Stephan appointed QPR head coach

Julien Stephan has managed Rennes and Strasbourg in the French top flight Queens Park Rangers have appointed Frenchman Julien Stephan as their new head coach. The 44-year-old has replaced Marti Cifuentes, who wasput on gardening leavein April and officiallyleft the club on Tuesday night. Stephan has had two spells in charge of his hometown club Rennes, who won the French Cup under him in 2019 - their first trophy for 48 years. After 18 months at Strasbourg, who sacked him in 2023, he returned to Rennes but left last November after a run of poor results. "I feel very proud and excited to join QPR,"he told the club,external. "QPR is a historic club with strong values and passionate fans, so I feel honoured. "I wanted to come here because I know there's a lot of passion around the club and around the team, and I feel very lucky to discover that. "There is something unique about English football. The intensity, the atmosphere, the passion of the fans also, the tempo of the game, the culture around the club all make it a very stimulating environment for a coach." QPR finished 15th in the Championship table in 2024-25, seven points clear of the relegation zone. As a player, Stephan was a defensive midfielder and centre-back with his career starting at Bordeaux. He also played for Paris St-Germain's B team and later for RC Paris, Stade Briochin and FC Drouais, where he retired in 2007. He was a youth coach at Drouais before taking on more senior management positions with Chateauroux and Lorient's under-19s team. He then moved to Rennes, where he was born, and worked his way up through their youth teams before being named head coach for the first time in 2018. In 2021 he resigned from his role before taking his next job at fellow Ligue 1 side, RC Strasbourg. Stephan managed 58 games at Strasbourg in a spell that lasted until January 2023. But in November of that year he returned to Rennes in what was his most recent job before taking the head coach role at QPR. Stephan was sacked by Rennes after they won just three of their final 10 league games in that campaign. Stephan has built a positive reputation in France, having worked with some of the world's brightest and exciting young players. The likes of Barcelona's Raphinha, Eduardo Camavinga from Real Madrid and Jeremy Doku, now of Manchester City, have all benefitted from his coaching. Now coming into England's second tier, Stephan told the club he has high expectations and standards he will hold his players to. "The main values are commitment, discipline and team spirit," he said. "I expect my players to give everything on the pitch for the team, for the fans and to show the right attitude. "The shirt deserves respect, total respect and it's non-negotiable for me. "I see a group with talent, commitment and potential. I think for sure there's work to do but I think we have a great potential in the squad and there's a strong foundation to develop." Stephan will find out how his schedule at QPR will look on Thursday lunchtime when the fixtures for the upcoming season are released.