sport news QPR 3-0 Cardiff: Wolves target Michael Beale sees his side go top of the ... trends now
If this does prove to be Michael Beale’s final match as Queens Park Rangers manager, at least he leaves on a high note.
But there must also be a bittersweet feeling of what might have been with this Rangers team shaping up into genuine promotion contenders.
On the day Wolves made Beale their No 1 choice to succeed Bruno Lage, his exciting QPR side comfortably beat a Cardiff team forced to play a man light for 72 minutes.
QPR handed manager Michael Beale what may be the perfect farewell on Wednesday night
The Premier League strugglers are optimistic they can have Beale in place by Sunday’s home fixture with Leicester City and his release clause, believed to be £1million, is no obstacle.
It would be a dizzying rise for Beale, a former assistant to Steven Gerrard at Rangers and Aston Villa who only took the QPR job in June. This was only his 16th match as a manager.
But the proactive and confident way QPR are playing this season explains why Beale is an attractive option to rejuvenate a Wolves team that has often looked lifeless this season.
They didn’t have to be anywhere near their best here, with Jack Simpson’s red card for blocking off Sinclair Armstrong 18 minutes in leaving Cardiff with a mountain to climb.
Lyndon Dykes converted the resulting penalty and his tap-in a few minutes later made sure. Kenneth Paal sealed it with a third after the break.
The win took QPR top of the Championship with Burnley and Sheffield United dropping points.
Ironically, Neil Warnock, who led them into the Premier League in 2011, was on the pitch at half-time being inducted into The Forever R’s club.
