It's been a pretty dismal few months for Harry Redknapp and QPR (Telegraph UK)
This weekend's match between Reading and QPR pretty much summed up the futility behind the two sides' Barclay's Premier League campaign this season. A win for either side would have held off relegation for at least another week, while a draw would doom them both to the Championship. What happened? It ended up being a snoozer of a nil-nil draw. Way to go guys.
One takes a look at Reading, and their story isn't all that different from other clubs' journeys to short term top flight tenures. Reading was a good team in the Championship and earned promotion. However, despite the heart which they displayed often throughout the year, the lack of money and elite talent were too much for them in the end. Think Blackpool from a couple of years back. Reading will go down, they'll retool a little bit, and they'll probably still be a decent Championship side, with a chance to spring back up into the Premier League at some point.
QPR is, however, another story entirely. They emerged from the second division two years ago with more lofty ambitions, and their owner wasn't shy about it. When the first half of last year's EPL season didn't work out, they fired manager Neil Warnock, who had brought them up, hired former Fulham and Man City boss Mark Hughes, and splashed a lot of cash around bringing in players. However at the end of last season, the R's barely escaped relegation. This last summer, they threw around more cash and brought in more players. When the results failed to improve, they brought in Harry Redknapp and put out even more cash. In the end it wasn't enough though, and they end up with Reading, except that they've spent a lot more money and are probably going to be stuck with many of their failed players, and we've seen that they have little or no chemistry.
For their part, the club are staying with Harry. What a year it's been for him. Last year his Spurs side had a run in the Champions League, and just about a year ago he was rumored for the England job. Then the England job fell through and he was sacked at Spurs after failing to secure another Champions League spot when Chelsea took Tottenham's place by winning the final at Bayern. That's pretty tough luck, especially considering that he'll now be in the second division.
There is still one team to be relegated this year after this weekend's results confirmed QPR and Reading's exit. Wigan look to be in the most trouble after failing to secure all three points vs Spurs on the weekend. Aston Villa did themselves a huge favor by pummeling a hapless Sunderland side 6-1 on Monday, actually climbing above another hapless side, Newcastle, on goal difference. Villa, Newcastle, and Sunderland sit on 37 points, 5 ahead of Wigan. However, Wigan have a game in hand. Things could be decided on the final Sunday when Wigan play Villa.
