Downtime for QPR... and the future is looking bleak, too

Chairman stays upbeat but relegation will spell disaster

NOT for the first time, QPR head to Manchester City with their Premier League status on the line. The mood ahead of Sunday’s match f eel s a lot more downbeat compared to the one on the final day of the 2011-12 campaign.

It is not just because the club’s position at the bottom of the table is far more perilous, which is bad enough, but fans are understandably worried about QPR’s long-term future.

As it turned out in 2012, QPR could afford to lose at Etihad Stadium and still retain their top-flight status, albeit only for one more year.

Given they are seven points adrift of safety with just three matches to go, realistically only a win will do. Their fate could even be sealed before kickoff in the unlikely event of Aston Villa, Newcastle, Leicester and Hull all winning tomorrow.

Few give QPR a chance of pulling off the great escape. Of perhaps greater concern is their ability to bounce back from a second rele gation in three years.

To say QPR scraped their way up from the Championship last season was an understatement. Mediocre for long periods, it took a fortunate win via the play-offs to return to the big time.

They will need more than luck this time because their squad is set to be decimated by player departures, with prec ious little money available to replace them.

Of the 28 players who have made an appearance for the club this term and are still at Loftus Road, 13 are out of contract. They include key first-team players such as centre-half Richard Dunne, captain Joey Barton and striker Bobby Zamora, as well as three loanees, Eduardo Vargas, Mauricio Isla and Mauro Zarate.

Naturally, some may be offered fresh terms to stay, although probably on reduced salaries.

The cull does not end there, though. Premier League clubs are already circling with intent over top scorer Charlie Austin, while Matt Phillips, Leroy Fer and Robert Green are likely to move, too.

And given the club’s desperation to get Adel Taarabt off the pay-roll, one can’t imagine the midfielder suddenly becoming a key part of their plans.

Clearly, QPR can raise a minimum of £20million from the sales of Austin, Fer and Phillips alone, plus the wage bill will plummet.

The Premier League also currently promise £60m in parachute payments — spread over four years — for relegated teams. But that is small beer when the new TV deal, which comes into play in 2016, rewards a club with £99m for finishing bottom.

Worst of all, the threat of a fine of more than £50m from the Football League continues to cast a shadow.

It is 1 8 mon th s since the story emerged that QPR were expected to fall foul of the competition’s Financial Fair Play rules during the 2013-14 Championship campaign.

Football League clubs were allowed to report a maximum £8m loss for last season. In March, big-spending QPR announced financial figures which caused a surprise when a mere £9.8m was registered in the negative column for their time spent in the second tier.

However, £60m was written off by the owners in loans, something that has been the subject of much debate between themselves and the Football League since the latter first started ex a mi ni n g the accounts back in December.

Chairman Tony Fernandes has vowed to fight any fiscal punishment and discussions between the two parties ‘remain ongoing’, as they have been for months.

Clearly, as far as the Football League are concerned, it is not an issue they are going to sweep under the carpet.

Anyone that follows Fernandes on social media will be fully aware that he is one of life’s optimists.

It is not completely without foundation. The club hope to get planning permission on revised plans for a training ground at Warren Farm in the summer, while he continues to push ahead with a scheme to develop a new stadium at Old Oak Common.

But more and more of the club’s fans appear to be growing frustrated at the repetition of upbeat soundbites from a chairman who has brought little stability since taking over in 2011.

Earlier this week, Fernandes wrote: “QPR Fans. Don’t despair. Lots to look forward to. You have shareholders who care. Not perfect. Made mistakes. But we care. We have learnt a lot about

players, managers, agents. Been a very frustrating season. Too many what ifs. But we still can get out of this. I’m as positive as ever for the future.”

That’s all very well, but he said pretty much the same thing when they went down in 2013, which betrays a club that hasn’t learnt much from prior mistakes.

At least a decent management structure is being put in place. By giving QPR legend Les Ferdinand the director of football role, they have someone who genuinely cares about the club.

Chris Ramsey, who is expected to be given the manager’s post full time, having impressed since taking over from Harry Redknapp in February, is clearly a coach of great ability.

The 52-year-old can extract more talent and effort from players than perhaps the individuals felt they could themselves — a skill vital if he is going to work in a lower division on a small budget.

But i f, a s expec te d, QPR do ge t relegated to the Championship, it could be quite a while before they are seen in the Premier League again.