The real reason behind Marti Cifuentes’ QPR gardening leave chaos amid latest West Brom manager update

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Marti Cifuentes has been the talk of the town at QPR this week, for all the wrong reasons, and EFL Analysis can exclusively reveal what is going on there.

After a terrible start to the season, QPR looked like potential relegation fodder, but Marti Cifuentes managed to turn things around and establish his team around midtable security.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
10	West BromWest Brom	45	14	19	12	52	44	8	61
11	SwanseaSwansea	45	17	9	19	48	53	-5	60
12	Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Wednesday	45	15	12	18	59	68	-9	57
13	WatfordWatford	45	16	8	21	52	60	-8	56
14	NorwichNorwich	45	13	15	17	67	66	1	54
15	QPRQPR	45	13	14	18	52	63	-11	53
16	PortsmouthPortsmouth	45	14	11	20	57	70	-13	53
17	Oxford UnitedOxford United	45	13	13	19	46	62	-16	52
18	Stoke CityStoke City	45	12	14	19	45	62	-17	50
19	DerbyDerby	45	13	10	22	48	56	-8	49

With one game to go this season, an away trip to Sunderland, QPR are currently in 15th place in the Championship but could finish as high as 13th if results go their way on Saturday.

One man who won’t be there for that game is Cifuentes, whose QPR future is now in doubt after being placed on gardening leave earlier this week.

Now, EFL Analysis can exclusively share the real reason behind this less than desirable situation, and it’s not looking good for Cifuentes.

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What happened between Marti Cifuentes and QPR?

Shortly after the announcement that Cifuentes would be placed on gardening leave, links to the vacancy at West Brom emerged.

However, it didn’t take long for West Brom to quash those rumours and state they were not looking at the 42-year-old.

Now, we have information to share courtesy of our Chief Football Correspondent Graeme Bailey on the matter, and it appears the problems behind the scenes arose because Cifuentes’ people were contacting other clubs to sound out a potential move.

We understand talks did take place between Cifuentes and West Brom, but he is not on their shortlist for the managerial role at The Hawthorns.

It is also thought that QPR chiefs were unhappy to learn that Cifuentes was actively dissatisfied with the project at Loftus Road when it comes to transfer plans. The issue is, QPR claim Cifuentes knew what he was buying into when he agreed his deal with the club.

While a return to QPR has not been ruled out for Cifuentes, it sounds like there are a few wrinkles to iron out between all parties from here on out.

Interestingly, this is an almost exact repeat of Cifuentes’ previous fallout with his bosses at Swedish outfit, Hammarby, where the manager could not get on board with the club’s strategy.

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Marti Cifuentes’ record at QPR this season

Cifuentes has been in charge of QPR since October 2023, and he’s done fine work with the London club since then.

He steered QPR to safety last season, finishing 18th in the league, and looks like he could end up lifting them higher up the Championship table this year, depending on how results go on the final day of the Championship season.

Cifuentes has now taken charge of 82 games with QPR, winning 28, drawing 23, and losing 31. That gives him a win rate of 34.14% and an average points-per-game total of 1.30.

The hard-working, well-organised, and often exciting and attacking style of play has brought plenty of praise his way, but this latest situation does put a dampener on that positive light.