“Gutted” - QPR urged to fix Marti Cifuentes, Christian Nourry issue amid exit talk | OneFootball

QPR have been told to do all they can to keep Marti Cifuentes after it was claimed he could leave the club.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Queens Park Rangers have been told to do all they can to keep Marti Cifuentes at the club after it was suggested he could quit the Championship side.

The Spaniard was named as R’s chief in October 2023, when he inherited a side languishing in the relegation zone, but he managed to keep them in the second tier in impressive fashion.

Whilst his first full season at Loftus Road has been inconsistent, QPR are currently 15th in the table, which is a respectable position given the resources at his disposal.

QPR told to do all they can to keep Marti Cifuentes

Therefore, it was a real surprise to read reports from The Sun claiming that Cifuentes could leave his role with the Londoners.

It’s said that there has been a ‘breakdown in relationship’ between the boss and CEO Christian Nourry over issues such as injuries, transfers and the appointment of a set-piece coach.

So, it appears discussions will be had once the season is finished, and when asked by FLW about the situation, fan pundit Louis stressed how important it was to keep Cifuentes happy.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not liking all of this talk surrounding Marti quitting as manager. Even after reading all of this, I’d still be shocked if he wasn’t our manager next season. Surely, it would take something big for him not to be here, but there’s obviously things that have come up with Nourry and there may have been disagreements.

“Marti has been frustrated at different points this season, so it’s not just a recent thing, and the big one is injuries, and it’s not a coincidence we’ve had so many this season. The Head of Performance, Ben Williams, has not been at the club on a full-time basis, and as soon as he went, it’s all gone wrong, and that’s something that Marti will be really, really annoyed with.

“I think there've been disagreements with the signings. Maybe Marti wants more of a say in recruitment, but we want to push on as a club, and he wants to push on.

“Nourry doesn’t strike me as the type of person to accept mediocrity, so they will have to have discussions.

“If you look at Marti in his career, he hasn’t stayed at a club beyond a few years, so there may be a trend here, that he is difficult to work with - you never know.

“So things need to be looked at ahead of the new season, and if all of this is true then Marti won’t be here and I’d be devastated, I’d be gutted.

“I think he’s the man to kick us on, to get us challenging, but if it happens then Nourry will get a lot of stick, and he’ll have to have a plan otherwise he’ll get more criticism. There’s got to be a plan in place. It could be an interesting time at QPR, but hopefully if there is some tension it can be put to one side.”

QPR must solve managerial issue swiftly

If Cifuentes is unhappy, then QPR don’t want this to drag on and become an issue during the summer.

Over the next few weeks, decisions will be made over pre-season plans, and then it will be about identifying players to help the team for when the transfer window opens.

So, doubts over the future of the manager would be far from ideal, and the fans deserve clarity on such an important topic.

If the relationship between Cifuentes and Nourry has broken down, a change may be for the best, but if it can be resolved, the duo need to settle their differences as the ex-Hammarby boss has proven himself to be a good manager at this level.

Then, it’s about backing Cifuentes as much as possible in the summer, to give him a squad that could compete for a top-half finish at least next season.