Sunderland clash could be final game for Championship boss amid summer exit claim - reports

Next Saturday’s trip to Sunderland could be QPR boss Marti Cifuentes’ final match with the club, as the Spaniard is considering leaving Loftus Road at the end of the season, according to reports.

The Black Cats will round off their regular Championship campaign schedule with a clash against the R’s on Wearside, and know that they are already guaranteed a place in next month’s play-offs. For their part, QPR are assured of their second tier status next term after opening up a seven-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone with just two matches left to play.

But ahead of their final day showdown with Sunderland, reports have emerged suggesting that the club could be in for a change in the dugout over the coming months.

What has been said about Marti Cifuentes’ future at QPR?

According to a report from The Sun, Cifuentes could quit his role in West London following a breakdown in his relationship with chief executive Christian Nourry, who was brought in to oversee the club's recruitment in January last year.

It is understood that the 42-year-old has “grown frustrated” with the huge number of injuries his squad have sustained this season, and how those repeated setbacks have ultimately extinguished any play-off hopes, consigning Rangers to a lower mid-table finish. Cifuentes is said to be unhappy with QPR’s decision to allow director of performance Ben Williams to oversee the club's sports science, medical, physio, and nutrition departments remotely from Dubai.

The R’s boss also stated after a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Swansea City on Easter Monday that he wanted assurances about the direction of the club and their ambition to return to the Premier League - which they were relegated from a decade ago. He said: “The supporters since I first came here have been amazing. But I would like to give them something else and not just celebrate another season in the Championship."

Cifuentes was previously linked with the Sunderland job prior to Regis Le Bris’ appointment on Wearside last summer. Before arriving at Loftus Road, he was on the books at Swedish side Hammerby.

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What has Marti Cifuentes said about Sunderland this season?

Speaking after his side played out a 0-0 draw against 10-man Sunderland back in November, Cifuentes said: "We are frustrated, that was the mood in the changing room. At the same time, I told the guys it is very easy in the situation we are in to just look at the negatives. My job is to try to be balanced. There is a way of looking at today's game as two points lost, because the performance in the first 60 minutes gave us the right direction to win.

“After the red game, it seems easy but I knew it would be totally different. Sunderland is a team that can do really well when defending in a low block so you know how it is, sometimes you find a way to defend for 30 minutes. The other way to look at it is to see a team that plays with big personality, that once again despite injury setbacks is trying to focus on what we can control. They showed great personality. We contained a team like Sunderland to almost no chances. There is only one set piece, which was a misunderstanding on the man-marking. There are a lot of positives.”

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