The QPR fan who earned his club £9million by helping discover Raheem Sterling wants the Rs to go back to their days of unearthing cheap or local talent.

Back in the halcyon days of 1993, the last time the Rs finished as top dogs in London, the likes of Tony Roberts, Alan McDonald, Kevin Gallen, Karl Ready and Bradley Allen had come through the ranks, while Les Ferdinand and Andy Impey were picked up from local non-league clubs. Darren Peacock, Rufus Brevett and Andy Sinton were also bargain buys from the lower leagues.

It is a far cry from the millions spurned on big-name flops in recent years, as the Rs have bid to win their place back at the top table.

But Rangers' transfer policy this summer has swung back towards their early Premier League days, with Ben Gladwin, Massimo Luongo and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas exciting talents scouted from the lower leagues, while Darnell Furlong flies a flag for those hoping to break through from the Loftus Road youth system.

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All of which is music to the ears of John Creith, who worked for QPR's academy between 2004 and 2008, during which time he brought Sterling to the club as a raw, skinny teenager.

Creith said: “I've been a fan for 45 and I still watch them now. I used to go with my dad, we lived on Shepherds Bush Green.

“The club has lost it's ethos in recent years of finding local talent and scouting the non-league system. Local players are always hungrier.

“For a lot of years we didn't look like QPR, and a lot of fans walked away. Now we're getting our identity back, we need to rebuild as a local club.

Glad tidings: Rs have gone back to scouring for lower league talent by bringing in the likes of Ben Gladwin

“It's also good to see Darnell Furlong getting a chance, I remember him from playing in our U9s. Another talent who should follow him in is Osman Kakay, who played with Darnell in the U9s.”

Creith believes the portrayal of Sterling as the greedy embodiment of all that is wrong with modern football is far from that of the happy-go-lucky teen he spotted playing for Oakington Manor Primary School and Alpha & Omega Youth Club.

He said: “Me and a guy called Peter Moring both watched him, we were working under John O'Brien at the QPR academy. Raheem was just desperate to play football every day. Any time or any place, give him a ball and he would be happy.

“He always had the ability, would happily take on players 10 times his size. We were just in the right place at the right time. It's a shame the things turned out the way they did with his transfer. He's a good lad but has been given some bad advice.”

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Since leaving QPR, as well as more academy work, Creith has taken his first steps in management with Kentish Town and Amersham Town, from where he was sacked in April following the club's relegation. He is now back in west London as assistant manager at Les Ferdinand's first club, Southall.

He added: “Amersham was a bad experience, but a learning curve. I had to rebuild from scratch midway through the season, and it wasn't enough, although I think I deserved more of a chance. I'm looking forward to a new challenge with Southall though.”