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| Good for the Game but not for QPR! |
Neil Warnock's sacking as Queens Park Rangers caught some people by surprise however, I believe that it has been something that has been on the cards since QPR made it into the Premier League. Warnock was at the forefront of an excellent promotion season seeing QPR top one of the most difficult leagues to get out of. People said that he had performed above expectations however, it was a feat that I expected seeing as he had gained promotion with Sheffield United and had excelled under strenuous circumstances at Crystal Palace.
QPR were tipped to survive in the EPL and maybe go on to greater things however, it was in pre-season that the cracks began to appear. Rumours of the owners allegedly holding talks with Carlo Ancelotti and withholding funds appeared to light the fire for parts of the media who believed he was for the sack. However, with hardly any funds he began to make his first signings most notably DJ Campbell from Blackpool and Jay Bothroyd from Cardiff. Two players that on paper seem to warrant the class of the premier league and signed for a pittance. However, it was in these two signings that my alarm bells began to ring.
There seemed to be a pattern from his first (and only) season in the premier league with Sheffield United and that was the strange tactic of overloading his squad with forward players. Jon Stead and Danny Webber were two names that come to mind; players that had not proved it in the premier league and still have yet to do so. With Bothroyd, he may have got an England call up but he was an unproven premier league goalscorer or even prolific in the Championship. DJ Campbell had enjoyed a great goal scoring season with Blackpool however, this was not the first time he had played in the premier league as he was signed for Birmingham when they were relegated in 2006 and did not score a single goal until he netted against Colchester the following season in the Championship. Campbell played well because of the way Blackpool played; fluid, attacking football where the ball was played, on the ground into space rather than pumped into the box to wait for a knock down. Warnock's teams don't play in the same manner as a team like Holloway's Blackpool they play direct, aggressive with the notion that they can throw three strikers on in the final ten minutes if need be.
However, if I were a chairman in the Championship looking for a way out and I had to choose between Warnock and Holloway, I'd choose Warnock every time as he is a Championship manager; and with that I mean no disrespect. To put a team together that has the motivation, the drive and the consistency to achieve promotion from the Championship deserves there success however, treat it as a step up, not a day out.
One thing that really aggravated me about Warnock's few months in the Premier league with QPR is that he had the chance to achieve stability and to achieve a reputation that managers like Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew are earning right now. When Tony Fernandes bought the club they brought in Wright-Phillips, Barton and Traore, to name but a few. However, he had to count on Helguson to "head" QPR out of a few losses. He post-match team talks were that of a non-league manager drawing a top team in the F.A. Cup rather than that of a premier league manager at an ambitious club. Rapidly declining in the league Tony Fernandes took the decision to do what good businessmen do in this sort of a crisis.
It happened last season when Newcastle and West Brom sacked Chris Hughton and Roberto Di Matteo respectively, where up and coming, talented, managers were being hung out to dry and replaced by the experience of Pardew and Hodgson. Both clubs retained their Premier League status and have excelled this season and I firmly believe that this will happen to QPR this season and the next under Mark Hughes. Hughes has the experience in the Premier League with Blackburn, Man City and Fulham and, even though it didn't quite work out at City, it was a tremendous learning curve.
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