QPR are having the last laugh over Marti Cifuentes right now - Leicester City fans will feel the opposite | OneFootball

Marti Cifuentes endured a nightmare return to QPR with Leicester City on Saturday, which will leave the R's feeling like the real winners of his exit.

It was a nightmare afternoon for Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes as his side suffered a 4-1 defeat against his former club Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Saturday.

After a tough period during October and November, it had actually been a positive few weeks for Leicester prior to their trip to QPR, with Cifuentes' men picking up seven points from their previous three games, which included a statement victory over Ipswich Town.

However, the Foxes' recent momentum came to a grinding halt as they were comprehensively beaten by the R's, with goals from Koki Saito, Richard Kone, Karamoko Dembele and Amadou Mbengue giving the hosts a four-goal lead before the break.

Leicester did pull a goal back in the closing stages, with Silko Thomas finishing from close range after Bobby Decordova-Reid missed a penalty, but that would have been little comfort to the travelling supporters after their side's first half collapse, and the defeat leaves them 13th in the table, four points from the play-off places.

Cifuentes was a popular figure for much of his tenure at Loftus Road, but the manner of his exit left a sour taste in the mouths of many QPR supporters, and it is fair to say there will not have been much sympathy for him in West London on Saturday.

QPR will surely have loved Marti Cifuentes, Leicester City revenge after controversial Loftus Road exit

Cifuentes took over at QPR in October 2023 when he made the move from Swedish outfit Hammarby, and he arrived with the club sitting 23rd in the Championship table, six points from safety after a poor start to the season under his predecessor Gareth Ainsworth.

Many felt that it would be an impossible task for Cifuentes to keep the R's in the league from such a perilous position, but the Spaniard inspired a remarkable improvement in his side, and after producing near play-off form for the rest of the season, they eventually finished in 18th place, six points clear of the relegation zone.

Despite being tipped as potential dark horses at the start of last season, Cifuentes was unable to build on the success of his first year in charge, but after flirting with relegation at various points of the campaign, he did at least manage to steer the Hoops away from danger and into the security of mid-table.

Cifuentes' impressive work at Loftus Road won him plenty of admirers from elsewhere, and it was claimed in April that his representatives had held talks with West Bromwich Albion over their vacant managerial position, but that did not go down well with the QPR hierarchy, who placed the 43-year-old on gardening leave ahead of the final game of the season.

In a humiliating turn of events, it was later revealed that Cifuentes was not on West Brom's shortlist of targets, and with his position as R's manager untenable, he left the club by mutual consent in June.

Less than 24 hours after his exit was confirmed, Julien Stephan was appointed as the Hoops' new head coach, and a few weeks later, Cifuentes returned to management with Leicester, but as the season reaches the halfway point, the West London outfit are looking like the real winners of the saga.

Julien Stephan is an upgrade on Marti Cifuentes at QPR after Leicester City evidence

Last season may have been an underwhelming one for QPR, but Cifuentes was widely considered to have done an excellent job at Loftus Road overall, and his departure was seen as a big blow for the club.

However, while Stephan is arguably working with a better squad this season, with summer signings including Amadou Mbengue, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Kwame Poku, Richard Kone and Rumarn Burrell all adding real depth and quality, it seems as though the R's may have landed an upgrade in the Frenchman.

Stephan endured a disappointing start to his Hoops tenure as he picked up just one point from his first three games, which included a horror 7-1 defeat at Coventry City, but he has turned results around significantly in recent months, and his side currently sit seventh in the table, just one point from the play-off places.

The inconsistency that has prevented QPR from mounting a serious play-off challenge over the years is a problem that Stephan is still yet to fully solve, but there is no doubt that the R's are emerging as a force to be reckoned with under his guidance, and they certainly should not be discounted from the top six race.

On the other hand, it has been a turbulent start to Cifuentes' time at Leicester, and the 4-1 hammering against the Hoops is likely to reignite some of the discontent that has been growing among the fanbase of late.

Given the Foxes' well-documented financial problems, they were only able to bring in four new signings in the summer, and the points deduction that is looming over the club has created an unsettled environment at the King Power Stadium, so there are mitigating circumstances for some of Cifuentes' struggles.

However, it is difficult not to feel that, with a squad littered with Premier League quality that still contains many of the stars of the club's Championship title-winning campaign from two years ago, Cifuentes should be delivering better results than he has so far, and while he is not under any imminent threat, his position feels far from secure.

QPR supporters will always be grateful to Cifuentes for his contribution at Loftus Road, particularly as, without him, there is a high chance they would be a League One club right now, but Saturday's victory over Leicester will only strengthen the feeling that they may have ended up with a superior manager in Stephan.