QPR sack Hughes a day before visiting Man United

Could one of these two succeed Mark Hughes at QPR?

In deference to sack race tradition, the first dismissal of the Premier League campaign has swiftly been followed by the second, with Mark Hughes following Roberto Di Matteo out of west London.

QPR's decision to get rid of Hughes will provoke far less controversy than Di Matteo's removal given that the Hoops have followed a summer of considerable investment with a winless start, their first 12 fixtures producing four draws and eight defeats. They are five points from safety.

The surprise is that they waited until Friday, with last week's 1-3 home loss to fellow strugglers Southampton appearing the perfect excuse for a change. They eventually decided to stand by Hughes, who owner Tony Fernandes had continually backed publicly, making the timing intriguing.

Harry Redknapp has long been discussed as the obvious replacement, one fan even going to the trouble of producing a banner begging the former Tottenham boss to save the club from relegation last weekend, and he is the early odds-on favourite in Betfair's next manager market.

Why shelf Sparky now though? This writer can't help wondering if the sudden availability of the current Champions League-holding coach and the chance to add him to the many glamour names at Loftus Road has hurried them into action. Betfair customers don't appear to agree judging by Di Matteo's odds of 26.025/1.

The other explanation of course is that the talk of Redknapp accepting the Ukraine job was the game-changer, prompting fears that their preferred candidate would soon be out of bounds. Could "when I arrived we had four points from 12 games" become 'Arry's new favourite catchphrase?

Hughes' deputies Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki are currently slated to lead QPR into their terrifying trip to Old Trafford. They are 19.018/1 to defeat Manchester United, and 2.01/1 to be relegated this season.