QPR appoint Manchester City's Mike Rigg as new technical director

21 March 2012 QPR completed a remarkable comeback to beat Liverpool 3-2 at Loftus Road, with Jamie Mackie scoring the winner. (GETTY IMAGES)

QPR have today appointed Manchester City's Mike Rigg as the club's new technical director.

The 43-year-old has held a similar role at the Etihad Stadium since June 2008, but has opted to leave the position in order to link up with the west Londoners.

The move reunites Rigg with QPR manager Mark Hughes, with whom he worked at City, Blackburn and the Welsh national team.

"I am very pleased to be here," Rigg told the club's official website, www.qpr.co.uk.

"When I sat down with the owners and Mark recently they sold the project at Queens Park Rangers to me.

"I see where they want to take the club and it is something I want to be a part of.

"I have worked with Mark in a number of different roles so I have a very good understanding of what he wants and what he needs.

"Player acquisition is a big part of football and it is where an enormous amount of investment is made. That's where we must get it right.

"My role involves a mixture of looking at the immediate needs for the football club as well as trying to make sure we have a long-term plan in place for bringing players through into the first team."

Rigg's role will see him charged with identifying and accruing talent at every age group.

The former Sheffield Wednesday academy manager will also work with all the club's departments to enhance the player development process in order to bring quality players into the first team, as well as the Hoops' various age group squads.

QPR chief executive officer Philip Beard hailed Rigg's appointment and believes he will prove a vital acquisition for the club.

"This is a key appointment for the short- and long-term future of the football club," he said of the former Welsh FA technical director and chief scout at Blackburn.

"Mike has a proven track record at both domestic and international level and having worked closely with Mark in the past, knows how the manager works and the standards he sets.

"This appointment outlines the club's commitment to building for the future, in support of the first team, as well as our ever-improving academy set-up.

"We are committed to nurturing our own home-grown players over the coming years and part of Mike's remit will be to do that, as well as unearthing previously undiscovered talent to go straight into the first-team set-up."

PA