Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp needs to make some big calls to save his job at Loftus RoadBeleaguered manager might have to drop Rio Ferdinand to avoid the sack
The message from the Queens Park Rangers hierarchy to Harry Redknapp could not be clearer – if he wants to remain as the club’s manager he has to make some big calls and come out fighting.
There is a genuine reluctance at Loftus Road to sack Redknapp, despite Rangers being rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. At the same time, as they prepare to face Liverpool at home on Sunday, there is a refrain that has been worryingly familiar at the club in recent times: the players are to blame and they need to respond.
The question is: can they? QPR believe they have bought well, have a more harmonious dressing room and a squad strong enough to compete, even if there is an acceptance that the failure to replace striker Loïc Rémy has left them woefully short of firepower.
Significantly, there is also disappointment in the signing of Rio Ferdinand. Earlier in the season Redknapp claimed that the defender, 35, had made a “fantastic impact” since he arrived from Manchester United. But Ferdinand has struggled and deciding whether or not to stick with him is one of those ‘big calls’ Redknapp must make.
For all the summer acquisitions that have added quality to last season’s Championship squad, Rangers lack depth.
It means that injuries have hit hard and results have suffered.
There have been claims that Redknapp will be sacked as early as Monday should QPR lose at Loftus Road on Sunday. But, unless there is a sudden change of heart, or unless the defeat is so crushing that his position is untenable, that is not the plan.
“The speculation is crazy,” striker Bobby Zamora says. “Harry has a wealth of experience, relegations, promotions, finals – he’s seen it all. It really is crazy with so many games to go. I know negativity can spiral but the players, the club all feel that there is plenty of time to get out of this.
There are 31 games to go.”
QPR are indeed looking ahead to the future – beyond the immediate run of games against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City, and to a sequence featuring Newcastle United away, Leicester at home, Swansea City away and Burnley at home.
It is at that point, probably, in early December and with 15 league matches played, that Redknapp’s future could be decided. “The players have to take some responsibility for this,” a senior club source argued. “They have to be accountable.”
Any decision over Redknapp would be taken collectively with other shareholders Kamarudin Bin Meranun, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam and Amit Bhatia, but Tony Fernandes, instinctively, is not trigger-happy. He agonised over sacking Neil Warnock in January 2012, and Mark Hughes 11 months later.
Besides, replacing Redknapp is hardly a clear-cut decision. Although he is in the final year of his contract, it would lead to an expensive upheaval of the club’s backroom staff, with a new manager lobbying for his own appointments and more money to spend in January.
Senior figures at the club have also analysed performances this season and, while there were undeniably poor displays against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and West Ham United, QPR were unfortunate to lose against Hull City and Southampton. They defeated Sunderland and drew with Stoke City to collect their four points.
Of more concern is the fact that they have scored just four goals and conceded 15 in the league, an extension of the poor run of form they endured at the tail-end of last season, when they won only four of their last 11 matches. One of those was the play-off final against Derby County, a game they were highly fortunate to win: had they not, Redknapp would already be history at Loftus Road.
There have been questions raised over the formations and tactics QPR have used this season – the experiment with a three‑man defence, for example, had calamitous consequences.
There have also been grumblings, not gone unnoticed by the club, from supporters that key personnel have lacked focus.
Redknapp and Ferdinand have published books in recent weeks, while Joey Barton, the captain, also has a range of media commitments. The worry is their focus does not always appear to be on the football.
The arrival of Les Ferdinand as head of football operations is regarded as key, with the former striker’s duties including an overhaul of the academy and the scouting. Given Fernandes’s plan is ultimately to build a new 40,000-capacity stadium and a training ground, an improvement in infrastructure is crucial.
But is that the extent of Ferdinand’s ambition? Ferdinand, a Loftus Road hero, worked closely with Tim Sherwood at Spurs for the second half of last season, and Sherwood would be interested in the QPR job if it became available.
He has one of his close coaching contacts, Chris Ramsey, at the club. The former Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis has been touted as another candidate while Glenn Hoddle has been assisting Redknapp.
There is another backdrop. If QPR are relegated they could, in theory, face a fine of around £54 million from the Football League if their losses for the promotion season matched the £65.4 million in 2012-13.
Their accounts are published later this year and they are in danger of breaching Financial Fair Play rules. Fernandes, likeable, well‑meaning and an astute businessman, has indicated he would appeal but the fine would have significant consequences.
Can QPR afford to go down? The club insist there is no chance of a rerun of the situation that Portsmouth faced when they went into meltdown.
The money is there. Nevertheless, nobody would argue that relegation would not be a grievous blow. In that context, deciding whether to stick or twist with Redknapp becomes all the more important.
