QPR 0 Manchester United 2: QPR must first ask if there is someone better than Harry Redknapp

Redknapp said he is 'getting the maximum' from his players

Harry Redknapp looks on from the touchline (Getty Images)

One of the more eye-opening statistics on Match of the Day revealed Harry Redknapp had the highest win percentage (37 per cent) in the Premier League of the 10 British managers currently in the competition. Given most of his matches have been in charge of middling clubs (and Spurs were in the relegation zone when he arrived) it is a reminder of how impressive his record is.

Redknapp’s win rate this season (23 per cent) is, however, the type that brings the sack and it has been reported that this is imminent. As Queen’s Park Rangers chairman Tony Fernandes has a habit of firing managers with alacrity when results go awry, this would not be a surprise but, as ever, the owner and his fellow investors should first ask themselves if there is a better alternative.

Redknapp said he is “getting the maximum” from his players, and he may be right. Only Rob Green, Eduardo Vargas and Charlie Austin would have many top-flight suitors if Rangers go down.

Redknapp said: “You have got Clint Hill [a 36-year-old centre-back] playing left-back; Richard Dunne, took him on a free from Villa, given everything; Nedum Onuoha; a couple of loans from Chile; Karl Henry, who we took on a free from Wolves. You can’t get any more out of them. At the end of last season, if Bobby [Zamora] hadn’t scored that goal [in the play-off final] they probably wouldn’t have given him a new contract.”

Even this motley crew should have pushed a dire Manchester United side closer than they did in Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat. For nearly an hour United were extraordinarily low on confidence for a team that last week lost their first game in 12. Their present fourth position looks artificially high.

Rangers, being out of the FA Cup, now have a fortnight’s break, which is always dangerous for a manager, especially in the transfer window. They then go to Stoke, prospering under Redknapp’s predecessor, Mark Hughes. Redknapp was phlegmatic about his prospects of still being in charge by then.

“It is up to Tony what he does. I am not going to lose any sleep over it. I am not a 34-year-old manager trying to make my way in the game; I have been around a long time. I love what I do, I want to continue doing it. I work hard at my job. The day I don’t care, I will say, ‘OK, I’m not skint, I don’t have to go to work’. And I will go and play golf every day. But I care.”

Besides, Redknapp added: “Who will Sky have to interview through a car window if I am not here on transfer- deadline day?”