QPR follow Sheffield Wednesday with high risk, high reward decision: View | OneFootball

Queens Park Rangers brought an end to their managerial hunt in 48 hours by confirming Martí Cifuentes as the R’s new head coach.

The Hoops parted company with Gareth Ainsworth after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Leicester City left QPR 23rd in the Championship table - 6 points adrift from safety.

Ainsworth only won five of his 28 matches in charge of the West London outfit, with the club losing their sixth consecutive game over the weekend against the Foxes.

Despite a spirited performance against the league leaders at Loftus Road, QPR suffered yet another defeat on home soil which has seen them win just once in 22 home league outings since November 2022.

Consistent form in front of the QPR faithful will be an immediate target for Cifuentes to regalvanise the playing squad, with his first job in the second-tier an uphill task to maintain their Championship status.

Sheffield Wednesday recently appointed a second-tier debutant as manager in the form of Danny Rohl, and with the 34-year-old registering the Owls’ first win of the season on Sunday against Rotherham United, there is hope an upturn in form for QPR under the stewardship of someone with similar experience.

Who is Martí Cifuentes?

When Michael Beale departed for Glasgow Rangers last year, Cifuentes was wanted by the R's hierarchy at the time and contact was made to Swedish outfit Hammarby, although no deal was struck.

Neil Critchley ended up being appointed instead, but almost 11 months later, the 41-year-old has finally arrived at Loftus Road, confirmed as the new head coach on Monday night after Hammarby’s 2-2 draw with IK Sirius.

Cifuentes went into coaching at a young age after a very short playing career, spending the early days with both Ajax and Millwall as a youth coach for a few months separately.

His landed his first managerial role in 2013 with Spanish lower league side Rubí, where his 14 wins from 24 matches saw him snapped up by Sant Andreu in 2014, who were in the third-tier of Spanish football at the time.

Cifuentes then took up a job as the reserve team and academy coach of Swedish side AIK before switching to Norway and Sandejford, but the club were relegated months after his arrival.

However, his work to guide the club back to the Eliteserien earned him a move to Aalborg in Denmark and after leading them to a fourth-place finish in the Danish Superliga, Hammarby of Sweden came calling.

In his first season at Bajen, Cifuentes guided Hammarby to a third-placed Allsvenskan finish as well as securing qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Is the appointment of Martí Cifuentes the correct decision?

It is a left field choice from QPR to appoint Cifuentes, given other candidates were available for the job who have impressive CVs off the back of managing in the second-tier.

John Eustace was one name out of work with a previous connection to W12 after his bemusing sacking from Birmingham City. The 43-year-old left the club in the play-off places and his departure is already being felt in the West Midlands with three successive defeats under new boss Wayne Rooney.

Eustace also has experience of maintaining survival with Blues by guiding them to a 17th place finish last year, despite many tipping Birmingham to drop down to League One due to the off-field issues.

Neil Warnock was rumoured to be considered, who masterminded his own escape with Huddersfield Town, maintaining the West Yorkshire side’s Championship status on the penultimate day of the 2022/23 campaign, despite being seven points adrift of safety in March.

But The Hoops have opted to add some Spanish flair to Loftus Road with Cifuentes. The 41-year-old certainly knows what it takes to win games during his recent stint at Hammarby by registering a 51.39% win record in Sweden – winning 37, drawing 18 and losing just 17 of his 72 games in charge.

However, the Championship brings a whole new challenge and is one Cifuentes will need to adapt to quickly to avoid the gap at the bottom worsening.

QPR may have taken notes from Sheffield Wednesday in the recruitment process by boldly appointing a coach without previous managerial history in England. Cifuentes certainly possesses an impressive CV, with a tremendous amount of experience abroad preparing him for what proves to be a relegation dogfight for the rest of the campaign, but it is certainly a risky call to make with the club staring at the trap door of League One football next season.