Former Aston Villa and Wolves striker Andy Gray was talking exlusively to SW Londoner
ANY MANAGER whose team are having a run like QPR were having was going to be under pressure and I think Neil Warnock would have known that.
He would have needed someone like the Venkys at Blackburn and Dave Whelan at Wigan behind him, people who have stood firm behind their managers even though they have not had particularly good seasons.
But I think that there was one major thing that went against Neil right from the beginning, and that was that the man holding all the strings inherited him as his manager.
When someone buys a club and the management is not your appointment then it causes issues, no matter what people say.
We saw that with Mark Hughes when he was at Manchester City and also Sam Allardyce when he was at Blackburn, and even when he was at Newcastle as Mike Ashley came in and he didn’t want him so he was gone.
So when a new owner or a new board comes in it is very tricky and I think that unless you get it exactly right from the very beginning, then they are looking to get someone new in.
It is sad that Neil has gone and whenever a manager loses a job I feel for them because I know how hard that job is from my brief spell of coaching under Ron Atkinson at Aston Villa.
You need support and that is even more difficult when a new owner takes over and they have their own thoughts on who should be managing their club.
Neil is not the first one to suffer because a new owner has taken over, and I am sure he won’t be the last.
But having said that I think that QPR fans will be absolutely delighted that they now have Mark in charge of their club.
I thought that when Sparky left Fulham that Randy Lerner would jump at the chance and have him in at Aston Villa but that didn’t happen for some reason.
But Tony Fernandes won’t mind at all because I think QPR have got themselves an ambitious and meticulous manager in Mark Hughes.
And from what I have heard and from what I have seen people like working for Mark and that is important as you look to turn a club’s fortunes around.
He has a job on there, no doubt about that, but it is not an impossible one.
He now has half a season to try and get enough points and get them out of trouble and I really think it is important that he has the chance to bring in some of his own players.
If you are going to change a manager then you have to do it when they can make some changes otherwise there is no point.
Mark now has enough time to do some wheeling and dealing, to bring some in and to get some out of his squad, and to put his own stamp on the club.
There is no doubt that Tony will bankroll that because he is an ambitious owner and all of a sudden things are looking up for QPR again.
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