Buzzin Championship Football

paul hart qpr coach

Queens Park Rangers have parted company with suspended manager Jim Magilton, the former Ipswich manager left the club late on Wednesday night by ‘mutual consent.’

Claims that Magilton had head butted midfielder Akos Buzsaky following the game at Watford on December 7th were denied by the outgoing manager, but QPR have decided to move on with yet another new coach at the helm.

Former Portsmouth coach Paul Hart has been handed the job at Loftus Road and he will be joined by Mick Harford who will work as his assistant at Rangers.

Hart becomes the fifth ‘full time’ manager to arrive at QPR in the last two years, Harford is among the list of caretaker managers that have served during that same period.

What can Paul Hart bring to QPR that John Gregory, Luigi de Canio, Paulo Sousa, Iain Dowie and Jim Magilton couldn’t manage?

Portsmouth believed that Hart was instrumental in keeping the south coast club in the Premier League last season in what was a difficult season for the club both on and off the field.

However the coach was not offered a full time contract until this season was well under way and then within a few weeks of signing he was sacked by Portsmouth with the club at the bottom of the league table.

It is fair to say that Portsmouth have been a better team this season than their results suggest, but moreover it is impossible to assess a club that has struggled financially and seen many of its key players move away.

QPR do not have those problems, but they do face the problem of expectancy, they are a well financed club that expects to be fighting for promotion and are currently falling well short.

Personally I cannot see Hart or anyone else for that matter, getting a long enough run to win over the management at QPR and as I said when Magilton joined the club it is akin to accepting the poison chalice.

Jim Magilton managed the club for 23 games, Paolo Sousa lasted for 26 while Ian Dowie stayed for 15 games. Not a great record, and I believe the results of those constant switches can be seen in the results on the pitch.

Good luck to Paul Hart, a really nice guy who deserves a break, but I can’t really see him being at Loftus Road come the end of the season.