Queens Park Rangers have moved swiftly this evening and appointed Spaniard Marti Cifuentes to replace the recently sacked Gareth Ainsworth, according to the club’s official website.
Cifuentes arrives from Swedish top division side Hammarby. He will take charge of his final match for the Swedish side on Monday evening before starting at QPR on Tuesday where he will meet the staff and players and do his opening interview for the fans.
In addition to Hammarby; the 41 year old has a managerial career spanning 9 years where he has previously managed Rubi, Sant Andreu, Hospitalet, Sandefjord and AAB. He has a 52% win ratio at Hammarby and a 44% win ratio overall so it would seem the board have done their due diligence.
Cifuentes has also had coaching stints in the youth departments at both Ajax and Millwall!
QPR CEO Lee Hoos said:
“We are delighted to bring Marti in and I would firstly like to thank Hammarby for being fantastic to deal with throughout the process”
“Marti is an exciting appointment and we look forward to seeing the impact he can have.”
“Having a succession plan in place is a necessary part of football, irrespective of how the team are performing.”
“Marti is someone we have been aware of so we are really pleased to have been able to secure his services.”
QPR sacked their previous manager Gareth Ainsworth on Saturday evening with the club languishing down in 23rd position, the 1-2 loss to Leicester being the final straw having lost 7 of their last 9 matches. The 50 year old had been in charge for just 8 months after joining from Wycombe Wanderers in February of this year.
Cifuentes first game in charge will be against Rotherham United on the 4th November. Let’s hope for the QPR fans it be a firecracker of a game just in time for bonfire night!
Writer’s View
Given his record and his time in management this could prove to be a very shrewd appointment, he wasn’t on the bookmakers’ lists so it could be said that it’s a “shock” appointment but in my opinion 52% win ratio at Hammarby could well stand him in good stead if he can get the players and fans onside. Hopefully he’s given longer than 8 months