Wycombe Wanderers legend Adebayo Akinfenwa can understand why Gareth Ainsworth would be tempted to replace Neil Critchley at QPR but hopes to see him stay at Adams Park, speaking to talkSPORT (19 February, 7pm).
Saturday’s 1-0 triumph over Bolton Wanderers was Ainsworth’s Wycombe side to a tee. It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game of the season but, what The Chairboys lack in style, they more than make up for in substance. In grit, desire, and endeavour.
Ainsworth guided Wycombe to promotion in 2020. He almost repeated the trick in 2022. And it’s testament to their rockabilly gaffer that Wycombe are once again in play-off contention; sitting seventh following a hard-fought victory over a Bolton team who arrived on the back of successive 5-0 wins.
Reports from the Daily Mail suggesting that Ainsworth is the early frontrunner to replace Critchley at Loftus Road, then, will be the cause of a few sleepless nights in Buckinghamshire.
Will Wycombe boss Garenth Ainsworth replace Neil Critchley at QPR?
“I hope not, I can honestly say that. I think he is always the most important signing there,” says Akinfenwa, the Wycombe hero who spent many a season under Ainsworth.
“He gives the foundation, and the footbridge to build upon. But I can understand why QPR would come in for him again. He’s doing a magnificent job. He always knows how to work with a shoestring (budget)
“Look at me, I’m bigging him up! I should say he’s a terrible manager so that QPR don’t go and get him!”
Ainsworth is currently the second-longest serving manager in the whole of the EFL, having celebrated his centenary last September. Akinfenwa, however, believes that the opportunity to establish himself at a higher level may the greatest test yet of Ainsworth’s enduring loyalty.
“You want to test yourself at the highest level. I don’t think anybody could begrudge him if he wants to move on. He’s been at Wycombe for years,” Akinfenwa adds.
“But I hope he stays. I hope he gets Wycombe promoted. He sold Aniss Mehmeti to Bristol City (in January). He doesn’t stand in the way of anyone who wants to achieve anything in their career, and he is no different. He’s always said that. He wants to achieve, and he wants to test himself.
“If (QPR) did come around… Nobody wants it to happen, especially (people) that are involved in Wycombe, because of the man he is and the job he’s done. But you can always understand why people are sniffing around him.”
Ainsworth spent seven years as a player at Queens Park Rangers between 2003 and 2010. Critchley, meanwhile, left West London following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at in-form Middlesbrough.
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