Paulo Sousa's good friend and the man he worked under for several years during his time with the Portuguese national team was sacked today, to the surprise of some but also in keeping with the growing pressures and importance of instant success in the modern game.
Sousa will no doubt have his own ideas, and most Rangers fans will agree that he has made an accomplished if unspectacular start, but his mentor's spectacular downfall at Stamford Bridge should be a warning to QPR fans, as much as it has no doubt pleased them.
The fact is, not nearly enough managers nowadays are given enough time to build a relationship with players that they have brought in and developed themselves. It's difficult to balance the need for stability with the desire for points in the short-term, especially when the immediate results don't meet the board's expectations.
But how can players have faith in a manager that the club itself is prepared to show no faith in at all?
In terms of QPR under Sousa it's very early days, and there really hasn't been much to complain about so far. But he knows that Flavio and Co want to be in the Premier league as soon as possible. He also knows that if by the end of next season, the club have not achieved that, then he can expect to find himself out of a job.
In order to prevent that happening, he needs to continue learning about the Championship quickly and building a squad that he is confident will succeed in it. Part of that process should involve continued backing, publicly and privately from the board at the end of the season, regardless of whether the R's finish in the play-offs, just outside them or even in mid-table.
Fair enough, the owners have 'a vision' for the club, but within that vision they will need to encompass the methods and ideas of the manager they chose to carry it out. For whatever reason, that man wasn't Iain Dowie.
It's since become clear that Paulo is their chosen one. That shouldn't be until the end of the season, or until the end of the next, but instead when Sousa, who knows more about the game than anyone he works for at QPR, accepts that he has done all that he can to take the club forward. Or when the fans congregate in their thousands outside the ground to make sure that he goes.
Unfortunately, the way football is going, the odds are stacked against either scenrio. Increasingly, not just at QPR but in general, it seems like there is only one person calling the shots. And it's not the manager or the fans.
What do Rangers fans think of Paulo's start and his chances over the next few seasons? Discuss in the Messageboard…