Wednesday 25 March 2015 09:33, UK
QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has described the appointment of manager Chris Ramsey as a “gamble” and says the 52-year-old's future at Loftus Road is yet to be decided.
Ramsey has lost six of seven games since being appointed to the position full-time and QPR sit firmly in the drop zone on 22 points.
Despite relegation remaining a very real prospect for QPR, Ferdinand says he stands by Ramsey’s appointment:
“No regrets at all because I know what a great coach he is,” Ferdinand told Sky Sports. “It’s a gamble, any manager coming in would have been a gamble.
“There’s no guarantees that anyone would have kept us in the division or anyone would have done any better than Chris Ramsey’s doing at the moment, so I’ve got no regrets whatsoever.”
Ramsey was appointed to the role in a caretaker capacity on February 12, following Harry Redknapp’s resignation, and QPR owner Tony Fernandes has said Ramsey can keep the job on a permanent basis if the club avoids relegation.
But with only eight games left in the Premier League season, the devastating recent 2-1 loss to Everton, and a run-in that includes Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, Ferdinand could not confirm what Ramsey’s future would hold if QPR fall into the Championship.
“I think it’s something that we have to sit down and speak about,” Ferdinand said.
“OK, Tony came out and said if he keeps (QPR in the Premier League), the job’s definitely his, but it’s like being at a roulette table, spinning the dice: he has taken on somebody’s else’s team.
“Most people say when a manager comes in you need to give him time to build his own team – Chris hasn’t had that. He’s come in and done us a favour, to be fair, but he’s doing a job with someone else’s hand.”
So would the club consider giving Ramsey the summer to prepare his own team and take QPR into the 2015-16 season, whether it be in the Premier League or the Championship?
“What we’ll do, we’ll sit down come the end of the season, with Chris, with the owners of the football club and decide whether Chris is the best way forward or whether we need something else,” Ferdinand said.
“I think that’s what we need to do, come the end of the season, just readdress everything.”
