QPR eye ex-Liverpool player to replace Marti Cifuentes | OneFootball

Gregory Vignal is reportedly of interest to QPR after their dismal start to the season has put Marti Cifuentes under pressure

Former Liverpool defender Gregory Vignal is in the frame to replace Marti Cifuentes as QPR manager, according to recent reports from France.

L'Équipe have reported that the Frenchman was in attendance for QPR's goalless draw with Sunderland at Loftus Road ten days ago, where he was seen with members of the club's board.

The Hoops are bottom of the Championship after 15 games, already five points away from safety at this early stage of the season, and pressure is understandably mounting on Cifuentes.

The Spaniard had credit in the bank after steering the Hoops away from relegation last season, but results haven't been good enough so far this year, and Vignal is reportedly on the club's radar.

Vignal's managerial experience is limited, and he spent a season with Rangers Women before leading third division French side Versailles for just ten games before being dismissed during the 2023/24 campaign.

Gregory Vignal lined up by QPR as a potential Marti Cifuentes replacement

There's no denying that QPR's start to the season hasn't been good enough, but Vignal being linked with the manager's job at Loftus Road is an eyebrow-raising move given his lack of managerial experience.

L'Équipe have reported that Vignal was previously touted for a role in Regis Le Bris' backroom staff at Sunderland, but he currently has no managerial experience in the English game, and only ten games of senior men's football management experience under his belt.

After retiring in 2013, Vignal became an assistant coach at Montpellier before returning to his former club, Rangers, in 2018 as an academy coach, initially working with the club's under-14 and under-17 sides, before becoming part of Steven Gerrard's support staff.

He left Ibrox briefly to become a scout before returning to Rangers in 2019 as head coach of the women's team for the 2019/20 season, spending a full season in the role before leaving when his contract expired in June 2020.

From there, he spent a couple of months with Marseille's academy before returning to Scotland with Dundee as under-18's boss, before working with the reserve team. He left in June 2023, and that remains his last venture into British football.

A brief spell with Versailles followed, where he was in charge for ten games, and it remains to be seen whether someone with so little experience will appease QPR supporters should he be appointed.

Marti Cifuentes may deserve more time at QPR

Results have been poor, but QPR have had a number of injuries and a number of summer signings haven't performed to expectations, meaning not all the blame can be attributed to Cifuentes.

The Spaniard almost single-handily kept the Hoops in the division last season, and with that credit in the bank there's an argument to say he deserves more time.

Given Vignal's lack of experience, it would certainly be a risky move, and there would be questions asked about whether a manager with just ten senior games of management in the French third tier is ready to take over at a Championship club battling relegation.

If QPR are to get rid of Cifuentes, this international break is the perfect time, but plenty of supporters would like to see him given more time in the hope that he can turn things around.

Cifuentes only signed a new contract at Loftus Road at the end of September, and to sack him less than two months later would cost the club a lot of money, meaning it's surely a risk to appoint Vignal.