QPR fell flat with agreement for ex-Chelsea hero - Charlie Austin's words add fuel to it | OneFootball

Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink endured a disastrous reign in charge at Loftus Road

After a period of becoming one of the Championship's most dominant sides, that aim remained very much the same for Queens Park Rangers heading into the 2015/16 season.

The West London outfit had won the second-tier title just four years previous under Neil Warnock, before also earning promotion under Harry Redknapp two years prior with Bobby Zamora's infamous last-minute winner against Derby County at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final.

However, Rangers' return to the elite of English football barely got going, as they were relegated alongside Hull City and Burnley, finishing rock bottom of the division with a tally of 30 points across 38 league games.

Regardless, the R's still had plenty of seasoned campaigners at their disposal to mount an immediate promotion bid alongside the Clarets and the Tigers - both of whom would regain their top-flight status at the first time of asking,

However, it would prove to be a disastrous campaign in W12, with the mid-season appointment of Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink summing up the club's predicament at the time, and one they have rarely shown signs of recovering from.

Hasselbaink had previously sampled the passion in West London during his playing days, having become a cult hero at Rangers' local rivals Chelsea after scoring 87 times in 177 appearances.

The man, who also won the Premier League Golden Boot during the 1998/99 season at Leeds United, eventually gained his managerial breakthrough in 2013 with Royal Antwerp, before moving to Burton Albion the following November after Gary Rowett's departure to Birmingham City.

The Suriname-born forward was able to built on Rowett's initial success and guide Burton to League One for the first time ever, before the Brewers' momentum continued into the 2015/16 campaign as they sat top of the third-tier in December.

However, with QPR languishing in 11th place after dismissing Chris Ramsay, Hasselbaink was viewed as his long-term successor, putting pen-to-paper on a rolling contract at Loftus Road as his new club looked to surge back towards the play-off places after an inconsistent start to the campaign.

Despite showing the hallmarks of an exciting, up-and-coming manager at the Pirelli Stadium, there were early signs that Hasselbaink's appointment was never going to pay off for Tony Fernandes.

Despite having the services of certified second-tier goal-getter, Charlie Austin, at his disposal among others, it would take eight games for the Hoops to record a maiden league victory under their new boss.

Such inconsistent form was surrounded by what has been revealed by Austin as an immediate fall-out between the duo, which ultimately led to his £4m switch to Southampton in January 2016.

"Hasselbaink," the 36-year-old told Undr the Cosh. "Just didn't like him. I couldn't get on with him.

"It was more, he knew I only had six months left, and he knew I was waiting to go. We just clashed straight away.

"Centre forward, I thought he was going to bring something to the table for me. He brought **** all, like he brought nothing to the table for me."

Even after Austin's aforementioned transfer saga, things rarely turned for the better during the remainder of Hasselbaink's tenure.

Rangers ended their first season back in the second-tier with a 12th-place finish and 60 points to their name, some 14 points behind the top-six, before an underwhelming start to Hasselbaink's first full season in charge.

After just 337 days in the hotseat, he was dismissed and replaced by Ian Holloway in November 2016, with QPR sat in 17th after winning just five of their opening 16 matches.