Tim Sherwood tops QPR’s list to succeed Harry Redknapp

Queens Park Rangers will try to tempt Tim Sherwood back into top-flight management as they seek to retain Premier League status following Harry Redknapp’s resignation hours after the closure of the transfer window.


Redknapp informed the QPR chairman, Tony Fernandes, of his decision to step down in a 5.30am telephone call early on Tuesday citing knee problems which were restricting his ability to work on the training ground and will require surgery. The 67-year-old had entered the final six months of his contract at Loftus Road and suggested he had been struggling with his health for weeks but his abrupt departure still constituted a shock to the club’s hierarchy.

The team languish 19th in the division, without a point from 11 away games, and host fourth-placed Southampton on Saturday. The club have asked Les Ferdinand – who joined in October as head of football operations, a role Redknapp had described as “a stupid title” – and Chris Ramsey to take charge of that game in preference to the former England manager Glenn Hoddle, who on Tuesday night resigned as a part-time member of the coaching staff. Two other coaches, Joe Jordan and Kevin Bond, have followed him out of the door.

Ramsey’s and Ferdinand’s close association with Sherwood, for whom they worked as assistants at Tottenham Hotspur last season, has strengthened his chances of taking up the reins and Ferdinand will effectively oversee the appointment. He may even adopt a coaching role in the new man’s staff.

Sherwood has come close to taking jobs at West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace since leaving White Hart Lane last summer, and is taking his Uefa Pro Licence – the qualification required to operate as a Premier League manager – with the Football Association of Wales. The 45-year-old had been granted special dispensation to take on the role at Spurs and the course will be completed this year, but he has been keen to return to full-time management. He may need some convincing that QPR have the quality to survive this term with 15 games to play but Ferdinand will attempt to persuade him.

He would inherit a squad which arguably ended the mid-winter window depleted rather than strengthened for the challenge ahead. Fernandes had tweeted on Monday morning that there would be “no more cheque book” and stressed “given the right motivation, tactics and coaching we can achieve much more”. Their only major piece of business was the sale of Jordon Mutch to Crystal Palace for £4.75m last week. That reflected the need to cut budgets in light of Football League financial fair play restrictions and the huge fine which would accompany relegation back to the Championship.They did attempt to cancel the loan of their only mid-season senior addition, West Ham’s Mauro Zárate, whom Redknapp deemed unfit, in the last hour of the window and secure Matt Jarvis on a temporary deal in return, only for the move to be thwarted by Premier League regulations.

That left Redknapp infuriated as the transfer deadline passed. But despite having trumpeted the need for additions over recent weeks, he was quick to deny that the inability to secure players such as Emmanuel Adebayor or Aaron Lennon had prompted his resignation.

“We tried but we couldn’t find anybody,” said Redknapp. “Tony was keener than I was. He was trying for his life, non-stop on the phone, late on, but it was all too expensive for the club to do. The [Adebayor] deal wasn’t one we could afford, so we scrubbed it. You don’t bring players in for the sake of it.”

Instead he pointed to the knee problems which had kept him up overnight as he stayed in a London hotel as reason for his sudden departure. Redknapp claimed his inability to walk easily in front of the squad had felt “a little bit embarrassing at times” and suggested that both his knees, and particularly the joint in his right leg which had required surgery to repair cartilage in the summer of 2013, would soon need to be replaced. “I couldn’t get out on the pitch. I can’t walk, I can barely stand and watch. I’m in pain all the time. People can see it in me when I’m not happy, so I’ve decided to give somebody else a go. I need to get my legs sorted out.

“I haven’t got the hump, we haven’t had a row. I knew some while ago that we were not going to be able to get much done in January. We had one real target on the last day, Emmanuel Adebayor, because we are short up front. But he was too much money. I accept that. There are no hard feelings on my part – I’ve not had a problem with Tony Fernandes in all my time there. I told him he needed someone who could commit to every aspect of the job in the next 10 weeks, and that’s not me. I still don’t think I’m finished with football. When I’ve had the operations, I’ll be looking for work again.”



Dominic Fifield,Guardian