Coach learning from Ange Postecoglu at Spurs could be ideal QPR fit - view | OneFootball

Highlights

Gareth Ainsworth may not have been sacked yet as Queens Park Rangers, but there is a feeling among many that the writing is somewhat on the wall already.

Let's face it, it's not gone well for Ainsworth since his February appointment, and his arrival came at a time when Hoops supporters needed someone that they could rally behind.

Considering Ainsworth was well-liked for his playing stint for the club between, where he played 152 times and scored 22 goals, the R's board perhaps couldn't have got anyone better in that sense - yet there was a feeling that he was on a hiding to nothing by accepting the managerial role and his relationship would end up being tarnished.

Eight months later, and we are seeing that happen exactly as some predicted.

Ainsworth just about kept QPR in the Championship last season despite some dismal results, with a 6-1 defeat at Blackpool the most memorable, but shock away wins at Burnley and Stoke City essentially kept them in the second tier.

But after some promising early 2023-24 season away wins at Cardiff City and Middlesbrough, there is a familiar sinking feeling at Loftus Road as they battle relegation again.

Many R's fans have been calling for a change in the dugout for some time now, even as far back as the opening day of the campaign when Watford inflicted a 4-0 hammering on them, and it's likely not going to get any better when the runaway leaders in the form of Enzo Maresca's Foxes come to down.

Despite a vote of confidence recently from CEO Lee Hoos, defeat will no doubt be expected against Leicester and if they also lose away at Rotherham United next weekend, who right now are a relegation rival, then there are suggestions that Ainsworth will get the sack.

There will be plenty of managers who will want to try their hand at turning around the club's fortunes, but when they opted for Michael Beale last summer, QPR got someone with no previous managerial experience - they could potentially go down that route again with Ryan Mason.

Why Ryan Mason?

Mason of course is unproven in the managerial world as he's not yet had a job leading a side, but everyone has got to start out somewhere.

And since his early retirement as a player at the age of 26 due to a head injury, Mason has got stuck into coaching and was handed a role within Tottenham's youth system.

In 2019, Mason managed Spurs' under-19's side and a year later was head of player development from under-17's level all the way to under-23's, paying his dues and grafting away until he became interim manager in 2021 following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

Mason has been in Spurs' first-team setup ever since Antonio Conte was appointed as head coach nearly two years ago, and he continued to be involved when the Italian was sacked and replaced by his own assistant Cristian Stellini, and he is now a right-hand man to Ange Postecoglou, who has certainly got the club firing on all cylinders.

How involved Mason is in the coaching of Postecoglou's side is unclear but in his 13 matches in interim charge of Tottenham over two stints, Mason has showed promise with his tactics and the way he wants his side to play football.

There's obviously a reason why a world class manager in Conte wanted him around and why Postecoglou has been keen to keep him as well, and there are definitely parallels to when Beale was appointed as head coach to replace Mark Warburton in West London.

QPR need something different and a big shift from the style of football that Ainsworth likes to deploy, and a younger, fresher coach could get the best out of the likes of Chris Willock and Ilias Chair.

And there's little reason to doubt that Postecoglou would stand in the way of Mason should he be offered a prominent managerial role - even at the age of 32 he will be keen to carve his own path, and he's a name that should certainly be under consideration among the powers-that-be at QPR.