According to reports, Queens Park Rangers are getting closer to hiring French head coach Julien Stephan after weeks of conjecture.
With one week of the previous season remaining, the West London team put Marti Cifuentes on gardening leave amid rumours that the Spaniard was going to join divisional rivals West Bromwich Albion, who would later hire Ryan Mason. This move put the team among many others in the market for a new manager ahead of the upcoming Championship campaign.
Having been led to two mid-table finishes under Cifuentes after beginning both the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons in a catastrophic manner, this left many Hoops supporters in the dark about expectations for the upcoming season.
Despite being extensively connected to the position, Johannes Hoff Thorup, who was fired by Norwich City after less than a year in command at Carrow Road, passed down the chance to take over in W12 less than two weeks ago.
The R’s leadership has, however, made progress in their hunt for Julien Stephan. While West London Sport has said that a “agreement in principle” has been reached, French journalist Marc Mechenoua says that a two-year contract has been agreed upon.
Ahead of the impending transfer to Loftus Road, Football League World has examined the 44-year-old’s victory % in light of this.
The victory percentage of Julien Stephan as the QPR appointment approaches
Having managed Rennes’ ‘B Team’ for three years, Stephan’s first foray into senior management came in December 2018.
After replacing former Nottingham Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi, he became the first manager in the club’s history to advance to the European competition knockout stages. He also led the Brittany club to its first major trophy since 1971 when they defeated PSG on penalties in the Coupe de France final and earned their first-ever UEFA Champions League qualification ahead of the 2020–21 season.
After winning 48 of his first 107 games in the dugout, Stephan resigned from Roazhon Park in March 2021 due to a terrible run of play. He then accepted a position at RC Strasbourg, another Ligue 1 team, ahead of the 2021–2022 campaign.
Before his second season at the Stade de la Meinau couldn’t have gone much worse, the former player led the Alsace-based team to a sixth-place finish for the first time in forty-two years, losing out on European qualifying by just three points.
With Strasbourg emerging as the top tier in France at the time, Stephan was fired on January 12, 2023, after winning just one game, drawing nine, and losing eight of the first 18 league games.
After Bruno Genesio resigned in November 2023, he returned to Rennes, where he finally guided the team to 13th position.
With 46 points, “Les Rouge et Noirs” finished in the top half and were rewarded with a new contract extension through 2026.
But only seven months ago, following yet another lacklustre season debut, the son of Guy Stephan, Didier Deschamps’ assistant with the French national side, received his P45.
The goal of Julien Stephan is to bring elite talent to Loftus Road.
Stephan will be hoping that his experiences playing at the highest level in his own country will help him in West London, even if the Championship and Ligue 1 are two whole different things.
Rangers’ restricted budget has forced them to be especially astute in the transfer market recently, and the incoming manager will be hoping to be supported in bringing in the talent needed to advance the team after two inconsistent seasons.
Stephan’s appointment has not yet been confirmed, but the R’s have been connected to Odeluga Offiah and Amadou Mbengue, who both had impressive League One debuts for Reading and Blackpool, respectively, last season. The latter is now on loan from Brighton.
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