QPR: Hart appointment uninspiring

The circus that is QPR football club has been wowing it's audience, matinee performances 'n all in recent weeks.

But if the alleged dressing room dust-up between the now departed Jim Magilton and Akos Buzsaky provided some crash-crash style intrigue for the neutral, then the appointment of Paul Hart as Hoops' manager sends a clear message:

The show's over folks.

Well, it is for now at least.

If Magilton â who still maintains he did nothing untoward -  was something of an uncontroversial figure before arriving at Loftus Road, then Hart by the same token is an equally safe appointment.

But the words 'safe' and 'manager's job' don't sit too easily next to each other in the context of life at QPR.

Hart has just until the end of the season to, presumably, take Rangers up or he will be sent packing.

His record suggests the latter option is the more likely.

A pretty disastrous spell at Portsmouth was the latest in a string of failures for the man whose only flirtation with success as a senior manager came when he led Nottingham Forest to a Division One play-off semi-final defeat to Sheffield United back in 2003.

Since then he has tried and failed to transform the fortunes of the likes of Rushden and Diamonds and Barnsley, with little to no success.

OK, so he might not be as useless as his record suggests.

After all, both Forest and Pompey were in financial disarray when he was handed the reigns, and so to expect any possible success at either of those clubs was asking a bit much.

But Barnsley, under Andy Ritchie's stewardship, were promoted the season after Hart's sacking, with largely the same squad of players he was unable to inspire intact.

If there's one thing QPR do have, it's financial security, meaning Hart will at least have cash to spend in January.

So, there's no excuses on that front.

However, why the hell would the R's want to appoint a bloke who, at Portsmouth, has just overseen the worst ever start to a Premier League season by any team, and has no track record of success previously?

Because he was available? Because he was cheap? Because he was prepared to accept a deal with no long term security, when other managers weren't?

Yes to all of the above.

Because he is the best possible man to lead the club to the Premier League? No.

He could do the business I suppose.

Rangers have enough quality already to be mixing it at the right end of the table, and a few astute January purchases could propel them up the league.

But under Hart, it's unlikely.

A more feasible scenario would be play-off heartache, followed by Hart's exit.

Cue a big name summer appointment, who just might have been lined up already, and the job's, for whoever that big name may be, a good 'un.

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FourFourTwo.com: More to read...

BLOG: Magilton always on borrowed time

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