Ramsey should stay to manage QPR in Championship, says Hill

Veteran defender says manager was handed ‘a difficult situation’

Clint Hill believes Chris Ramsey should continue as the Queens Park Rangers manager despite the club’s relegation, which was confirmed by the 6-0 hammering suffered at Manchester City on Sunday.

QPR are bottom of the Premier League after 36 matches, having won only seven times, and have managed to accrue just 27 points with a goal difference of minus 28 in their brief return to the top flight.

Yet Hill, 36, believes Ramsey, who replaced Harry Redknapp in February, is the man to revive QPR next season. “Obviously he is a good coach who likes his youngsters,” the defender said. “It is about getting fresh players in and getting the right culture into the dressing room.

“He has come into a difficult situation – with the position we were in and so many of the players not being his. I feel sorry for him because he has given everything on the training ground. He has tried to raise us and give us a steady platform. In most games we have competed but we have faded towards the end of the season.

“All the mistakes and errors we have made throughout the season played out in 90 minutes [against City]. We just were not good enough and that has been the case throughout the campaign. There are loads of questions that needs answering. Ultimately we did not have the quality to stay up. It is a difficult one to take and we have to apologise to our fans.”

Hill, who signed for QPR five years ago, wants firm leadership from Tony Fernandes, the co-chairman, and the board. “At the end of the season people at the club need to sit down and get it right in terms of a fresh impetus and a direction that is right for the club,” he said. “Everyone connected with the club needs to ask questions of themselves and learn from this. Of course the club can bounce back but it going to be hard.”

Joey Barton, the captain, identified “one or two bad eggs” at the club before the City match, a claim Ramsey broadly agreed with. Hill said: “No matter who is not pulling in the right direction, it should not affect you as an individual. In every dressing room you are not going to get the right type of people. There are certain people who might not put the effort in here and there or might not be right on the training ground, but that should not affect you as a professional. Did we have the quality? Probably not. But the lads that have gone out there every week have tried everything.”


By Jamie Jackson / Guardian