Hoop-La

All the king’s men

A week ago English Championship side Queens Park Rangers sacked their 6th manager in three years. The latest victim, former Inter and Portugal international Paulo Sousa, departed following his disclosure of sensitive information to the media that QPR sporting director Gianni Paladini had finalized a deal for top scorer Dexter Blackstock to be loaned to Nottingham Forest without his knowledge.

Queens Park Rangers were recently named the ‘World’s Richest Club’ following the £14 million joint takeover in August 2007 by Formula 1 tycoons Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone - a move that saw them leapfrog neighbours Chelsea and Roman Abramovich on the rich list. The addtion of Forbes’ 5th Richest Man in the World,Lakshmi Mittal, as part owner in December 2007 further cemented their position as football’s rich kids.

Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore contemplate a 7th QPR manager

However things haven’t been so rewarding on the pitch. Since the takeover QPR have had 6 different managers: John Gregory, Mick Harford, Luigi De Canio, Iain Dowie, Gareth Ainsworth, Paulo Sousa. With a heck of a lot of money being paid out in compensation and little to cheer about in the stands, lets hope the ‘World’s Richest Club’ tag rings true.

With Chelsea beating Arsenal on Saturday to reach this year’s FA Cup Final, the Hoops still have a lot of spending to do if they’re ever going to compete with their West London rivals on the pitch and sing ‘stick the blue flag up your a**’.