Ex QPR boss agrees 'head-turning' EFL management switch

Former QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth is reported to have agreed a deal to lave his post at League One side Shrewsbury Town to take on a new role with League Two outfit Gillingham.

Sky Sports reported that a deal had been agreed on Tuesday morning for the 51-year-old, who only started at Shrewsbury Town in November 2024. The Shrews have won just five of their 22 fixtures under Ainsworth and currently sit bottom of the third tier, 14 points adrift from safety with just nine matches left this term.

Ainsworth appears to have jumped ship from the sinking Shrewsbury Town in a head-turning move at this point of the season. He will take over a Gillingham team that is 19th in the fourth tier.

Gareth Ainsworth agrees deal with Gillingham

Gillingham sacked manager Mark Bonner in January and replaced him with former Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman, who was employed only until the end of the season. The side has won just two of their 14 matches under Coleman but are unbeaten in their last three with a win over Bradford City followed by draws against Accrington Stanley and Walsall this month.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury Town were beaten 2-0 at home by Burton Albion last weekend with their relegation destiny creeping closer. Speaking about his side after defeat to Exeter City earlier this month, Ainsworth said: "I've said a few home truths to the boys because it's probably one of the few times I'm saying 'that's not good enough. We got outfought and it's not like us to get outfought. It wasn't the football that lays down, it was the fight."

Ainsworth spent seven years as a player at QPR and eventually took charge of the side as a caretaker boss on two occasions in 2008 and 2009. The former midfielder then took on the post as head coach at Wycombe Wanderers, where he stayed for 11 years, before returning to Loftus Road in 2023.

Ainsworth lasted just seven months at QPR and was dismissed in October 2023 to be replaced by current boss Marti Cifuentes. Richard Dobson was Ainsworth’s assistant while at QPR and opened up about their time at the club just last week.

Ex QPR midfielder had ‘disappointing time’ at Loftus Road

He told the Shropshire Star: “That was quite a disappointing time. I grew up watching QPR as a young lad that was my team living in west London.

“I was quite excited to go back and get an opportunity to work there, but we went there at a really bad time. They got themselves in a really bad place with Financial Fair Play. We knew they're in a relegation battle, and we've just got to keep the club up in the first season, and then we'll be able to build, but actually we couldn't.

“We knew that there was a dressing room there that was not in a good way. Half of them wanted to rip the heads off the other half. So you go into that environment totally different to Wycombe Wanderers. But you know we thought that's alright we'll move the ones out that we don't want, and we'll build with the ones that we do.”

In other news, QPR star Yang Min-hyeok could be in line for his South Korea international debut today.