Queens Park Rangers are close to appointing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as their new manager having been granted permission to speak to the former Dutch international striker by Burton Albion, whom he has taken to the top of League One.
“QPR have approached us asking for permission to speak to Jimmy and we have agreed to that,” said the Burton chairman, Ben Robinson, in a statement on the club’s website. “He will be interviewed shortly for the vacant manager’s job.”
Talks are now underway aimed at smoothing the 43-year-old’s move to Loftus Road, where Neil Warnock has been in interim charge since Chris Ramsey was sacked in the first week of November. The Championship club, currently five points off the play-offs in 12th place, had spoken to Chris Powell and Paul Lambert, but the director of football, Les Ferdinand, and chief executive, Lee Hoos, have always regarded Hasselbaink highly and are keen to bring the former Chelsea forward back to west London.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burton Albion | 20 | 8 | 41 |
| 2 | Coventry | 20 | 17 | 39 |
| 3 | Walsall | 20 | 16 | 39 |
| 4 | Gillingham | 20 | 14 | 38 |
| 5 | Wigan | 20 | 10 | 34 |
The Dutchman, who spent a season in charge of Royal Antwerp in the Belgian Second Division in 2013-14, won League Two with Burton last season having been appointed on a two-and-a-half-year contract in November 2014 to succeed Birmingham City-bound Gary Rowett at the Pirelli Stadium. Tuesday’s win against Millwall was his 33rd in 54 games in charge and established the Brewers two points clear at the top of the division.
Burton, who have indicated they will not stand in Hasselbaink’s way if a club from a higher league made an official approach for his services, will be due compensation if he agrees to move to Loftus Road. The former Leeds, Middlesbrough, Atlético Madrid, Charlton and Cardiff striker was non-committal when addressing the media after Tuesday’s win. “People can speculate, but I can’t control that,” said Hasselbaink. “The only thing I can do is make my players work as hard as possible and work with them. I make sure I give them everything I have got and they give everything they have got for this club. That is what we will keep on doing.”
QPR, who were relegated from the Premier League in May, have mustered four points from Warnock’s three games in interim charge, and play Reading on Thursday night. The 67-year-old had initially rejoined the club in an advisory role in October.
