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Chris Ramsey said QPR need a stable footing next year

Chris Ramsey
Image: Chris Ramsey: Looking ahead to life in the Championship

Chris Ramsey said it is vital that QPR start next season on a more stable footing if the club is to move forward and regain a place in the Premier League.

The Loftus Road club were relegated after just one season back in the top flight and Ramsay, who was handed a three-year contract after being appointed as boss on a permanent basis, knows he has a tough summer ahead of him with a number of players out of contract.

And Ramsey said securing the club’s finances was key to a fruitful recruitment campaign this summer.

Speaking at the LMA awards ceremony, Ramsey said: “The owners and (director of football) Les Ferdinand are really trying to put a plan into place that will give the club a stable footing and hopefully we will be back to where we need to be shortly.

“I think what we firstly have to do is secure our finances, know what markets we’re buying players from and I think once we’ve done that I’m sure we’ll move forward steadily.

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Chris Ramsey expects there to be a big turnover in personnel with 12 first team players out of contract at QPR.

“It’s no secret a lot of players are out of contract. Some will stay but a lot will want to carry on playing in the Premier League and move on to others clubs and get their careers sorted out as they see fit.”

Despite coming in for criticism, Ramsey said he was proud of players’ efforts in most of the games before the end of the season.

Fans questioned the heart of some QPR players following a 6-0 loss at Manchester City which confirmed their relegation.

Ramsey said: “Given the results in two games, we were all disappointed because we didn’t perform to the best of our abilities but we didn’t have that many players to choose from.

“I think the players that played showed a lot of heart and fight for the club and tried their best to keep us in the league.”

Looking ahead to life in the notoriously tough Championship, Ramsey said it was vital that QPR learned the lessons from other Premier League sides who have gone down and struggled to make it back up to the top flight.

He also said his lack of experience wasn’t an issue, but believes every boss faces a struggle in a competitive league.

“It’s one of the toughest divisions that there is,” he said. “There is a lot of big teams in there and a lot of teams who have slipped out of the Premier League and found it very difficult to get back. We know we’ve got our work cut out for next season.

“At the end of the day, every manager in that (league) is going to have a difficult job and it is going to be down to whether the players  are up for the fight and whether we recruit well this summer and whether everybody is looking forward and believing that we can be stable next season.”

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