Why Chris Ramsey is not the right man for QPR

With the season drawing to a close and Rangers’ fate already sealed, caretaker manager Chris Ramsey should find out shortly whether or not he will be offered the Rangers job on a permanent basis. He has repeatedly stated his desire for the job and no one can question his passion. Unfortunately, it is his tactical ineptitude that means he is not the right man to take the club forward.

Admittedly for Chris, he had it tough from the outset. Rangers were poorly managed by Harry Redknapp and playing good football was never embedded into the club’s culture this season. At the time of Harry’s departure, only Manchester United and fellow-strugglers Burnley averaged more long balls per game than Rangers.

Some things have improved under Ramsey. Away from home, he ditched Redknapp’s favoured approach of playing Charlie Austin up front, isolated and sitting back, hoping that we would be good enough to soak up pressure and hit opponents on the counter, in favour of a more gung-ho attacking brand of football, where Bobby Zamora would frequently partner Charlie Austin and with the resurgent performances by Matty Phillips on the right of midfield, Rangers would seek to press teams in the final third.

Seemingly, this approach did yield some positive outcomes. Convincing wins against Sunderland and West Brom and a 3-3 draw at Aston Villa show that when we do attack, we can be very dangerous. Indeed, at the time of writing, QPR boast the joint-highest number of goals scored in the bottom seven.

Unfortunately, it the goals against column which is more worrying from a Rangers perspective. At 68, we have comfortably the worst defence in the Premier League and it is clear that this is why we are struggling. And while at times we can point to many goals which are as a result of Sunday League-esque defensive errors, it has always been my view that the main reason we ship so many is our inability to retain possession.

At 44.8%, Rangers have the fifth worst possession average in the league and at 70.7%, the third worst ball retention. Popular under Harry and even more so under Chris Ramsey is the option of playing Bobby Zamora alongside Charlie Austin in a rigid, old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation. While most teams nowadays opt to play with one out and out striker with support coming from creative midfield players, some teams still play with two up top, including Manchester City for much of this season, so to say that the formation is dead is disingenuous.

But City are just a little bit better than Rangers, and are able to still play passing football and remain fluid in a 4-4-2, something which Rangers have failed to do under Chris. The “lump it up to Bobby” option seems to be all he has in his strategic locker and all attempts to play good football have gone out of the window, and this is largely down to a manager who either does not have the will or the know-how to implement passing football in a fluid system.

A good indicator of a team’s willingness to play is how they choose to set up for a goal kick. At most clubs, the two centre halves will usually split and the two full-backs will push on towards half way. The intention is always to play out from the back and only kick long if needed. With the exception of Ramsey’s first game in charge away at a laughably poor Sunderland side, Rangers have not done this. When Rob Green has the ball in his hands or on the ground, the first instinct for the two centre-halves is to turn around and jog towards half-way. There will be traditionalists who think that this is the safer option and I am being too fussy by focussing on this but if the traditionalists were right about football philosophy then England would have won something since 1966. They haven’t and it is the Spanish and the Germans who are dominating modern European football.

Ramsey is still very much operating in this English conservative kick and rush approach to football and in the Premier League you simply cannot go anywhere unless who prioritise ball retention.

I accept that the one thing Rangers need more than anything right now is stability and changing manager again may only further plunge Rangers into further descent. But stability should not be considered an end in itself. The right man needs to be at the helm to take the club forward and build for the future and while Ramsey is a lovely bloke, well-spoken and clearly has the desire to help Rangers rebuild, unfortunately, he simply does not have the tactical credentials.