While the Seattle Mariners hired their 5th manager since the departure of Lou Piniella yesterday in the person of the very handsome Don Watamatsu, Queens Park Rangers named their 6th manager in less than 12 months Wednesday. œHe is going to be the new José Mourinho with all his flair, charm and talent, gushed an unnamed Loftus Road source to the Times’ Kaveh Solhekol, speaking of none other than former Juve/Inter midfielder Paulo Sousa, who most recently toiled as Carlos Quieroz’s assistant for the Portugal national side. The Mirror’s John Cross warns that chairman Flavio Briatore is likely to continue his recent interfence in team selection, an opinion echoed by the not-so-impartial Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan, who scoffed, “‘I think it’s brilliant that a guy who knows nothing about the Championship has been appointed. The terminolgy is important. Isn’t Briatore the manager?”
The Daily Mail’s Neil Ashton, however, comes up with the scariest possible propsect short of waking up alongside Ian Dowie ; Briatore considered naming himself the new R’s manager. Ted Turner, while not unavailable for comment, probably wouldn’t want to talk about this.