subscribes to being anxious, I've got to make sure the players are relaxed.
"We've got to perform a lot better than we did the other night . Our performance against Forest, in the second half particularly, was very good."
