“Certainly deserves the time” – Is Neil Critchley the right man to deliver success at QPR? The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Queens Park Rangers head coach Neil Critchley has been coming under increasing pressure in recent weeks.

Critchley only replaced Michael Beale at Loftus Road in mid-December, but he has won just one of nine games in charge in all competitions so far.

The 1-1 draw with struggling Huddersfield Town at the John Smith’s Stadium extends the R’s winless run in the league to seven games, while they now sit 14th in the Championship table, six points from the play-off places.

We asked some of our FLW writers for their thoughts on Critchley’s future.

James Reeves

While there is no doubt results have been disappointing, it still feels a little early to be questioning Critchley’s position.

But it is hard not to feel that all is not well at Loftus Road with the poor results and Critchley publicly criticising his new players already.

In fairness to Critchley, he inherited a tough situation with the club beginning to fall down the table and the team were clearly affected by the Beale saga, but he has been in situ long enough to have made more of a positive impact.

He is a coach with plenty of potential and he did an excellent job at Blackpool, so should be given time to turn their fortunes around, while the players should not escape blame for the current predicament.

Critchley does need to deliver results in the short-term to avoid his position becoming precarious, but he deserves more of a fair chance before writing him off just yet.

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Adam Jones

QPR were already declining when Neil Critchley came in so he should be given a while to turn things around.

However, QPR’s expectations are much different from Blackpool’s and that’s one reason why he may be struggling at this point.

The Seasiders were punching above their weight at times last season but his current side are expected to be in the promotion mix and they aren’t on course to be there at the end of the season.

He has shown that he can achieve success with a side within a limited budget and that’s ideal for QPR who haven’t spent a huge amount in recent seasons – but results will need to improve soon.

Declan Harte

One win in eight league games hasn’t made for the best of starts, with five draws keeping the team from really remaining competitive in the play-off race.

But there have been positives, with the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United highlighting the potential of this team.

The squad isn’t up to the same standard as those competing at the very top, but it should still be in the mix for a play-off place, so work does need to be done to make immediate improvements.

However, in the long-run, Critchley is an impressive coach who brings a progressive style of play.

Seeing how Blackpool have floundered since his departure shows how important he was at Bloomfield Road.

Success may not come this season, but there is a solid base of a squad at QPR and Critchley certainly deserves the time to prove he can bring the team back to the top flight.