Gareth Ainsworth will never have to give a more heart-wrenching team talk than his farewell speech at Wycombe Wanderers.
After 550 matches in charge of the Chairboys, Ainsworth gathered his players in a meeting room and announced he was quitting his game of thrones for Queen's Park Rangers, where he was revered as a player. And parting was such sweet sorrow for the League's longest-serving manager.
Ainsworth, 49, was moved to tears and he admitted: “It was absolutely the hardest speech I've ever had to make. Going into that room I thought I would be OK, but after the amount of memories we made, and the episodes we've been through together, it was like leaving a family.
“I was never going to make that speech, and leave that family, unless I thought the challenge was worth it, so I want QPR people to know that I did it for them because I want to be here.
“If I have to give another speech like that in a few years, it will mean things have gone fantastically well for me here – and I hope that's how it pans out.”
By chance, his first game as Hoops boss is against Blackburn Rovers, his home-town club, for whom he retains both a soft spot and a score to settle. “They released me on my 18th birthday and I've never got them back for that,” he grinned. “But there are still only two games every season where I want them to lose – when they play us home and away.”
Ainsworth, whose methods at Adams Park were occasionally derided – usually by beaten opponents - will make no excuses for “doing whatever it takes” to restore a winning culture at Loftus Road, where Neil Critchley was sacked after just 12 games last weekend.
He said: “There's some snobbery in football, and when Wycombe have beaten certain teams in the past they have looked for excuses. Sorry for playing winning football, guys, but I am me. Sometimes people had a go at Wycombe's football to protect themselves because they couldn't beat us.
“I will never, ever have a go at another team's style of football – because I know the limitations of what it's like to cut your cloth on a budget.”
Ainsworth, who revealed he had earlier turned down three Championship clubs before QPR's approach proved irresistible, has cultivated a unique rock-star image on the touchline.
In his leather jacket, jeans and cowboy boots, he is still lead singer for a band called The Cold Blooded Hearts, cheerfully admitting he would rather be Mick Jagger than Lionel Messi.
And he won't be slipping into suit, collar and tie in the dugout any time soon, saying: “I walked into the training ground in the red cowboy boots on day one, and that's not going to change.
“Being genuine is important and that's the real me – if I started wearing suits on the touchline, I wouldn't be true to myself, and I'm sure the fans will appreciate that. I'll be doing it my way.”
Ainsworth used to commandeer the gym at Wycombe's training ground for band practice when everyone else had gone home.
Players used to do their pre-training weights and bench presses with speakers stacked in the corners and Ainsworth smiled: “I haven't quite got round to working out where we're going to rehearse yet, but our lead guitarist is a massive QPR fan so he's got a big smile on his face.
“We've got an album coming out in the summer, and hopefully we can sell a few copies of that, but football is all-important at the moment.
“I live by a work ethic where the players give absolutely everything, and they will have to crawl off the pitch after emptying the tank to play for this club.
“The boys' heads are probably spinning already, wondering what's going on, but I want QPR to feel great about being QPR again. We have some brilliant players and I hope we can turn the tide.”
