I think the madness surrounding The ECB and Kevin PietersenÂ’s England future has let Queens Park Rangers off the hook, quite a bit, since they were relegated at the weekend
I am quite certain that Blackpool put up a better fight to stay in The Championship this season, despite their obvious pitfalls before the start of their season, than did Queens Park RangerÂ’s in their loss, a generous descriptor of what actually occurred, at Manchester City
With this said, what I intend to explain is how much in trouble QPR as a club really are.
A club such as Burnley did not invest much this past summer, which may have ultimately cost them their Premier League status, has a great chance to head back up after just one season in the second tier
They are well run; players are on fair wages and are as professional a group as I have ever seen
Many of them will go down with Burnley and still be there next season
Sean Dyche is a good manager and his playerÂ’s play for him as much as for the club and its very loyal supporters
QPR on the other hand have massive problems that need to be addressed if they are to avoid a massive and unprecedented collapse.
One of the first things I look at is player recruitment
In the summer they signed players such as Jordan Mutch, Steven Caulker and Leroy Fer who had just been relegated from the top tier this season
Their performances this season showed why they were a part of those teams last season
I do think Fer has talent but he was shocking, for the most part, this season but I have never seen enough from Caulker to believe that Tottenham selling him was not good business
Additionally, in a mixture of signings this past summer, and a couple before, saw players being bought for and put on exorbitant wages
Rio Ferdinand, Sandro, Joey Barton, Niko Kranjcar and Bobby Zamora
I do not think that I have to say much about how these players have been largely unhelpful in the dressing room and or on the pitch, except for Barton surprisingly.
What has happened as a result of an unwise recruiting scheme is that the club not only face a huge exodus next season, unlike Burnley, but also a massive FFP fine, which they do plan to contest but will almost certainly be convicted anyway, in some way
Joey Barton, Richard Dunne, Alejandro Faurlin, Rio Ferdinand, Karl Henry, Clint Hill, Brian Murphy, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Bobby Zamora are out of contract
Adel Taarabt, Armand Traore, Junior Hoilett, Sandro and Samba Diakite are on the transfer list
Charlie Austin, Rob Green, Matt Phillips, Leroy Fer, Steven Caulker, Nedum Onuoha, Yun Suk-young and Alex McCarthy have received interest from other clubs, for some of them I have no idea why
I would not be surprised if Leroy Fer and Steven Caulker get relegated again
Although, Rob Green and Charlie Austin were bright spots this season, and to a lesser extent so were Richard Dunne and Nedum Onuoha.
There are a couple of possible saving graces for QPRÂ’s future however
They have incredible fans
They also have the chance to rebuild and so relegation could end up being a blessing in disguise
But, if their wage bill does not change and their recruitment strategies are not rethought then they could drop like a rock as Blackpool and Wigan have, or worse, follow in the footsteps of the Portsmouth crisis.
Source : DSG
Source: DSG