Hughes transfer nous can secure QPR safety
YOU HAVE to feel more than a small measure of sympathy for Neil Warnock after he was sacked earlier this week but you can’t avoid the sense that club has taken a decisive step towards preserving their Premier League status with the appointment of Mark Hughes.
Warnock will always be remembered by the fans as the man who restored top-flight football to Loftus Road after a 15-year absence, but the success of fellow promotees Norwich and Swansea underlines why change was required.
Paul Lambert and Brendan Rodgers are two talented young managers whose teams have a distinctive style of play and a real identity – the same cannot be said for QPR.
Hughes, meanwhile, enjoyed success at Fulham and Blackburn, where his teams had a reputation for being hard to beat, especially at home, and played decent football at times, too.
His record in the transfer market is impressive and he possesses an extremely thorough knowledge of the European market. Rovers duo Christopher Samba and Ryan Nelsen stand out as his two stellar purchases, while it should also be remembered that he brought Vincent Kompany to Manchester City on the cheap.
Rangers will need him to unearth a few more diamonds if they are to beat the drop, but they are certainly better placed to do so with him at the helm.
Trevor Steven is a former Everton, Marseille and Glasgow Rangers winger who represented England at both the 1986 and 1990 World Cup.