New Queens Park Rangers manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says taking on the job was a risk, but a risk worth taking after he was unveiled as the club’s new boss last week.
Hasselbaink has a completely different challenge at Loftus Road to the one he had at his former side Burton Albion, whom he led to the League Two title last season before taking the Brewers to the summit of League One this term.
Rangers lie three points off the play-offs following an indifferent start to life back in the Championship, with Hasselbaink the club’s 10th permanent manager in just seven years following Chris Ramsey’s sacking last month.
Despite that the former Chelsea striker insists the theme of short-termism that has existed in London for so long doesn’t concern him, and says he is confident big things are around the corner for the Hoops.
He told the Times that “is it a risk? There’s always a risk taking a job, but it was a risk I had to take and one I wanted to take.
“It’s a club that is going to go in a different direction and a club that is changing a bit and I wanted to be a part of it. It’s exciting times here and I’m privileged to be the one chosen to lead QPR to a brighter future.
“The past is the past, let’s look towards the future. I have a good feeling about this club and I couldn’t turn down an opportunity as big as this.
“I’m going to react as I always react. There will be things coming at me that I will have to adjust to but that’s how it is.
“We need to work together and get stability. It’s very important that we get the right foundations in place for us to move forward. I wouldn’t have come here if I felt the club couldn’t do that.”
Talk of players such as Charlie Austin and Matty Phillips leaving the club in January continues to be a talking topic in the press,and while Hasselbaink knows these types of players can be assets to QPR, he would not stand in their way if they wanted to move on and their asking prices were met.
He added “players will always come and go wherever you are. That happens at every football club. QPR are no different. The fans and the club will always be here no matter what at the end of the day, that’s a fact.
“What you can do is make a way of working and put a platform down for the ones who are going to come in so they can fit into the QPR way.
“That’s how it is. I’m not someone who can stop people going, nor would I want to. Eventually people are going to come and people are going to go.”
