QPR sack Warnock

Queen's Park Rangers have sacked manager Neil Warnock, the club confirmed this evening. Rangers lie 17th in the Premier League table, having won just five of their 20 top-flight games this season in their first season back in the top flight. Warnock, who led them to the Championship title last year, has now been removed from the post, with former Fulham boss Mark Hughes strongly linked with the new vacancy at Loftus Road. In a statement, QPR chairman Tony Fernandes, said: "This decision has been made in the best interests of the club and I can assure everyone that this is not a decision that was made lightly." The club statement said on qpr.co.uk: "Queens Park Rangers Football Club has today parted company with Manager Neil Warnock. Warnock joined the club in March 2010, overseeing 84 matches in charge, winning 33, drawing 27 and losing 24. Last season, he successfully guided the club back to the Premier League for the first time in 15 years. The board's commitment to retaining our Premier League status ultimately led to this decision. QPR assistant manager Mick Jones and first-team coach Keith Curle have also left the club." Fernandes, who took over the club in the summer, added: "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." Warnock insists he leaves Loftus Road with his head held high. "Obviously I'm very disappointed, but having achieved so much, I leave the club with a great sense of pride," he said. "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." The club statement revealed a further announcement on the recruitment of Warnock's successor will be made "in due course". "In the opening five or ten minutes we were a little bit nervy but apart from that I think we were comfortable," said Rangers manager Ally McCoist. "We got the goals at good times and ran out deserved winners."