De Canio named new QPR boss

The 50-year-old succeeds John Gregory - who was sacked four weeks ago - and has agreed a contract at Loftus Road until the end of the 2009-10 season.

Mick Harford, who led Rangers to two wins and two draws as caretaker manager to guide them off the foot of the Coca-Cola Championship table, turned down a coaching role at the club and has left with immediate effect.

"I am very excited at this fantastic opportunity to join Queens Park Rangers as their first-team coach," De Canio told www.qpr.co.uk. "For me it will be an honour to work for QPR, a club which is backed by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, two businessmen with an incredible track record of success in sport and other fields.

"I would like to thank them and I will not disappoint their expectations. I am fully committed to the project and I am looking forward to getting to work with the players in preparation for our forthcoming home fixture against Hull City on Saturday."

De Canio has also managed Udinese, Reggina and Genoa and notably kept unfashionable Siena in Serie A for two seasons before leaving last summer.

Rangers chairman Gianni Paladini said: "The club is going through a phase of total restructuring and the appointment is the first important step in our long-term strategy.

"De Canio is a highly-motivated professional whose dynamic and aggressive approach fits perfectly with the image and philosophy of the new management."

Ex-England striker Harford left his role as assistant manager at Colchester in the summer to become Gregory's number two, and he had expressed his desire to take on the permanent job.

"We offered Mick a role within the new set-up and we're disappointed he has turned this down," added Paladini. "He has done a fantastic job since he arrived and his contribution will never be forgotten."