Queens Park Rangers: What Relegation from the Premier League Could Cost Them

With six games left to play, the chances of Queens Park Rangers avoiding relegation from the Premier League look slim.

The club are seven points from safety and have won only four games all season.

Manager Harry Redknapp is doing his best to sound confident over their chances of staying up, but the reality seems to suggest a return to the Championship is inevitable.

QPR have been in the bottom three since the third week of the season, and their record against teams in the top and bottom halves of the table is lamentable (via football365.co.uk).

Only five wins out the their last six games (and preferably six) would give them any hope of avoiding the drop.

Recent failures to beat fellow strugglers Aston Villa and Wigan look like being fatal for the Rs, whose chairman and major benefactor, Tony Fernandes (above), must wonder what he has got himself into.

If the club are relegated, what can Fernandes expect next season?

A £50 Million Hole Blow in the Budget

The 2013-14 Premier League season will be the most lucrative ever.

A new TV rights deal is worth £5 billion and will give each of the 20 Premier League clubs an enormous £60 million slice.

Losing out on that by being relegated will hit the three teams that go down very hard.

Each will receive, by contrast, "only" £16 million in compensatory payments from the Premier League, leading to a shortfall of approximately £45 to £50 million.

A Bunch of Unhappy Players

If spending money was a cast-iron guarantee of success, Queens Park Rangers would be challenging for Europe instead of fearing relegation.

Tony Fernandes oversaw huge financial investment in the squad last summer and again in the January transfer window at the start of 2013.

Loic Remy (above) has weighed in with six goals in eight games (via soccerbase.com) but has only finished up on the winning side twice.

Christopher Samba has not had the impact his wages and transfer fee demanded, and the same could also be said of Esteban Granero, Rob Green, Ji-Sung Park, Junior Hoilett and Stephane Mbia. The list goes on.

If the team goes down, what does Fernandes do with all those players on massive salaries?

The likes of Remy, Samba and, dare I say, most of the other costliest recruits will have relegation-release clauses in their contracts, but finding someone to pay comparable wages will be difficult.

Players out of contract will leave, and those coming back from loans, including Joey Barton, Anton Ferdinand and Djibril Cisse, will have to be either tolerated or paid off. 

That will cost, either way.

More Investment Will Be Needed to Win Promotion

Getting relegated from the Premier League is one thing. Trying to win promotion back is quite another.

Any side that goes down faces an inevitable exodus of players and, while that reduces the wage bill, more money has to go into the team to build a side capable of going straight back up.

West Ham managed to return to the elite the season after relegation, but they didn't do it on the cheap.

Losing millions in TV revenue, gate receipts and sponsorship, co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold had to inject a further £30 million to give the team the chance of winning promotion (via Sky Sports).

Even then, they did so by the skin of their teeth in winning the Championship playoff final at Wembley.

Queens Park Rangers would face a similar commitment to mount a serious promotion challenge.

They'll Probably Have to Have Another Manager

Queens Park Rangers have had three managers since January 2012. That tells you much about the chaotic year or so the club have had.

The future of current boss Harry Redknapp will be the subject of as much speculation as the players if the club goes down.

Redknapp has said he'd like to stay at Loftus Road if they are relegated, but as much as you admire the sentiment, you have to wonder whether he would really relish a scrap in the Championship.

After all, it was not that long ago that Redknapp was the toast of Tottenham and the people's choice to be the next England boss.  

Will he, at 66, want to fight his way back into the spotlight?

If not, QPR face more disruption in building again under yet another new manager.

The Future Will Be Fraught and Uncertain

All of the stresses and strains that come with relegation from the Premier League will be suffered under an atmosphere of uncertainty.

While the finances are being juggled, a team has to find a way to start winning again.

Tony Fernandes has been big enough to accept responsibility for Queens Park Rangers' failings this season and has suggested he would be happy to step down as chairman.

Although that won't affect his financial commitment, another new face with new ideas is probably the last thing they need.

QPR's debt is thought to be around £90 million, so the major financial investors at the club have to stay, because the future without them doesn't bear thinking about.