Hughes a good choice for QPR but Warnock deserved better

Neil Warnock deserved to see out the season at least at QPR

Mark Hughes will probably make a success of it at Queens Park Rangers, but that doesn't make the sacking of Neil Warnock justified.

Warnock transformed the Rs from a club lurching from crisis to crisis in the lower echelons of the Championship to a Premier League outfit on course to stay up in their first season in the top flight in 15 years.

True, Rangers hadn't won for eight games prior to Warnock's dismissal and they were slipping down the table at an alarming rate, but he deserved the chance to at least see out the season and complete the job he started.

The January transfer window should have been Warnock's chance to prove himself and bring in some quality players with the help of Tony Fernandes' money.

Hughes will now get that opportunity and his acquisitions will no doubt push QPR onto the next level, but Warnock will rightly feel aggrieved if the Welshman succeeds at Loftus Road as there is nothing to say he could not have turned it around.

There is a generally accepted feeling that Hughes is a step up from Warnock, based mainly on a more glittering playing career and the fact he has held more high-profile managerial positions.

But the reason Warnock is not held in as high esteem as Hughes is not his fault. He couldn't have done much more to earn his big chance in the Premier League.

He has won promotion seven times with various clubs at differing levels, yet this was just his second season in the Premier League.

His first campaign, with hometown club Sheffield United, ended with relegation on the final day of the season and it is that season which has led to him being tagged as a 'Championship manager'.

But what is a 'Championship manager'? How is Warnock a 'Championship manager' when he has only had one and a half seasons to prove himself in the Premier League?

Sheffield United were always going to struggle in the top flight in the 2006/07 season.

They had spent the previous 12 years in the second tier and Warnock was only able to spend around £12million on a clutch of players in an attempt to keep them up.

Their main relegation rivals were West Ham, whose survival was orchestrated by Carlos Tevez, who was illegally owned by a third party.

And this season, after brilliantly masterminding QPR's promotion last year, Warnock was left in an almost impossible position in pre-season with the club's ownership situation making him unable to spend money in the transfer market.

Warnock is well-loved among QPR fans for leading their team to promotion last season

Fernandes took over right at the end of the transfer window, allowing Warnock time to bring in players like Joey Barton, Anton Ferdinand, Luke Young and Shaun Wright-Phillips, but the signings were rushed and didn't allow the manager a fair crack at bringing in the players he wanted.

He has now been dismissed before being given that chance and will no doubt get another job, albeit back in the Championship.

Winning promotion must give Warnock a lot of pleasure but he must be wondering what the point of it all is.

If he is not going to be rewarded with loyalty and stability for leading teams to the promised land, then why bother trying to win promotion at all?

It must be so disheartening, not only to Warnock but to any Championship manager.

Chris Hughton and Roberto Di Matteo suffered similar fates last season, when Newcastle and West Brom sacked them respectively despite both winning promotion to the Premier League and both being on target to stay there.

These managers deserve at least a full season in the Premier League to prove their ability, as the effort they put into promotion campaigns surely earns that at least.

You either love Warnock or you hate him, but whatever you think of him, you cannot argue with his record in the Football League.

Does Hughes have a better managerial record? Arguably.

Warnock may have had many successes in the lower leagues, but his critics will point to the fact he has never kept a team in the top flight.

However, Hughes had a huge advantage over Warnock. He started at the top.

Hughes walked out of Fulham citing the club's lack of ambition last summer

He began his managerial career with Wales and moved onto Premier League outfit Blackburn, while Warnock started in the Northern Premier League with Gainsborough Trinity.

While Warnock had to drag himself up the ladder with spells at Burton Albion, Scarborough, Plymouth and Bury, among others, Hughes has enjoyed reigns at two more Premier League clubs - Manchester City and Fulham.

In comparison to Warnock, Hughes has had it easy.

He has never had to select a team in the Football League, whereas Warnock has never been given the chance to manage a club of the calibre of Blackburn, Fulham or Manchester City.

If managers aren't given a chance, how are we supposed to know how good they are?

QPR should have been Warnock's big chance to prove himself and work with high-profile players, but sadly all his hard work in the lower divisions and in getting the Rs back in the big time has not been rewarded.

Fernandes has to do what he thinks is best for his club though, and he clearly trusts Hughes with his money more than Warnock.

The likes of Chris Samba, Alex and Darren Bent have all been linked with a move to Loftus Road, and they are the type of players Rangers need to be going for to push onto the next level.

Fernandes will point to last season's harsh sackings of Hughton and Di Matteo, decisions which were criticised at the time but now seem justified with Newcastle and West Brom enjoying success under Alan Pardew and Roy Hodgson respectively.

Hughton and Di Matteo still deserved better though, as did Warnock.

Hughes is a good manager who has had relative success wherever he has been, but whatever he achieves at QPR, there will be a proud Yorkshireman watching on thinking he could have done just as well.