QPR

Eustace insists he is not a contender for QPR job

​John Eustace insisted there was no prospect of him being given the QPR manager’s job despite presiding over a 4-0 thrashing of Swansea.

Eustace was placed in caretaker charge following the recent sacking of Steve McClaren and is unsure whether he will still be at the helm for Friday’s game against Blackburn.

Former Tottenham and Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood is director of football Les Ferdinand’s first choice to take over at Loftus Road and several other candidates have been interviewed.

Eustace has not applied for the role and faces an uncertain future, but he savoured Rangers’ first win in eight matches and only their second in 18 Championship games since Boxing Day.

“I took over for as long as it takes for them to find a new manager,” he said.

“I haven’t applied. Les asked me to help the club until they find somebody and that’s what I’m doing.

“I’m happy in the role and there are no problems there. All I’m thinking about is preparing the lads for Friday.

“We’ll get the lads rested over the next couple of days and if I’m still here on Tuesday then we’ll be preparing properly for the game on Friday.

“The boys have been excellent and their performance today was excellent.”

The incoming manager will have to contend with ongoing financial restrictions – the budget has been slashed in recent years and will be cut again next season.

Eustace said: “It’s no secret that the club are making cuts for next year – Financial Fair Play rules and all that stuff is going on.

“All I will say is that whoever’s left at the club will be giving 100% and will be committed to the club.

“You saw that with the boys today – their attitude has been different class.”

On-loan Brighton striker Tomer Hemed scored twice for the R’s, who were two up inside five minutes and 3-0 in front by the 17-minute mark.

Darnell Furlong headed in Luke Freeman’s early corner before Hemed capitalised on Cameron Carter-Vickers’ hesitation to double the lead.

Josh Scowen crossed for Hemed to score the third and Massimo Luongo netted the fourth eight minutes into the second half.

Swansea boss Graham Potter admitted: “We got off to a nightmare start and it’s an uncomfortable day for us. We didn’t do what we needed to do well.

“We deserved nothing from the game and now we have to dust ourselves down and move forward. It happens sometimes.

“QPR went after us and stopped us playing. They were better than us today. Then after going behind it becomes a difficult afternoon for us.

“A team at home and fighting for their lives to stay in the Championship are going to make it tough.”

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This post was last modified on 13/04/2019

David McIntyre

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David McIntyre