Christian Nourry on being a “sports-minded” chief executive at QPR
Christian Nourry has outlined his role as a ‘sports-minded’ chief executive at Queens Park Rangers following the conclusion of the summer transfer window.
Nourry replaced Lee Hoos at the west London club in January having previously helped advise the club’s ownership as part of the football strategy group Retexo.
Rangers have not appointed a director of football since Les Ferdinand left the club in June 2023, and Nourry has taken the lead on football matters since his appointment.
“If you go to every Championship team, every one will have a slightly different structure and different roles,” said Nourry when asked about his position.
“There will be heads of recruitment, technical directors, sporting directors, a director of football. The model that the ownership chose to go down when I was fortunate enough to be asked if this could be interesting for me is the model of a sports-minded CEO.
“Perhaps it’s less common in this country but certainly in places like France and Spain it’s the prevailing model. There are a lot of advantages to that model, and it allows for the vision [of the club] to be super clear and joined up.
“It allows hopefully for quicker decision making. If there is a small group of people that make decisions it allows for a more streamlined way of running a football club.
“I’m working many hours a day but it’s a club at the moment that is able to run well because I’m fortunate enough to have good people around me who do their jobs very well.”
In his previous role with Retexo, Nourry was involved in identifying and recruiting players, and he shelved any holiday plans over the summer to focus on rebuilding the playing squad at Loftus Road.
He made it clear that the recruitment structure at QPR is a collaborative process between himself, head coach Marti Cifuentes, his assistant Xavi Calm and head of recruitment Andy Belk.
With the help of data, the quartet ultimately work towards a ‘game model’ which was established last season and guides the club’s decision-making process.
“We think that this model of knowing how we want to play, and having a coach who can execute and evolve it, is the right one because then the thinking is really joined up,” Nourry explained.
“Based on that work we have 15 or 16 positional profiles in a 25-man squad. We then have names in all positions and then we will sit down together with the coaching staff and look at our priorities for the window and how we are going to achieve those together.
“A lot of clubs have a StatsBomb account, does that actually get used when they sign players would be another question. We are making sure that the first filter is data-driven and data-led in terms of the players we want to look at because we think they can be successful in how we play.
“We don’t move forward on a player unless Marti, Xavi, Andy and myself are in agreement that it’s going to work. That sort of old ad hock version of ‘what we thinking we might need today?’ and looking to see in the other room if we have it is not a good way to operate.
“We worked in total lockstep over the course of the summer and everybody was unanimous on the players we brought in to the football club.
“I’m not the one sat there watching 50 games of Nicolas Madsen. We have people who are highly specialised at what they do. Just like I don’t pick the team, I don’t tell Andy: ‘I’ve seen 10 games of this guy, we like him’.
“But I do receive a significant level of detail on all of the bits and pieces that means we as a group think these are the right people to go forward with and I will deal with everything in terms of finances.
“If there is a specific hot button issue where there’s a level of disagreement on a certain player then I will spend more time looking at a player myself. But generally speaking, I’m not sitting there watching hundreds of games a day.”
Nourry is keen to see the club’s best players remain at Loftus Road but accepted the club needs to operate more effectively in the market to ensure they are not hampered by FFP restrictions in the way they were last season.
“My job is to get better at what we are trying to do every day. On the pitch and off it but also protect the financial future of the football club and get it at a place of sustainability,” he said.
“At the moment we have a £25million net loss hole to fill [every year], that’s not going to happen overnight but I’ve not come here to do anything other than try to manage that and make it smaller over time without significantly impacting the product and performance on the pitch.
“This job is very tough. I don’t envy anyone in this job before or at any club in the country, but ultimately where there are offers for players we have to consider them.”
PICTURE: ROB AVIS