'Ask them' - QPR boss makes huge admission after Stoke City left frustrated
QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes appeared to have doubts about his future after a 1-1 draw with Stoke City left his side still bottom of the Sky Bet Championship and without a home win this season.
Cifuentes remains popular with fans after keeping the club up last season and has previously been bullish about having the support of the Rangers hierarchy, who presided over an overhaul of the squad during the summer.
However, the Spaniard’s tone seemed somewhat different after the game at Loftus Road where Ben Gibson’s own goal gifted Rangers an equaliser after Tom Cannon had put the visitors ahead.
The Rangers boss said: “The club knows very well, since the summer, that there are areas I think we need to improve.
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“From there, I’m going to work to the best of my capacity to make sure that this club is at the level that I think it can be and that I think it deserves, because this club has amazing potential.
“I’m here as a coach trying to do my best. And there are other things that someone else has to decide.
“I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a team bottom of the table, 11 or 12 games without a win, and the manager goes out and everyone is singing and supporting the way the fans did.
“This is something that will be in my heart all my life – all my life. I feel amazing support from the players and fans.
“Everywhere I have been as a manager I achieved the target the club asked me to achieve. If now someone thinks there is a manager or a coaching problem, it’s not my call.”
Asked if he felt he had the support of his bosses, Cifuentes said: “I think that’s a question you should ask them, not me.”
As for Stoke boss Narcis Pelach, the point was welcome even if it was tinged with regret. He said: “We had to defend our box a lot, which I expected, knowing that they are in need of points, but we were always there.
“The competitive levels of the team were very good and we got a point on the road, which is positive. I’m pleased with the effort. It would have been an amazing three points away from home, but we need to go into the next game and focus on what we can control.
“We value every single point that we get in the Championship. Every point is valuable and very difficult to get. We wanted to be a team that is difficult to beat and we are getting there step by step.”