"Sousa's Vote of Confidence": Fascinating Perspective re What Axing of QPR's Assistant Manager Actually Might Mean

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Very Interesting Perspective from BBC's David McIntyre!

Dave McIntyre/BBC606 - Sousa's vote of confidence
- Believe it or not, Paulo Sousa’s long-term prospects have been boosted by the departure of his right-hand man.
- Many will understandably see the axing of Bruno Oliveira as a sign that Sousa himself has been weakened and that his exit is now all the more likely.
- But that isn’t the case. In fact, the opposite is true.
- Oliveira has carried the can for the team’s failure to reach the play-offs. Or, to put it another way; Sousa hasn’t.
- This is good rather than bad news for those who want to see Sousa given more time.
- Oliveira’s dismissal has actually been in the pipeline for several weeks.
- As I suggested last month, someone, possibly Sousa, was always going to pay the price if Rangers did not finish in the top six.
- The axe has now fallen - and not on Sousa. For now at least.
- Getting rid of Oliveira was first mooted some time ago and sure enough his head has rolled following another disappointing home performance on Saturday.
- Despite speculation in recent weeks that Sousa could get the bullet at any time, he was never likely to be sacked before the end of the season.
- He could of course resign in light of Oliveira’s departure and other goings-on behind the scenes, but so far there has been no indication that he will do so.
- Whether he survives beyond the end of the season is another matter.
- How he performs without his assistant in the remaining games will go a long way to determining whether he is still Rangers coach at the start of next season.
- His longer term prospects still aren’t good, but in many ways the ousting of Oliveira means Sousa has more rather than less chance of keeping his job.
- This is also a time when Rangers, like some other clubs, are looking to make cutbacks and reduce their spending.
- Sousa is not a manager in the traditional sense. He is a coach – and one who also has Gareth Ainsworth by his side.
- Another assistant coach, especially one as inexperienced as the 30-year-old Oliveira, was arguably a luxury and an easy target after some poor results this season.
- Sousa will now be expected to take on an even bigger role on the training ground before his own future is assessed in the summer -assuming he chooses to stay.
- That’s not to say that he won’t be affected by losing Oliveira, whom he was hugely reliant on during training and matches.
- But it means that the board have spared him and in some ways given him some breathing space.
- Despite seeing at first hand how confident Sousa is of remaining at QPR beyond the summer, I have my doubts.
- But if Sousa’s sacking in a few weeks time was a formality, Oliveira could easily have been sent packing along with him then.
- Instead, the board have acted now.
- As votes of confidence go, it's hardly resounding. But Sousa is further from the axe now than at any time in the last couple of months. BBC606


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