Hughes appointment big boost to QPR survival chances
Published:It’s taken him a while, but it looks as though Mark Hughes has finally found a club who are able to match his big ambitions – although his first job will be to guarantee Premier League survival for Queens Park Rangers.
Hughes has agreed to replace Neil Warnock in the Loftus Road hot seat having been big favourite from the off.
Speaking to the official QPR website, Hughes said: “I’m fully aware of the challenge in the short and long term and I am genuinely excited about the ambition of the owners.
“Now the immediate priority is to consolidate our place in the Barclays Premier League, but beyond that, the future is very bright and fills me with great enthusiasm.”
The odds on QPR dropping back into the Championship have lengthened from 7/4 to 2/1 following the announcement and Hughes does have a good record of improving the teams he takes over.
He took charge of both Blackburn Rovers and Fulham when they were in the bottom half of the Premier League and guided them to top half finishes.
Although the money injected into Manchester City makes a comparison difficult, he also left them in a far better position.
They were all established Premier League teams though and this is undoubtedly a different type of challenge for Hughes. However, his past record points to a good couple of months for the west London side.
Hughes’ first game in charge will be the Hoops’ tough away trip to Newcastle at the weekend.
QPR are currently 9/2 to go to the Sports Direct Arena and bag all three points.
There is no market available yet as to when Hughes will sign Roque Santa Cruz.
