Mark Hughes linked with vacancy as QPR sack Neil Warnock

QPR lie 17th in the table, having won just five of 20 games in their first campaign back in the top flight since 1996. Former Fulham boss Mark Hughes is strongly linked to succeed Warnock, who led the club to the Championship title last season.

Assistant manager Mick Jones and first-team coach Keith Curle have also left the club. Chairman Tony Fernandes, who took over in the summer, said: “This decision has been made in the best interests of the club and was not made lightly. Sadly, our recent run of poor form has seen us slip alarmingly down the table and the board felt it was the right time to make a change.

“Neil has acted with honesty, professionalism and integrity throughout his time at the club, and I would personally like to thank him for his significant contribution to QPR over the last 22 months. I genuinely wish him all the very best for the future and he will always be welcome back at Loftus Road.”

Prolific Twitter user Fernandes told fans the decision “was not knee-jerk”, adding: “Trust me in my 47 years of life I have never had to make such a tough decision. But I’ve got to do what I think is right. It’s tough being a leader. But decisions have to be made for the club which in the short time I have grown to love so much.”

Warnock said: “I’m very disappointed, but having achieved so much, I leave the club with a great sense of pride.. I have enjoyed my time here more than anywhere else and the QPR fans have been brilliant with me. They deserve success. My biggest regret is that the takeover didn’t happen earlier, because that would have given me the opportunity to bring in the targets I’d pinpointed all last summer and probably given us a better chance to succeed in the Premier League.

“The board at QPR are hugely ambitious and I wish them every success for the future.

“I’ve been involved in the game a long time and I will be spending the immediate future with my family and friends before deciding my next career move.”